Give it a TRI

[JuddMan]

Remember the cut-offs is not per activity ( except the swim); it is enforced from when the race start. E.g. the cut-offs for Ironman 70.3 is

1:10 swim

4:05 bike

3:15 run.

 

If you swim 1 hour, then you have 4:15 to make the cut-off for the bike, and if you made a 1 hour swim, a 3:30 bike then you have 4 hours to finish the run.

 

Meaning that if I finish the swim quite a bit before the swim, I effectively 'buy' additional time in the cycle and run?

[shaper]

Hi everyone,

 

So I have spent basically the last 3 days reading through this entire forum as I am quite interested in doing a Triathlon and am looking for a bit of advice.

 

I have been a strong swimmer growing up (water polo in school etc.) and have recently started running which I love! Will be getting a MTB (although I am looking at changing that to a road bike) in December so my mind naturally though 'why not combine the three'? 

 

Swimming as I said is my strong point of the three. My 2km swim PB is sitting at about 47m.

Cycling I have absolutely no idea as to how well/bad i would be

and with running I am still relatively new (able to maintain a 6.30/km)

 

 

My question is that I would like to know what events I should look for to try the sport out? I have seen some events do sprint distance, however these are only for 16-19yo if I am reading it correctly.

 

A 5150 event seems achievable if it was not for the 1h10m cut off for the run (after the prior two disciplines I am fearful of not making the cut-off 

 

Any help would be appreciated.

Get some kms under your belt on a bike now and until January, then do the Trinity Sports event at Germiston mid Jan http://trinitysports.co.za/trinity-germiston-2-incl-cgt-triathlon-champs-14-january-2018/  You can either do the sprint or the standard (5150).

 

Very relaxed event and a good learner to see how you do... both the cycle and run are fairly flat

 

Oh and welcome

[shaper]

Meaning that if I finish the swim quite a bit before the swim, I effectively 'buy' additional time in the cycle and run?

Yes that is correct

[IceCreamMan]

Hi everyone,

 

So I have spent basically the last 3 days reading through this entire forum as I am quite interested in doing a Triathlon and am looking for a bit of advice.

 

I have been a strong swimmer growing up (water polo in school etc.) and have recently started running which I love! Will be getting a MTB (although I am looking at changing that to a road bike) in December so my mind naturally though 'why not combine the three'?

 

Swimming as I said is my strong point of the three. My 2km swim PB is sitting at about 47m.

Cycling I have absolutely no idea as to how well/bad i would be

and with running I am still relatively new (able to maintain a 6.30/km)

 

 

My question is that I would like to know what events I should look for to try the sport out? I have seen some events do sprint distance, however these are only for 16-19yo if I am reading it correctly.

 

A 5150 event seems achievable if it was not for the 1h10m cut off for the run (after the prior two disciplines I am fearful of not making the cut-off

 

Any help would be appreciated.

A 5150 normally has a 4 hour 10 time limit for all 3 disciplines. The time you bank gives you additional time for the run.

[IceCreamMan]

So where all the Midlands ultra feedback?

[amr63]

So where all the Midlands ultra feedback?

 

Had a great day out at the Midlands Ultra sprint event (600m/20km/5km) yesterday; it was not my first ever triathlon, but my last was in 1996 so I felt like first-timer! I did it with my son Matthew (his first multisport event) so that was also special. After a few cold rainy days Sunday dawned warm, bright & still and by 6am Midmar Dam was a hive of activity with over 600 individual entries in the sprint- and ultra- races, plus teams.

 

No mist this year, so events got under way on schedule. I had not warmed up at all (besides a few stretches) and the mad rush at the start (plus altitude of just over 1000m) meant I was soon in oxygen debt and not at all comfortable in the melee of bodies despite starting near the side, and it wasn’t until the first turn-bouy that I started to feel more comfortable in the water. Anyway, got through the swim in one piece, into T1 (felt like taking a breather on the comfy plastic chairs in there) and out onto the bike course. Due to a number of factors the sum total of my bike training was a 10k ride the day before to set up my shoes, saddle, handlebars, etc so my goal on the bike was to keep the cadence up, spend as much time on the aero-bars as possible, and not fall off. Oh, and stay in front of my son for as long as possible, as I went through T1 ahead of him. The ride went fine, I had some good patches & some where my butt was sore & legs burned, I passed a few people and got passed by others, discovered that the smooth bits of road are much faster than the rough bits, and managed to stay ahead of Matthew until 2k from the end. I also hadn’t tightened my handlebars properly and they got steadily looser through the ride, but I made it into T2 just as Matthew was leaving. Quick change of shoes, changed helmet for a cap & I was out on the run. The first 1.5k felt like my legs weren’t mine and were still going round in circles, and it wasn’t until 2k that I could feel my toes properly, but things got better as I went and I managed to run the second half a minute faster than the first half which was great. Matthew also had a good run and proceeded to take another 3.5 minutes from me, finishing just over 4 minutes ahead at the end.

