Beginner Training Help

Welcome. Looks like you’re doing more than most here already! :rofl:. Don’t start overtraining!

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which is fine except qualifications = insurance…

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I’ve had 3 coaches over the years, all took a totally different approach but I improved just the same.
The only one still active AFAIK is Daz - we were friends before and remain so after so I guess that’s also a positive. It’s been a few years but he was certainly much cheaper than your expectation.

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Some sensible replies, not getting injured is key to improvement if you are injury prone (obviously).

A few things to consider that I’ve not seen mentioned:

  • Bike work helps improve running but not the other way round - although you do need to do some intense work for those gains to properly manifest. As it’s also likely to cause you fewer injuries, it makes sense to focus high intensity here whilst getting on top of your ITB issues
  • You could consider doing your 20km cyclepath in different ways. 20km steady effort but also 10 km warm up, stretch, 10km flat out … or (3km easy, 3km hard, 4km easy) x2 … there are many possibilities here as I’m sure you can see for yourself.
  • No reason why you can’t do an intense few minutes on a steady ride - focussing on a strava segment to improve your time is something many people do.
  • 1-2-1 swim coaching is invaluable but you do need a decent coach for that

Good luck :slight_smile:

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Do you need to run for this long?

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Thank you, I think the bike has to be my main focus at the moment so that first point sounds like a good thing really.

Strava segments sound like an enjoyable way to introduce some faster riding actually too. Will have to explore that route and see what’s on there.

I don’t, that’s more my upper limit of time I can dedicate (I can find an hour most workday mornings.

Should’ve read “max 60 min sessions”, my bad for not being clear there

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I don’t understand.

If I come off my bike, or smash my calf running too fast will the coach pay hospital expenses, loss of work ( not applicable in my case) or foot the bill for my fantastic sports massage friend?

Been doing this as long as you, nearly I think? And I can’t think of one example we’re I needed insurance apart from when someone nicked my cougar tt bike…

I think I’m missing something obvious here ?!

The one thing that really surprised me was all had little, being honest… no …interest in were I was at presently.

I got the impression there “ plan” would be very similar if I was a national champion, I’m most certainly not, or a brand new newbie.

There is one very local guy, good results, but we had communication issues and it sort of never happened.

I’m completely underwhelmed overall to be honest, but the fact remains everyone I know who started with a coach, there are lots, went faster, non were as old as me… but the gain is undeniable.

Apologies to the OP, but this might be you one day… lots of great folk on here, they will put you right when you get stuck …

swim lots
Bike more

Run carefully, avoid injuries and you ll do great.

A decent coach over time will become a friend as you will grow to trust them. Daz is excellent, AFAIK not BTF trained but a lifetime of PT experience which adds other dimensions also. He’s still a pretty decent athlete, him and Hywel Towel still kicking the young whippersnapper butts on Zwift now!

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Having a baby will change your world, and give you some huge time challenges… however, it is easy to neglect your own fitness in this situation. Fully recommend taking up triathlon to keep fit, however, for the next few years its unlikely that you will be too ambitious. Don’t start thinking Ironman just yet, but worth taking part in a couple of local Olympic and/or Sprint distance races.

Training on the bike outside is lovely, however, training on Turbo Trainer indoors, requires less time and is probably more effective training than outdoors. A cheaper direct drive turbo trainer (Tacx Flux etc) will be an excellent investment. When you pair it with an app like Zwift, Rouvy or Trainer Road, you will get a very immersive (some would say addictive) training experience.

As others have said, much of your base fitness can come from the Bike, however, some running is necessary. Most of your running should be easy, you should be able to hold a normal conversation at easy running pace. It’s a shame that ParkRun is not able to operate at the moment as this is a great “hard” session. Many people, including some really fast people, run with their babies in a push chair, so its a great way to spend time with your kid and go for a run.

Local tri clubs are great, generally they have a real mix of abilities, you won’t be the only beginner. They survive by bringing new people into the sport, so will be incedibly welcoming. Most are very low cost and offer fantastic value by having a couple of coached swimming sessions every week (you just pay pool entry fee), and often a running session one evening.

Don’t get caught up in the equipment arms race. Just one look on IronManJourney facebook page and you will be bombarded with people telling you how to spend money. This is what I think would be useful starter setup
Bike - buy a used road bike, £400 will get you a very nice bike
Turbo Trainer - this is one area that I would spend money on £500 will get a nice direct drive turbo trainer. A dumb trainer works, and some very good triathletes on this site do use one, but for me a direct drive is essential
Triathlon watch - A used Garmin 920xt or 910xt will cost under £100, or a new Garmin 735XT, which has just been replaced, is available with massive discounts at the moment. The 735XT has a built in HR sensor, not a good at chest strap, but does the job pretty well
Subscription to Zwift - £12 per month
Triclub - £50 per year
Pair of trainers
Goggles and swimming trunks
Trisuit… actually this is optional, as running and cycling kit will do the job, just changing in transitions will take longer

Don’t overthink anything. Spend a couple of years building base fitness and swimming reguarly. Please continue to post here, we are a pretty nice bunch of people, we all started out where you are. I realise that some of us do some pretty extreme stuff, but this is not a requirement to fit in.

don’t ignore advice from @explorerJC and @Hammerer as they know what they are talking about, most of us are talking from our own experience, and mistakes

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OK back on point, swimming … Don’t listen to IMJ types, it is very important. If you are efficient in the water you will have more energy for the bike and run. If you are a strong biker but weaker swimmer you will get stuck in huge packs on the course slowing you down and risking accidents. It is also a very low stress way to build the aerobic system.

