I'm Doing My First Triathlon!!

I'm only 4 1/2 months out, but I have signed up for my first triathlon on September 18th at Dewey Beach.  Any words of wisdom for my cross-training that I'll be starting next week?  I've already spoken to the surgeron's nutritionist and we have established nutrition goals for when the training really starts picking up this summer.

What are the distances of your race?

You want to be comfortable with the swim, it is usually the shortest part, but can really cause you a ton of problems if you let it get you worked up and tired out before you even get to the bike or run.


You will want to practice going from the bike to the run.  It's called a brick workout.  If you ride for any extended distance then get off and try to run, your legs aren't going to feel right.  It's going to feel like you don't know how to walk or run.  Practice that.  The more practice the less of an impact it will have on you.

I would say overtrain distance as opposed to speed initially.  You want to be able to make sure you can complete the event.  Most sprint distance races are going to take around an hour to complete, so there really isn't a nutritional need for that.
Anything longer and you will need to consider eating or drinking something beyond water during the race.

Have fun, enjoy the experience and don't forget to thank the volunteers.

Scott

Its a sprint tri, 1/2 ocean swim, only a 7.2 mile bike, and a 3.1 mile run.  I was a competitive swimmer for 10 years so I'm pretty solid with the swimming and have been doing 2,400 yard workouts the past few weeks, I just need to get in some open water swims before the race.  In terms of the biking, the course was shortened because there is some construction on the regular course so it was cut in half.  I'm very much aware of the transition issues especially from bike to run and will be doing some bricks as the race gets closer.  Right now I'm just focusing on getting my body used to being on a bike while getting myself familar with my bike and the shifting.  My weakest thing is the run and I'm working on that right now.  I'm even considering a coach.  My goal is to finish without having to crawl across the finish line, preferrably without doing any walking in the 5k.   I checked the finish times for the women and they ranged from a little over an hour to over 2 hours, it really depends on the fitness level of the person.  I have no idea where I'll fall in that range. 

Thanks for the tips.