New to everything! need help! - Triathlon Week

svtfordlady · 07-30-2007, 06:31 PM

Well here is the deal, my husband began riding a mountain bike around the neighbor hood as his workout a year ago while we lived in houston. Now we have moved back to louisiana about a year ago and he began running with friends.....A few guys from his work decided to buy bikes and begin training...After all of this they decided they wanted to try triathlons, I though yeah right! So he continued running and this week a guy loaned him a bike to start riding. Throughout high school I was a very competitive swimmer but never ever ran or biked. All my running was done on the basketball court and no where else. I serious dred running. I have had two knee surgeries and have never liked to run. But i graduated High school 4 years ago, tried the workout thing which I absolutely love but college is very time consuming teh it just doesnt fit in the schedule. So after much thinking I think i want to give triathlons a try. Is there any beginner trianing tips that anyone coudl give me. WHat should my beginning trainign routine look like.

willchaf · 10-05-2007, 07:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by svtfordlady

Well here is the deal, my husband began riding a mountain bike around the neighbor hood as his workout a year ago while we lived in houston. Now we have moved back to louisiana about a year ago and he began running with friends.....A few guys from his work decided to buy bikes and begin training...After all of this they decided they wanted to try triathlons, I though yeah right! So he continued running and this week a guy loaned him a bike to start riding. Throughout high school I was a very competitive swimmer but never ever ran or biked. All my running was done on the basketball court and no where else. I serious dred running. I have had two knee surgeries and have never liked to run. But i graduated High school 4 years ago, tried the workout thing which I absolutely love but college is very time consuming teh it just doesnt fit in the schedule. So after much thinking I think i want to give triathlons a try. Is there any beginner trianing tips that anyone coudl give me. WHat should my beginning trainign routine look like.

I'm quite new to all of this as well. I would say that you could test your knees by running on a treadmill just to see how you feel. Treadmills are much easier on you than running on the road. After a while if you feel pretty good go outside and do some easy running on a school track or the road. Many people rave about trail running, but in our neck of the woods (I live in Houston and I'm from Louisiana) those are pretty hard to find sometimes.

As for the bike, well, it's like riding a bike! You did this as a kid, you can do it now. Just remember that all of the events of a triathlon is what we used to do playing as children!

It sounds like you are a good swimmer already so you don't have to worry about that part.

I'd say if your knees can handle it, sign up for a Sprint (short distance) triathlon and go for it.

I don't know what area of Louisiana you're in, but I know that Lake Charles has a series of 3 triathlons every year - the T-Gator series. [Only registered and activated users can see links. ] . I think I'll try to do those next year.