I would suggest some swimming lessons with someone local. A teacher not a coach is usually the best start for most especially if you struggle with one length etc. If this really isn’t practical, grab something like the Total Immersion book (very good introduction for beginners, don’t get bogged down in the TI is slow debate or any Swimsmooth V TI V some other joker who invented a go faster go easy technique, there is no best technique, the best technique can only be worked on as an individual based on your mobility, injury history, body type, lever size etc. That’s why a teacher is best. Forget anyone that says my method is best!) The book is well written and good grounding to start though. Watch videos of someone like Rebecca Adlington, beautiful smooth stroke, or more recently Gregorio Paltrinieri who utilises a nice 2 beat crossover style kick, ideal for OW triathlon! Work on basics a lot, push and glides from the wall to work tautness and alignment, learn to float, basically just spend lots of time knowing how your body feels in the water. Don’t fret the little things too much that bog down most swim debates, Elite triathletes swim 1:10/100, that is not fast in swimming terms, they are strokes full of bad practices, and most triathletes are nowhere near that pace! fingers open (yes do that) high elbow recovery (doesnt matter just recover as quickly and easily as possible) 2 beat V 6 beat kick, just worry on the basics as said and get that nailed down. Do what feels most natural to start. Stick to doing 1 length to start, recover, then go again. Reduce rest over time, then when you are OK, do 2 lengths. It will come. Best to do 20 good individual length than 5x4 bad fatigued lengths! As you get closer build the distances up. Make sure you count strokes so in a 25m pool, without “overgliding” try to get below what it currently takes, then aim for 25, then below 20
Plenty of more info but don’t fret the little stuff, get in the water consistently and remember the most important muscle in swimming is the brain so always consider what you are doing, don’t just thrash up and down to get distance in!

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OH and just read @Matthew_Spooner ’ s post, some good advice there, run always keep it steady for now, no need for intervals etc yet, work on good form, look up @explorerJC if possible :wink: but , “if easy is all you have”! Id consider mixing it up a little, some days put in a burst to the next lamppost or do “strides” during a run. Bike, I also am a big advocate of turbo training…and rollers but maybe we should leave that for a while :wink: turbos are great with kids, I can be on my bike and riding in 10 minutes, 9pm at night and free, get 30min bike in. Even if it just a spin to aid recovery. once a week do something to push yourself out of the comfort zone. Doesn’t need overcomplicating something like 20x 1min hard/easy , or 5 x 3min on/off also. or even 10min efforts in a bigger gear to aid strength. Once we get to March, see where you’re at and then maybe aim to be a bit more structured, generally keep most things easier, nose breathing or have a conversation pace. Its all about consistency. One bit of advice I was given many years back was train like you have to train again the next day, never empty the tank, should always feel like you have a bit more left.

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Wow, great post thank you.

I essentially got the trainer in preparation for the baby, means I can (hopefully) quickly get a session in when the baby’s napping and take the baby monitor with me. Think I’ll need to stick with this trainer for a while and if I ever get electric in my garage I might look into Zwift and a smart trainer but I’d need to be using this one a lot in order to ‘earn’ myself that.

Local tri clubs could be a good idea if my area has one. I live by the sea and one of the bays looks like it has a decent amount of open water swimming going on, which I feel like must be a club of some kind.

Equipment list is very helpful also. Thanks for the watch recommendations, I feel like I might go for one of those rather than a chest hr monitor.

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which part of the country do you live in?

Garmin Triathlon Watches with optical wrist HR monitor are 735XT, 745XT, 935XT, 945XT, Fenix 5 abd Fenix 6… the 735XT is all you need for now. I read that Wahoo has also released an entry level triathlon watch too, that could be interesting. There are other brands, but I do not know them well

Thanks for the reply. Amazing swim advice there for a beginner like myself. Total Immersion will be on my saved for later list in Amazon for after Christmas and once the pool is open I’ll look into lessons.

I think your advice echos a lot of other advice I’ve read, train at an easy pace almost all the time and very occasionally maybe once a week chuck in some harder efforts.

Cheers

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yep, that the coach has considered the well being of the athlete beyond just putting the sessions together and also considered their own value…it shows they take coaching seriously…

Beyond the pulled calf and the massage costs, if it should go horribly wrong somebody is going to pick up the tab…it’ll either be the athlete, or the athlete’s medical insurance…and if it is the insurance then they will be looking to recover the costs from the coach…

Although qualifications don’t guarantee knowledge, they provide some validation for the athlete…and ideally, the coach shouldn’t exceed their knowledge, qualification and insurance…

(I should add that i am not a fan of insurance but see it as a necessary evil these days).

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Yep, but look at the coach’s coaching credentials, not their athletic prowess…

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Oh yes always, I should know being no mmmm athlete :rofl: I wasn’t mentioning that for his coaching just passing conversation on Daz

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Cycling (and swimming) are generally more forgiving than running…you could probably work for longer at those (especially as tri is cyclecentric)…