You feel like a novice, mine was the inaugural Outlaw half 2013.
46 minute swim
2:58 bike
1:54 run
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2010 London tri for me. Was around the 3hr mark!
Borrowed a road bike. Didn’t even know how to change gears when I picked it up, had never seen shifters on the brake levers before!
Rode in tri shorts, running top, running trainers and a camelback! 
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I carried 2 water bottles (full with energy drink) 2 gels, a saddlebag with 2 tubes, and enough tools to start my own shop…for a 400/20/5
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Northwood sprint Tri 2017 I think. Went and did London a couple of weeks after in 2.34 so not terrible.
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Cleveland sprint tri ~2006ish. Non-continuous TT style race going off on minute intervals each time, with time for about an hour ish for T1 and T2.
Don’t think I’d ever ridden a road bike before, but was seeded last due to swim time. Someone explained I was going to get a lonely day and think they had to arrange for me to go off 20 minutes early for the bike to try make sure I managed to be back in time for the run.
And yes, I had no idea what was happening the first time a disc wheel went past me at double my speed. Saw the Army Tri kit woomph past and wondered if he was testing some secret equipment.
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Had my first Duathlon simulation yesterday!!! Was horrifically humid but got through it all.
Run - 2.2k in 15 mins - Avg HR of 135
Bike - 21k in 46 mins - Avg HR 141
Run 2.14k in 15 mins - Avg HR 154
Actually felt surprisingly good throughout, ridiculous headwind coming back for the last 20 mins on the bike.
Feel much more confident for the Duathlon in 2 weeks now
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Swimming at lunch today.
Jeez this is such a weak point of the 3 disciplines for me, quite nervous about how I’m going to get from struggling to do an unbroken 100m with fins on in a pool to 1.9k in the sea with no fins.
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I think most people have a session in swimming where you go from feeling like a complete beginner to the epiphany “ok that suddenly clicked - I can actually swim”.
It’ll come.
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When? When does this happen? I want dates please @mw22
Cos I’m still waiting!
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Hopefully, back in the pool tomorrow so lets see.
Been frantically googling if I can breaststroke and still make the cut off 
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You actually have to go swimming…
First rule of swim club tho… don’t tell anyone you go!
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When you temporarily paralyse one leg.
And can only swim.
So do a month swimming and gym 
That’s when.
I knocked 35mins off my IM swim time in a month.
I went from 1:48 to 1:13, then the hard year of work started for my only 59 Reckon I’d have got that at IMUK if it wasn’t 4km, too 
Christ only knows what the rest of y’all are doing 
Too much ego boosting & willy waving on Zwift, I reckon.
Put the Strava down and get to the pool.
Isolating the legs (with a buoy, or buoyancy shorts, or bands, or all three) really focus’ the mind on the arms and pull/rotation.
Get those drills done, learn if you’re catching up, gliding (me!), over-reaching blah blah blah.
I’ve never had 1-2-1 swim coaching, or had my stroke looked at. I taught myself front crawl and how to tumble turn.
It’s like riding a bike. Only in water. Without a bike.
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Not swimming…
Well, I’m off to the pool this evening. Hoping it’s less shit than last week where I started off at a hopeful 1.50 pace and my FC slowed to a - how the hell does he do so much and still move so slowly pace.
Did a cooldown breaststroke 100m which was 15 seconds faster than the FC 
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I start off at a hopeful pace, too.
Familiar story
Keep at it - squad swims are how to break the mental barrier of swimming fast repeatedly.
That’s what I struggle with.
ANYHOW…first triathlon…
Woodhall Spa Sprint (@pacha)
Weird outdoor 33/34m pool.
398m swim in 8:16
24km bike on a roadie with clip on areo bras in 48mins 
(Dubious!) 5km run in 19:39.
85/340
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Last year I was trying to swim once a week with the club and do another swim. I went from 2.05 to 1.41 pace in two ish months. It does work.
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This.
I rarely race on zwift. No waving of the penile lengths there. I just don’t enjoy swim training. I love being in the water, just not doing lengths and stuff. 
But weirdly, duathlon doesn’t appeal.
Work that one out!
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Continuing this, as it might help the OP;
What is it you don’t enjoy about swim training?
The utter time drain that it is?
(10-15min walk/drive/cycle to nearest pool, plus back, and somehow getting changed and showered at the pool seems to take longer than home? This is just a #ScienceFact)
The absolute monotony it offers?
I find this good for race day!
Most races are lonelyAF.
Boredom in general?
Swim faster! Less distance.
Smash out some 25-50m repeats.
15 x 50m off 45s should get the kudos in.
Or 30 x 25m off 25s 
Nice little 12 minute set that.
You won’t have time to be bored.
Learn butterfly.
How to tumble turn.
Dive and dolphin.
Can you do a length underwater?
With no strokes?
Just thrusting?
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I’m waiting patiently!!!
Training update for the week.
Swam Mon/Tues lunch times - Tues felt a bit better, going again at lunch today.
Mon - 20k indoors bike working on some cadence stuff
Tues - 4.5k outside in 35 mins - 7.46 pace - this was really tough, legs felt heavy and humidity was up close to 70% and cooked me from the inside out.
Weds - hour on the indoor trainer alternating between 110% of FTP down to 60% in 2 mins on/2 mins off.
Today - 53k outside on the bike, zone 2 ride, avg 27K/h in 1h 57m. Felt great, was a lovely pace, felt I could have gone on for ages, apart from a sore neck and hands.
Fri - will be a 35 min run, going out early morning to beat the humidity. Then swim again at lunch
Sat - Off
Sun - 45k bike followed by a 5k run
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Todays swimming session was awful again.
1.1km - mixture of drills with the fins and freestyle with the fins and then some freestyle without the fins.
Freestyle without was horrific, is really making me concerned about the sprint end of October.
To make things worse there was one other person in the pool that did unbroken lengths for the whole 35 minute session I did 
Anyway - we go again tomorrow
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Is your coach doing any balance drills with you? Balance (aka being flat in the water with little effort) is the foundation of freestyle upon which all the other complicated stuff is built. Fins are fun but won’t teach balance.
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