'First Time Triathlete' - The Novice Thread

HardyEustace

DrMicrobe wrote: »

Hi Guys,
Looking for some advice,
I did my first triathalon in Athy 2 weeks ago. Was just a sprint (1Hr 40mins, swim time was 13mins) and am looking for my next race.

Im thinking either the Tri at Carrig on Suir or triAthlone (both sprint).
My problem is, im fine with the cycle and run but the swim is what kills me-:rolleyes:more specifically it is the thoughts of swimming against the current is what scares me. I would say that 70% of my swim in Athy was breastroke, nice and easy-but I doubt that this approach would suffice in Athlone since the curent is so strong. Is the Athlone sprint against the current and will I die??? :p
I know that the Carrig tri is all dowstream but I would really like to enter Athlone as it appears to be a big festival but im afraid I will end up in Limerick at the mouth of the shannon!!!

Help!!!

I'd stay away from Athlone, the swim doesn't sound nice at all and there was some upstream last year.

I haven't heard any good feedback from anyone about the race. People just do it because it's big and because their other friends are doing it. I really don't think it has many redeeming qualities.

DrMicrobe

HardyEustace wrote: »

I'd stay away from Athlone, the swim doesn't sound nice at all and there was some upstream last year.

I haven't heard any good feedback from anyone about the race. People just do it because it's big and because their other friends are doing it. I really don't think it has many redeeming qualities.

Indeed,
As this will be my second time doing a triathalon, I dont want to be completely scared off it with having to be fished out of the Shannon by the Navy!!! Do you know of anybody that has done in the tri in Carrig?? Im thinking of joining a triclub-i live in Maynooth-any clubs nearby??

mloc123

DrMicrobe wrote: »

Indeed,
As this will be my second time doing a triathalon, I dont want to be completely scared off it with having to be fished out of the Shannon by the Navy!!! Do you know of anybody that has done in the tri in Carrig?? Im thinking of joining a triclub-i live in Maynooth-any clubs nearby??

In Celbridge myself, I think the nearest club would be Naas. Have you considered the Skerries tri? on the 22nd of July I think.

crosbie

Hi all doin the Skerries Tri at the ens of the month. As I am only doin the sprint should I use clipless pedals or not. I feel that the time I would loose in transition would make up for any deficienceies in power lost by cycling in runners. I know the cycle is the most demanding part of this tri so I would appreciate any advice - also I have only really been cycling seriously for the past 6months so still kind of nervois useing the clipless. I do commute by bike but have an old racer which has normal pedals so my general bike skills are fairly good.

Highway_To_Hell

DrMicrobe wrote: »

Do you know of anybody that has done in the tri in Carrig?? Im thinking of joining a triclub-i live in Maynooth-any clubs nearby??

Did it last year and even though it lashed rain right up till the start and the transition area was like a swimming pool it was still enjoyable, the only challenge with the 750 mtrs downstream was trying to stay behind the start line at the beginning and getting to the steps on the exit without being swept away. The bike is an easy 20K ( the roads dried out really quickly) and the 5K run shouldn't cause any problems either. i have signed up for this year.

DrMicrobe

mloc123 wrote: »

In Celbridge myself, I think the nearest club would be Naas. Have you considered the Skerries tri? on the 22nd of July I think.

Is that the NaasWheelworkx club?? Was thinking of joining them. Is Skerries a sea swim?? :eek::eek::eek:

DrMicrobe

Highway_To_Hell wrote: »

Did it last year and even though it lashed rain right up till the start and the transition area was like a swimming pool it was still enjoyable, the only challenge with the 750 mtrs downstream was trying to stay behind the start line at the beginning and getting to the steps on the exit without being swept away. The bike is an easy 20K ( the roads dried out really quickly) and the 5K run shouldn't cause any problems either. i have signed up for this year.

Been swept downstream!! Sounds like my kind of swim!!!:P:P:P. Flat on my back and let nature take its course:):) How many people did it last year??

crosbie

Yeah a triangular course. The beach there is fine though swam there onoce already to check it out and currents seem ok. All in all there are far harder places to swim in the sea - Seapoint this weekend was nuts!!!

Poncherello

Carraig on Suir is as easy a swim as you will do
last year it wasnt possible to do it in less than 12 or 13 mins
I think I did it in 6 mins or something and was probabaly 40th out of the water or something in that ballpark

Tip: If it is wet again this year dont put your runners on till you leave transition as the field will turn into a muddy mess

jlang

crosbie wrote: »

Hi all doin the Skerries Tri at the ens of the month. As I am only doin the sprint should I use clipless pedals or not. I feel that the time I would loose in transition would make up for any deficienceies in power lost by cycling in runners. I know the cycle is the most demanding part of this tri so I would appreciate any advice - also I have only really been cycling seriously for the past 6months so still kind of nervois useing the clipless. I do commute by bike but have an old racer which has normal pedals so my general bike skills are fairly good.

