Hello my fellow swimmers: I am sure that some of you out there are doing Triathlons. I started doing them this year. In June I did my first one, then 2 more in July. There were Sprint Triathlons and they were fun and very rewarding for me. I am 52 years old and I have always been swimming. In my mid 30s I competed with the Masters for about 4 years and I loved it. Some family situations changed and I had to step out of the sport to dedicate some time to help my daughters, but now, I am back in the pool and loving every minute of it. I don't have much time to swim, maybe an hour 3 times a week, and now, I have taken biking and running as well. I do believe that most of the people who do Trhiathlons are just regular people, with jobs, family, children, grandchildren, (like me, I have 3) and even if we dont qualify as the Elite, we put our hard work and dedication into this sport to do as good a job as any. My goal for next year is to do the Chicago Triathlon, in August. So my question is: How do I build up some endurance in the bike and running. My weakest thing is the run, although the bike is also grueling. Swimming is no problem. I am able to swim 1 mile in about 25 min at the pool but the bike and the run are more difficult for me. Also, WHAT DO I HAVE TO EAT?????? I don't really eat anything special, I love cheese and I do eat fruits and veggies. meat and fish so, is there any special food I have to eat more of? I know I have writen a lot but well. I just want to post my back grownd so the people out there with more experience, can give me some advise. I dont want to loose weight, I am now at 130-132 lb. I am about 5' 7" tall. but I dont want to gain any either. I want to get to eat foods that will give me the energy to last without making me feel to full, when I am riding my bike or running. Sometimes I feel hungry in the middle of the workout so I know something is not right. Any way, thank you so much for any info.
Maria
Former Member
Welcome to the land of the insane!;) You are now finding what alot of us have learned - it is a time intensive sport when trying ot train all 3 disciplines
Check out
tri newbies
for some trianing plan ideas and nutrition advice plus a forum to ask triathlon related questions.
Nancy -
One of the best ways to get rid of shin splints is to learn how to racewalk and then practice it occasionally. Racewalkers have very strong anterior tibial muscles and this helps prevent shin splints. On top of that, you can often racewalk through an injury that prevents you from running. Be warned, however, that many runners who try racewalking don't go back to running as RW is fun and has many fewer injuries.
-LBJ
I had some thoughts of racewalking, but from what I see and from the little I know of it, it seems difficult to learn. Perhaps I am mislead, but I have been reluctant to look further, besides the fact that I don't know where to even start looking for instruction or help with racewalking. If you have any ideas, please send them my way. I don't know how many miles of running are in these legs!
Thanks,
Nancy
The answer to those questions can be found in The Triathletes Training Bible, (I think thats the full title). You can easily find it at Amazon.com, search books "Triathlon Bible" I would guess it is the #1 selling Tri book. And for good reason, it has great training guides, nutritional info everything you need and more.
Good luck
Another site that I find interseting and helpful it www.beginnertriathlete.com
I did my first triathlons last year as well, and as everyone "warned" me -- I have become totally hooked! And anxiously await the new season.
Running is indeed my weakest link, and I have found Jeff Galloway's Book on Running very helpful. I am following his walk/run program to the letter, and find that it is helping strengthen my legs and conditioning to alleviate my shin splint problems. I ran with terrible shin pain this last year, and am using this off season to try to "fix" that.
I am sure you will do welll and enjoy triathloning -- it not only gives me a goal to work toward, but provides a great cross training for health and fitness that I strive for.
Good luck,
Nancy
Damage -
I'd recommend Dave McGovern's Complete Guide to Racewalking or Martin Rudow's Advanced Racewalking instead, but if Theresa's book works for you, then great.
-LBJ
Nancy -
I sent you some racewalking contact info for the Seattle area to the AOL account that you have listed in your personal profile. Please don't be shy in contacting the people I listed & feel free to use my name.
Best,
LBJ
Thanks to both of you for the book recommendations, and Leonard I will try contacting those you suggested in your email to me.
I am sorry to have taken the topic off of swimming :( Does there happen to be a website for racewalking???
Thanks again,
Nancy
Since running doesn't happen to be my forte, especially after a nice swim and bike ride, I usually do run/walk intervals to get ease the pain. Migh have to check out racewalking
Nancy - I don't see a problem straying into triathlon on a swim site since so many triathletes join masters swimming so they can improve their swimming and get the help so many of us desperatly need in the water.
On the subject of race walking, I started RW because I have terrible knees and have a hard time jogging. I wanted to do triathlons so I took up RW. It is a great aerobic exercise with very little stress on the knees. I learned my technique from a very good book titled Walking Fast by T. Iknoian, see Amazon.com. This book is easy to read and understand and provides a good base.
