Training for a Triathlon?

I'm looking for ideas on how to train for a triathlon. How much can I do at the gym and how much should I do in nature?

We have a free gym at work with treadmills and bikes. No pool though. There is also an enormous park next to our office building with bike trails and walking/jogging trails.

How you choose to train is up to you.  You'll get a lot of input, but however or wherever you feel most comfortable is the way you'll actually do it.

Find a good plan and see what's good for you.  I like to stay close to the potty, so I train almost exclusively at the gym.  I do running events sometimes so I'm used to running on the ground, but nearly everything else I do at the gym.  Chances are good that I'll do some biking outdoors next summer since I want to do a half iron (and finally have a bike), but I don't swim anywhere but a pool.  I'm not that great a swimmer and am going to take some lessons soon, so I feel safer in the pool.

The area that you're the weakest in is probably what you should try to do the most of.  I'm really a runner first, but when I'm tri training, I swim 3 times a week, run 3-4 times a week, and bike twice.  I also get at least one brick in a week, usually two.

There's a lot of knowledgeable folks on this board who are happy to help anytime.

Good luck with your training!

Linn

"I also get at least one brick in a week, usually two."

OKay, what does that mean?

Bricks are when you do two legs back-to-back, to practice transitions, like swim-to-bike or bike-to-run.  The order of the Tri events are Swim, bike, run.  Each uses some different muscles to the brick helps train the muscles for the change.

Good luck!
Donna

Thanks!

The bike-to-run transition is the hardest on most (legs feel like bricks after riding hard), so that's what I do.  I rarely do a swim-bike workout.

Linn

A brick is the transition run off the bike.

There is 2 ways to think of it.

B(bike)R(run)ICK(how your legs feel), hence BRICK

Or that your legs feel like bricks when you run after hopping off the bike.

Bricks aren't bad for me anymore. The only time they hurt is when I hop off the bike after 100+ miles and then go run. I run well off the bike usually, but it took a lot of work.

There have been some good comments here and I'm only three months into tri training. I started out by focusing on my strongest events (swim and bike) and I realize it wasn't the smartest move. Although I can go and bang out 4000 meters on a Saturday and ride 50 miles immediately after... I can only last a few miles on the run. So I have a totally lopsided capabilities in my events.

Even now my times on my swim miles are 21 minutes and I can pace about 18-22 miles an hour on 40 miles of a moderate course on bike, but I can't go out and run ten miles. I'm only sharing this with you to show how gaps in your training can affect you long-term. So the comment about focusing on your weakest events is so important. I have also found my body adapting and giving you a false sense of security thinking that becuase you are fast in other events, you can make up time and then willingly surrender time on events you are weak in. It is such a bad cycle to get into.

The main thing I think is to determine what type of traithalete you want to be. Do you want to do sprint events or olympic or 70.3's. Once you determine what your goals are, you can develop a plan accordingly. I hope to see you posting months from now on your progress / events you have done. Best of luck.

Jeff

I'm wondering if your bonking is nutrition related. What exactly do you eat/how often on a long ride? Do you eat after the swim?

My weakest is running. I've been using the stationary bike in the gym and when I do one of the hills programs can go about 7 miles in 30 minutes. But yesterday I tried the treadmill. Walking was fine, but running.... Yikes. I'm going to have to start slow on that one and build up.

I'm training for this particular event in May as it seems to be the first one in my area that has a Sprint event:

http://www.tricalifornia.com/index.cfm/Wildflower2008-course_descriptions_mountain_bike.htm

I like to Mountain Bike. Biking on the roads scares me a bit. But I'm assuming most Triathalons don't have mountain biking and I'm not sure I want to own two bikes. It seems excessive.

I think I can already do the swim distance or close to it, but I have to find a pool and try it out.

I assume I have to be able to do more than distance than required by the course in each event when training at home since I'm not doing all 3 events each day I train, right? What's a good length to shoot for in each event if you are training for a Sprint? What about cross training, such as pilates? How much does it help?

I'm only 5 weeks out from my surgery so there are some things I can't do yet. But I should be fully healed by the end of the year and able to do anything I need to.