Triathlon - Proper Preparation

Hey, I'm new to triathlons, and have my first one scheduled Feb. 14. I did a search but couldn't find what I was looking for so don't get mad. The event is 1/10th Ironman: 500m swim, 12 mi. ride, 5k run.

I'm curious as to what kind of shape you should be in by the time the event comes. Here's where I'm at:

1. I can swim 500m in right around 11 minutes, trying to work it down to 10.

2. I've been cycling for about 4 years now, so I'm not too worried about it. Just to see where I was compared to last years finishers, I went out and did a 12 mi TT today and averaged 21.7 mph. Turns out that would've been a pretty decent time compared to everyone else (top 10-20 out of ~200).

3. Running's boring for me, and I haven't done much training for it yet, but I know can go out and suffer through a 5k in roughly 20-22 minutes.

I haven't done any combo days yet, but I have some planned. I have some goals laid out for each event, so should I plan on exceeding those in my training, expecting to be slower when I have to do them all on the same day?

BTW, ANY advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

You already have the fitness level to finish and you don't have much time to significantly increase it. My advice is to go out there and do your best...and most of all, enjoy the event.

i agree with cj...

you have the fitness to finish. you don't have enough time to really get much faster. be sure to do some combo days...just so you'll know what it's like. going from an all out 12 mile bike sprint to a 3 mile run sprint is too much for some people to take...legs all wobbly and noodly. fun!

also...if you care about where you finish, practice the transitions at least once. i've noticed many local sprint tri's are won and lost in the transition area times!

Thanks for the tips so far. I'm kinda worried about the run since I'll probably be going (nearly) all out on the bike seeing as how that will probably be my best leg. I'll probably go out and do another 12 mi this week hard and then try and run the 5 k right after...ugh I hate running.

If you don't do much running, how sure are you that you can do a 5K in 20-22 minutes? That's a rather decent pace, although not a blazing one, and you might be suprised.

If you don't do much running, how sure are you that you can do a 5K in 20-22 minutes? That's a rather decent pace, although not a blazing one, and you might be suprised.

i agree...you might be suprised what your legs will or will not do after you just hauled ass on the bike for 12 miles.

I ran a 5k event last year with very little preparation (1 run a week before the event) in 21:30. I'm in decent shape, and I know I could bring it down a little bit if I really wanted to, but I'm thinking that I'll make up some time on the ride and then just give the rest I've got for the run, whatever that may be. I'm going for a run today so I'll time it to see where I'm at. Also, I have a couple ride/run days coming up, so I'll see how my legs hold up after a 12 mile ride at a nice clip.

Swim update: I swam 3 sets of 500 yds. today at 10:08, 10:19, 10:10 in that order, which I was very happy with. I tried to use a little legs as I could, simulating the event. I'm almost positive I can swim it sub 10 minutes, but I would have to use a lot of legs, thereby hurting my ride/run.