Triathlons.

congrats on discovering another great sport. you raised many questions and ill try to add my 0.02 quickly is possible. how to build up endurance? clearly swimming is a serious strength and most strong swimmers take years to master the run. running is weight bearing and alot of swimmers struggle with this. the key is to start slowly. i coach triathletes and some are strong swimmers/weak runners and its the injuries that cause them the most problems, not so much the endurance. what id recommend is a plan where you run no more than 3x per week, or every other day...start off by walking 4 min/jogging 1 and repeat that as you see fit. after a week or so try walking 3/jogging 2 and so on, eventually youll be running the whole time, but you have to take baby steps in the first two months or so to avoid the injuries. I finally convinced my wife to do this and shes managed to do several half marathons and half ironmans. you just need to be a little patient up front. the other problem with the run part of a tri is that its the last event and youre already good and tired by then, so this is where your overall endurance comes into play. when you get tired your running form deteriorates which also leads to injury. therefore you need to have a solid aerobic base. Chicago is an olympic distance race which will take you 3 hrs or more. be prepared to exercise for this duration. the best way to achieve this is to develop your biking endurance. get to the point where you can ride 2.5 to 3 hrs comfortably. (remember endurance training can be done at a slow comfortable pace, you dont need to hammer the long stuff) as with running this should be done gradually. figure out how many weeks youll have to train for chicago, and develop a plan accordingly. work backwards from the race date and figure out how you can up your mileage to the necessary quantities....youll probably need to be able to run about an hour and a half and ride for 2.5 hrs. (these would be your ultimate long workouts...just to make sure you have the aerobic strength you need) as far as what to eat. everybody knows whats healthy and what isnt, however, if youre concerned with race nutrition you need to experiment. you will need to eat during a race of this duration. some people go the totally liquid route using gatorade and sports drinks, allow for 300 cals/hr or some mix things like power bars/clif bars in combination with sports drinks and water. regardless of which path you choose, either will provide the necessary calories but you must practice in training. one things for sure, during a race, nothing tastes good!! things to avoid...dont eat a big salad or tons of fruit the day before, be very careful as to how various foods affect you from one day to the next. best of luck

Nancy - As to websites, try: www.worldwidewalkers.net Warning: Funded by a wealthy person who has an axe to grind with the mainstream of racewalking in the U.S. Generally timely competition info, though. http://www.racewalking.com Jeff Salvage's site. members.aol.com/.../homepage.htm The very eclectic Dave McGovern's site. Dave is a trip and a half. http://www.usatf.org This is the NGB for Track & Field (and racewalking) for the U.S. http://www.iaaf.org This is the international organizing group for track and field. There is also a Yahoo group, I believe. Most of the above sites will also have links to other sites as well. Be aware that the controversies that go on in racewalking make the Middle East situation look benign and simple. Don't let that bother you. Just take what you need out of it and skip the B.S. -LBJ

Thank you LBJ for what look like great sites. I have at least opened and bookmarked them to peruse at leaisure. www.racewalking .com results in a error message -- unable to find. Perhaps this one is no longer active. I will be checking out these sites and really giving racewalking some cnsideration -- if I can learn to do it correctly! And thanks to Bulldog for the tips for running and training to run. I do still swim:p -- and am just about to leave for some time in the pool. Nancy

This isn't really a reply to my own message, but does pertain to triathlons so I thought I would keep it under that thread. This morning (the last of this year) I did an indoor tri at my Y. It was fantastic, and I think I have just started an annual "tradition" Someone on another forum I am on suggested this, and at first I thought the logistics too confining -- pool to down the hall to the bike and then treadmill??? But it works if you don't pay attention to the first tranistion. I did make a clothing change and put on a baseball cap for the dry part of the tri, and the rest was simple. I did 800 yd swim, 13 mile bike, 3.0 mile run/walk. I feel GREAT!!!! Happy New Year everyone Nancy:D

:) Hello every body. l want to thank each and everyone of you who replied to me giving me advice and encouragement. l am so looking forward to this year's Triathlons season!!!!!! Like bulldog said, it takes a bit of time for a swimmer to get used to running so l have been really concentrating on endurance in this sport. l am a swimmer and the swim part of a Tri is my best. The bike is ok, but l still need to improve a little. Thanks again for your kind words. Maria

I do long course, international distance and I'm going to start doing halfs. I would recommend following the one workout a day schedule in triathlete magazine. To help with the bike you must join a riding group for a period of time. The riders you ride with should be faster, they will tortue you but you will become better, faster. As far as the run goes, you just have to run. Peruse thru Running magazine for tips on form & technique. Do some fun runs locally 5k, 10k. Running comes down to guts & willpower. Many age-groupers lose their mental toughness on the run. If you gut it out you will pass people who are blowing up. As far as eats go, I'm in favor of hi-protein intake, balance your carbs, carb load before an event. Get on some good supplements. Sleep more during peak training!!! Sleep will pay you dividends. Good luck and go HARD!!!!! You will pass people half your age.