I am doing my first TRI this September, and I have a little bit different case than most. In october i will be having ankle surgery... if i run more than 3x/week my joint will swell and I will not be able to walk for 2-3 days (let alone train)... i have been spending most of my time in the pool and on the bike (which i am not very fast on either 1:50/100m pool and 21mph bike avg over 15m TT). Today is my first bike/run workout, and have been running 1-2x week shorter distances.

I have done 1/2 marathons and obviously just trained with running for those, how far do you guys/gals feel your general fitness can take you in your TRI training for race day?

What is the distance you will have to be on your feet for the triathlon?

I try to get in two short runs a week (4-5 miles), plus one longer one (8-10 miles). I know a lot of people who run twice a week in tri training for oly distance. And it sounds like you are an experienced runner...that will help you out a lot.

21 mph avg bike split is more than enough to be in the top of the pack in MA...sure, you won't be 1st on the bike but you'll be top 20. Running depends on the time for me. I tend to slack off when it comes to the run training b/c I was a 3 seasoned runner in high school. I will run when I'm at school though.

the run is 5 miles... did 2 miles after my ride yesterday, legs felt great, but i just couldn't get into a breathing rhythm, so will definately practice that transition again. Mind you, my 21mph avg is in a stand alone time trial. Like i said above it is my first triathlon (800m, 17.2mi, 4.9mi). So, i will probably shoot for 19 or 19.5 to be honest on the bike. Just don't want to end up walking the run portion haha

i just completed a tri with one running session last week and only one other run this month. the need to train is more about how well you want to do.

I run maybe once a week. I find that cycling helps my endurance more, which all translates over into my running either way. I also hate running... if I did it too much, I'd probably just quit.

I had the same approach to my first tri back in June (olympic-distance). I went reasonably hard on the bike -- after all, it's a RACE!! -- but there were certainly points where I deliberately held back...in particular on hills where I knew that hammering would give me some burn in my legs. My bike split was 1:10:10, about 21.4mph...about what I do in training. On the 10k I felt great and laid down a time of 44:40, which was only about 30 sec slower than my open 10k PB.

My conclusion was that I didn't bike hard enough.

In my second tri (also an Olympic distance) my goal was to bike so hard that I couldn't run at the end. Literally I wanted to be forced to walk the last couple of miles, so I could "find my limit" and better understand the interplay between bike intensity and ability to do the run. This race was truly an experiment ahead of my big "A" race (the Chicago triathlon).

I executed my plan on the bike and I turned in an average bike speed of 22.4mph (on a hillier course, although one that the race organizers conceded was only 38km and not 40km). The first mile of the run was absolutely brutal. It felt like I was running incredibly slowly, and like many more people passed me than in the first race. But strangely, by the second mile my running legs got going and I settled into a decent pace despite a run course with some pretty decent hills. My Garmin was telling me I was doing okay. At mile 5 when it was time to "empty the tank" I was able to pick up the pace, although my quads tightened up a bit. Overall my 10k run time was 45:08 -- I gave up 30sec on the run to gain 1mph (3:06) on the bike.

The big lesson for me here was that I didn't take a major hit on the run by going all-out on the bike.

So my advice is to experiment a bit and find your bike effort limit. I am still experimenting to find mine.

I had ACL replacement surgery last fall and have not done any running this summer. Prior to surgery, I played soccer twice a week that gave me a great cardio base for running. It has cost me about a minute a mile this year on the run. Now I know what I need to work on for next year.

Monday to friday I get in 3 runs ranging from 4k to 7k. On a saturday I will brick, 50km on the bike then 4 - 7k running and sundays I will do a 10 -12k timed run.