PeetB Posted January 7, 2015 Posted January 7, 2015 Hi All I am a complete novice to the sport but have set myself a chalange to compete and complete the half Iron man in East london. I was wondering if any one here can give me some assistance and tips on training equipment needed a diets and also what I will need to do to enter the iron man. any help would be greatly apreciated. Thank you
Raydek Posted January 7, 2015 Posted January 7, 2015 Hi PeetB and welcome to the hub. Not sure what your experience is in the three disciplines, or how seriously you are wanting to take triathlons, but I would suggest borrowing as much of the equipment as you can to do a sprint or super sprint triathlon to kind of test the waters for yourself before going through the expense of Ironman, as it can be a great expense. You can get away with doing the shorter distance tri's with a surfing wetsuit, but it will be a bit restrictive. And you can cycle with an elcheapo bike, mountain (unless specified its not allowed) or road bike. Only look into a TT bike if you know tri's will become your life. For the swim, stick to the back and side of the bunch, give the main a group a chance to get going before you enter the water. No matter how good a swimmer you are, when you are in a massive group churning the water like a washing machine and getting kicked from all directions it gets a bit heavy and some people tend to panic and pull out. This makes for a bad experience/start to the sport. The cycle is pretty much a cycle (most are non drafting, so don't get too close to other riders) and the run is a run. If you do enjoy it and want to take it further to an olympic or full distance tri I would suggest getting in touch with a coach, nutrition, training and knowing when to taper is not the easiest. Also a bike fit is a necessity. And brick sessions.. There are many coaches out there, but try Dinamic Coaching ( https://www.bikehub.co.za/forum/user/27831-dinamic/ ) I believe they have a JHB branch as well. If you do end up going onto half Ironman (70.3), do as many tri's as possible in the run up to it, transitions need to be practiced and there is nothing like doing them in a tri. As much experience as possible is great to settle you in and get you ready for IM. Hope this has helped, good luck and enjoy..
PeetB Posted January 7, 2015 Author Posted January 7, 2015 Thank you for this. Like I said I am a total newbie so my experience is none existent. I will get in contact with a couch and take it from there just need to find a good one for a low cost don't want to spend too much and then find out that the sport is not for me. I used to do cross country in school "back in the 90's" and enjoyed that so that is why I decided I need to do something for personal satisfaction and decided on triathlons’ Iron man to be specific.
Snytjie Posted January 7, 2015 Posted January 7, 2015 I presume you already entered for EL as entries have been sold out for a number of months? My advice would be to make Google your new best friend and read, read, read. This forum has lots of info on it, and there are several others out there. Look for example at Joe Friel's blog which has a few 100 articles on it. He is one of the most sought after tri coaches around. I'm doing my first full IM this year and without a coach. I find it a great experience to work through the challenges myself as I gain valuable self knowledge. I'll think about a coach when I want to find out what I'm capable of. I'd also not recommend doing a 70.3 as your first race. Work up from sprints and a few olympics to 70.3: that way you'll get the basic/equipment right before getting into serious distances.
zaney Posted January 8, 2015 Posted January 8, 2015 i'm pretty much a novice myself, so in no position to be giving out advice. But i started last year, and started a blog about my experiences. check it out, might help in some small way. zanegamiet.blogspot.com
IceCreamMan Posted January 9, 2015 Posted January 9, 2015 Hi All I am a complete novice to the sport but have set myself a chalange to compete and complete the half Iron man in East london. I was wondering if any one here can give me some assistance and tips on training equipment needed a diets and also what I will need to do to enter the iron man. any help would be greatly apreciated. Thank youIf u doing it in 2 weeks time and u need advice then you may be in trouble ..... however assuming you have been training etc...my advice is to just enjoy it and have a great day out...don't push too hard too early and keep an eye on the watch in the cycle leg, the cycle leg in east London is a toughie.... its too late for training tips and diets if you doing the 2015 edition.....
PeetB Posted January 9, 2015 Author Posted January 9, 2015 If u doing it in 2 weeks time and u need advice then you may be in trouble ..... however assuming you have been training etc...my advice is to just enjoy it and have a great day out...don't push too hard too early and keep an eye on the watch in the cycle leg, the cycle leg in east London is a toughie.... its too late for training tips and diets if you doing the 2015 edition..... HiNo I am not doing the 2015 edition I am totaly not ready....but would like to do the 2016 edition.
Snytjie Posted January 9, 2015 Posted January 9, 2015 Buy and read this for a good knowledge base from where you can build your own regime: http://www.kalahari.com/Books/The-Triathlete-s-Training-Bible_p_33013018 Good luck!
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