i'm doing a tri (my first) at the end of august. it's a sprint so the distances are short - but they are long enough to make me feel like i need to up my fitness level. the distances are
swim = 1/4 mile
bike = 18 miles
run = 3.1 miles
so, what should i be doing in my training? my time is extremely limited, but should i be trying to do the full distance when i run, or is 2 miles enough to train with? what about the bike? i know i can ride 18 no problem, but should i be riding like 10 as fast as i can to train? i am clueless as to the most effective way to train.
i am moderately fit, but i want to push myself and do well. what is a good time to shoot for? i have been running a mile or two maybe 3 days a week and waiting for my bike to be fixed (actually it is getting turned into a fixed gear). anyways, thanks for the replies and enlighten me....

I'm afraid I'm not qualified to answer your training questions, but I have one for you: are you planning on riding your fixie in the tri? Just curious.

Good luck with the training. If it makes you feel any better, I went on my first "its time for a new me" run this morning and was sorta surprised at how poorly I'd done (my occassional training course was a lot shorter than I'd estimated it to be). Stick with it!

yeah - my geraing is 53X18 - i have no idea if that's going to be too high but i can't afford to change anythig out....oh well, i guess i'll have to get stronger

Wow thats an amazingly short swim... You should run at least 5k on every run regardless and push like 5-6 once a week or once every other. That way you body doesn't get used to dyin every time at exactly 3.1. Also get all the way to your 18 mile distance at least a few times before the race. Again like your run you don't want ur legs to die at exactly 18 miles.

For my first sprint last year, I was simply looking to finish and did roughly the following:

1) made sure I could do each leg by itself. That's not enough, obviously, but it's a good start. For the swim that meant going to a 25 yard pool and going slowly enough that I could finish a 450 without stopping.

2) did some combined swim / bike workouts, and *especially* some bike / run workouts, so I began to learn how doing the first leg in the workout would affect my doing the second leg.

3) did one or 2 workouts where I did all 3, even at a reduced distance, which helped to learn what level of fatigue I would be facing on the run

4) got in a few open-water swims, since that's a whole set of differences beyond pool swimming.

I did my first on a fixie. If you can do the distance, you'll be fine with that bit - fixie legs are powerful legs. Get comfortable with a little over the distance in each leg by then if you can.

Some bike/run sessions are worth doing - they get you used to the weird feeling of running right after riding. And if the swim is open-water and/or wetsuit, do a couple of sessions in those conditions too, because they're subtly different to pool swimming.

And have fun

Well. August is over...how did you do?

Your triathlon may be over, but here's the advice that i gave myself when training (i'm not doing triathlons to be competitive, but more to have a reason to stay in shape)...

When cycling you can slow down and downshift when you're tired, when running you can walk when you're tired, but what do you do when your arms and legs crap out on the swim?

Since i don't feel like drowning or getting pulled onto the boat (even with a wetsuit on), making sure i could "survive" the swim was my first priority.

When cycling on a fixie you can't downshift

If you crap out on the swim, switch to breast stroke. Or to a nasty lifesaver stroke - I use breast stroke arms and a crawl kick because my wetsuit is lousy for breaststroke kick. Catch your breath, and stroke off again. In the worst case, just tread water, which is really easy and energy-cheap in a wetsuit - I've done this too, on an ocean swim I really wasn't ready for. The safety boat asked if I was okay, and I told him I'd stick my arm up if I needed help. Caught my breath, muttered some psych mantras, and headed off.

Bricks!

TysonB
Cushing, Oklahoma