 

All in all it was such a well presented event, the weather played along (but got hot & windy for the ultra-triathletes) and there was a very friendly vibe. Thanks to the B-Active Sports team.

 

link to 2017 results: http://results.finishtime.co.za/results.aspx?CId=35&RId=2395

[Chris_]

Matthew also had a good run and proceeded to take another 3.5 minutes from me, finishing just over 4 minutes ahead at the end.

 

 

Well done to you both! Awesome stuff 

[ScottCM]

on my old road bike i used a profile design Fast Forward seatpost 27.2 x 350mm

 

 

my new bike uses a 25.4mm seatpost so i can't use this anymore, anyone know where i can source the same type of post but in an inch diameter? 

[MarkW]

So where all the Midlands ultra feedback?

I did the ultra 70.3, the race was tough! Either way I enjoyed every minute of suffering:) for my first 70.3 I managed a 5:18... I'm quite chuffed and I'll definitely do it again.

[Chris_]

I did the ultra 70.3, the race was tough! Either way I enjoyed every minute of suffering:) for my first 70.3 I managed a 5:18... I'm quite chuffed and I'll definitely do it again.

 

Yoh.. Great time!

[@ndy]

I had a pretty tough race. I really enjoyed it though. I came in in 5:25.

 

That’s a very good time for a first attempt Mark. Well done.

[WP12]

So where all the Midlands ultra feedback?

I did the sprint and as I mentioned above, it was my first tri and first open water swim.

 

The swim was quite a shock to say the least. I did not start far enough to the left or back so ended up in the middle of the bunch which was less than ideal. I realised about 50m in that I am not breathing and when I concentrated on that things got slightly better.

 

The sighting also messed with my rhythm and caused my legs to be lower than usual. Also realised later that I am not really kicking. Anyway, lessons learned and just happy to have survived it. Official time of 22min although my watch said 18min.

 

The cycle went well with no issues. Was satisfying to overtake a few competitors who swam so elegantly and effortlessly past me. Cycling time of 46min.

 

Transition to the run was smooth without surprises as my coach had me practice this the week before. Only issue was a severe ITB ( I think that's what it is at least) on my right leg which almost brought me to a standstill at the downhills. But the flats and uphills were normal so I pushed there. Running time of 29min.

 

Incredibly grateful to have completed my first tri and will definitely be back. Would like to try the ultra distance at Durban in March 2018.

 

 

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

[gurns]

I did the ultra 70.3, the race was tough! Either way I enjoyed every minute of suffering:) for my first 70.3 I managed a 5:18... I'm quite chuffed and I'll definitely do it again.

Well done

[amr63]

... Official time of 22min although my watch said 18min...

Well done

it seems that the time spent running up, finding your bag & changing in the tent has been added to the swim (T1) and bike (T2), and only the time taken from leaving the changing tent to leaving the bike-park has been measured as transition time. So your 18min is probably correct plus 4min taken to enter bike-park.

Edited November 28, 2017 by amr63

[MarkW]

I had a pretty tough race. I really enjoyed it though. I came in in 5:25.

That’s a very good time for a first attempt Mark. Well done.

well done to you too, great time.

[LouisS]

I’m new to Triathlon’s and did my 2nd Triathlon ever this weekend at Buffelspoort (5150) which went ok (did Buffelspoort Xterra 4 years ago). Legs were quite tired at the end though!!

 

I was crazy enough to enter for the Full IM in PE next and would like to get some advice on training programs.

 

I did Epic in 2016 and Comrades this year and usually took a recovery week after 3 weeks of training.

 

Has anyone or planning to use Coach Parry’s Full Ironman Program which you can download for free? It is a 12 week program but I don’t really see recovery weeks? I was thinking of changing the 12 weeks to a 15/16 week program by building in a recovery week in after every 3 weeks of training.

Any thoughts or advice. Anyone used this program in the past and how did it go?

Thanks in advance.