I only got my first road bike in January and went clipless in April so I was in a similar boat to you. I was concerned too, but tried it and my advice is go clipless.

I figured it out as follows: you have to put shoes on after your swim anyway so there's no cost in T1. I compared T2 times for a couple of races for a number of people I knew did and didn't change their shoes in T2 - the time differences varied but I figured with tri-cycling shoes and lock laces on the runners the cost was about 30 seconds. (The top guys who are happy with having their shoes attached to the pedals can do it quicker and would have a saving in T1 as well). So the question to ask yourself is whether you think cycling shoes will save you 1 and a bit seconds per km over 20 km and/or leave your feet/legs better able to run? For me, I do.

Only caveat - don't go with cleats for the first time in the race. It takes a bit of practice to be comfortable clipping in and out and changing your shoes.

(The duathlons in the Phoenix Park need shoe changing twice and have much shorter stages so I'm not so sure the savings are still sufficient, but I'm not changing my pedals back to find out)

bananamansgay

crosbie wrote: »

Yeah a triangular course. The beach there is fine though swam there onoce already to check it out and currents seem ok.

im a bit worried abouty the swim actually, i swim in skerries a lot and 90% of the time it is very choppy, hope its dead calm come the 21st!

griffin100

Hi all doin the Skerries Tri at the ens of the month. As I am only doin the sprint should I use clipless pedals or not. I feel that the time I would loose in transition would make up for any deficienceies in power lost by cycling in runners. I know the cycle is the most demanding part of this tri so I would appreciate any advice - also I have only really been cycling seriously for the past 6months so still kind of nervois useing the clipless. I do commute by bike but have an old racer which has normal pedals so my general bike skills are fairly good.

I trained and raced on runners for a year but recently switched to tri shoes (http://www.cyclesuperstore.ie/shop/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=26075) and cleats. The main reason for my delay in changing was that I was worried about falling off at slow speeds due to not being able to get my feet out of the pedals and either damaging myself or my shiny new bike. I should have changed months ago. It took me an evening of constant tinkering but I got a cleat set up I was happy with, rasied my saddle slightly, did one 20km cycle with the cleats and the next day did Kilcock Sprint and the following weekend Athy Olympic. The difference is huge. My times were significantly faster on the cleats and I wasn't wasting energy trying to stop my feet slipping off the perdals as I cycled; another big difference was that I could cycle standing on the pedals whereas wearing runners I never could. I would reccomend you try cleats if you can. There's plenty of time to get used to them before Skerries.

crosbie

bananamansgay wrote: »

im a bit worried abouty the swim actually, i swim in skerries a lot and 90% of the time it is very choppy, hope its dead calm come the 21st!

Skerries isn't that bad there are a lot choppier places. I think it is just about reading the waves and of course bilateral breathing helps - breath to the opposite side of the wave. The technique for OW swimming is slightly different than the high elbow finger skim we all use in the pool it is a more hammer type action with less of a glide phase. High hand swing. When I changed to this technique I found it much easier to swim OW and my stroke was less effected by the chop.

Bambaata

Q: how do ye mount ur bikes at transition?

I've been struggling with getting going on the bike at T1 and haven't got the confidence to do that leap of faith onto the saddle yet so ive pretty much been stopping the bike, lugging the left foot over and starting to pedal with feet on top of the shoes but i've had so many pass me while doing this so ive decided i gota try something new. I realised i was ahead of many of the top lads coming out of the swim at athy only for them to pass me in T1 while i was getting on the bike!

MCOS

Bambaata wrote: »

Q: how do ye mount ur bikes at transition?

... haven't got the confidence to do that leap of faith onto the saddle yet !

Practice it in your driveway over and over... like anything else you will improve with effort and once you get it right you have a new skill!

Slowly at first and maybe with 2 pairs of padded shorts....;)

Bambaata

....and maybe with one of those guards down below!! Have you mastered it yourself MCOS?

MCOS

Yep! We had a Transition practice session with the Club at the weekend (3 of your own club were at it) and while one or 2 people may have bruises on their behinds after a few attempts everyone managed it and were getting quicker at it with each attempt!

Alternatively you could put your left foot on top of your left shoe push a couple of times with the right (skateboard style) and throw the right over

Bambaata

ive tried that with comical results. i'll have to get it sorted though. doing a bike/run transition session tonight with the club so i might as well start leaping!

pgibbo

richiemack wrote: »

For other newbies like myself, just thought Id post a message about tri bars. I wasn't sure about getting them first year round, and asked Nigel from the bike shop in Galway. He always gives me excellent advice. Anyhow he said definitely go for them. He setup my bike yesterday and I had a spin with them this morning, and after an hour I can most definitely say it was a good advice. Very strong winds, didnt bother me, kept me down in a good position and had no problem cycling into the wind, something which was annoying me at joey on Sunday. Hope thats of use to anyone else pondering. Picked up a nice zoot wetsuit as well, hopefully get into the sea at the weekend if the storm dies off

Hi Richie,
Just wondering how you are finding the tri bars? You still happy with them? You seeing any gains? I assume that you competed in the GTC TT last night. What ones did you get and were they expensive? Cheers.

