Question for Triathletes?

Question

Hi-

My friends and I are training for an Olympic Triathlon in August, and I have a couple of questions.

First, I need a road bike. There is a bike factory in our town (carries mainly schwinns), so we have a lot of options here. I was looking at a Scwinn Fastback for $500 - is that a pretty good deal, and is that a decent road bike for a triathlon?

Second, what should we do for swim workouts? Right now, we are biking and swimming 3 days a week, running on all of the others, and lifting on two of the run days. I am pretty educated about running programs, and one of my friends is a hardcore biker, but we know nothing about swimming. What do we do?

Finally, is it worth investing in trishorts or a trisuit? I have no idea what is going on when it comes to equipment. All I know is that I am super pumped up about this race.

Thanks,

Matt

Answer 1

I have not participated in a triathlon, yet, but my friend has been in many. He recommends the tri-suit. You swim first so you don't want to be running/cycling in soggy bike shorts. I'm not familiar with the bike mentioned, but I haven't been able to find a road worthy bike I'd be willing to buy for less then $700.00 and I am not even that into riding on the road.

Swimming. You should work on free-style and breast stroke. I would recommend swimming in open water if possible. If not, swim in the side lanes in the pool so it causes a little bit of a wave to simulate open water. Focus a lot on breathing. That is all I can tell you as of now. Good luck.