I am thinking of investing as I have heard that Carna can be quite windy and an aero position could help a lot.

My understanding is that my setup will be changed to accomodate the tri bars. How will this impact comfort, etc for longer spins or The Lost Sheep where you may not be always using the tri bars? Thanks.

MCOS

Bambaata wrote: »

ive tried that with comical results. i'll have to get it sorted though. doing a bike/run transition session tonight with the club so i might as well start leaping!

How did it go?!

Bambaata

i tried it a bit but the bike was still virtually still when i was mounting. i'll keep at it. the session was more of a cycle/run of bike/rest x 4 session rather than a transition session but i'm gonna head for a car park this weekend myself to try master it or at least improve

richiemack

Yeah Im finding them great, had to have them refitted as I was finding them slightly uncomfortable, but for windy courses and aero position they are excellent and have definitely improved my times. I find that it forces you into the right position, and it also seems to be easier to concentrate as before I was adjusting my position on the drops etc, now there is one and only one position to get into. Yeah I did time trial last night but was not a good example. Legs were knackered from training to hard, and serious lack of sleep. Your setup should not change too much and at most you may have to readjust your seat for longer spins, they can also clip on and off so don't worry about it if you can't use them. Go up to Nigel and he'll sort you out!!

pgibbo wrote: »

Hi Richie,
Just wondering how you are finding the tri bars? You still happy with them? You seeing any gains? I assume that you competed in the GTC TT last night. What ones did you get and were they expensive? Cheers.

I am thinking of investing as I have heard that Carna can be quite windy and an aero position could help a lot.

My understanding is that my setup will be changed to accomodate the tri bars. How will this impact comfort, etc for longer spins or The Lost Sheep where you may not be always using the tri bars? Thanks.

MCOS

Hell of the West Race Briefing Here

2 WEEKS TO GO

ladytri

HardyEustace wrote: »

That's true.

The trick is to find out if it's a club race or not. If it's a club race then I would expect that it's used for fund raising for the club. I know that some clubs also make a charity donation.

For example, in Galway we give a substantial donation to the local lifeboats

What really annoys me is when you can't transfer places or defer them until next year when you have valid reasons for not being able to make the race. Races are very expensive, salaries are falling, I think that people would genuinely appreciate an effort by all race organisers to help people with this.

I agree races are getting very expensive and ideally transfering places should be accommodated. In an event that I helped run last year, we tried to be as flexible as possible but it just turned into a nightmare on registration. We transferred places for a number of people but then we had others coming in saying they'd transferred places when they obviously hadn't,they were just chancing their arms really and because we've 300 people coming through registration in less than 2 hours we have to take them at their word rather than sending them home so this year we've decided to allow no transfer and no late registration so there can be no discrepancies. Having to put the man hours into re-addressing and arranging transfers before the event where annoying and I think people will make more of an effort to attend the events they've entered rather than register willy-nilly taking up spaces and not using them- we had almost 50 no shows last year in an event that was sold out- they could've been used by people who really wanted to do it...
Just my tu'pence worth

tagoona

I didn't want to take up a place in kilkee last year, especially when I hadn't even completed my first tri. I didn't want to stop someone who wanted to be there doing it.

It is almost getting ridiculous though, how far in advance you have to book the spots. I'm sure my wife is sick of me laying out the schedule of the summer.

There must be some standard way of making sure that a transfer is done properly though. Every tri must face the same issue. Has ActiveEurope not solved that problem?

ladytri

Don't get me wrong, the online registration company we used were great and we managed to get most transfers done through them but in order to get the timing chips sorted we needed the list of entrants a good few weeks before the event- its from that time on that it gets complicated because you've a chip registered to John Doe, 32 male and he wants to transfer his place to Jane Doe 24, female....messy. We just thought to make the lives of the volunteers in registration and the entrants coming through on the morning a little easier on the day we'd employ the no transfer rule - I assume most entrants would rather a smooth registration and more time to set up than the possibility of a messy morning waiting in queues

HardyEustace

Isn't the race meant to be about the those taking part rather than the organisers?

I think people will make more of an effort to attend the events they've entered rather than register willy-nilly taking up spaces and not using them

In this day and age I don't think people spend 50-60 on an entry and don't turn up by choice.

And they don't do it just to make life difficult for the organisers

ladytri

absolutely agree hardyeustace- it's all about the participants, thats essentially the ultimate goal - to try to make their lives easier in registration...

MCOS

Would doing a sprint Tri the weekend before Kenmare be a bad idea or would it be just the ticket to get teh legs race ready?

griffin100

Would doing a sprint Tri the weekend before Kenmare be a bad idea or would it be just the ticket to get the legs race ready?

I did Kilcock Sprint the week before my first OD in Athy and personally I though it did me the world of good. It was good to get a swim start and transition practicse for the following week.