What can you tell me about triathlons?

Question

I am thinking about training for one. What are the average distances? What are the average times? Where can I find a trainer? I like swimming, biking and running so I think I will be ok, I just want to better prepare myself.

Answer 1

You can enter as a leg of a team or all three disciplines.

Typical distances depend entirely on the sponsor.  The ones worth doing is a mile (1600metes) swim, 50K bike, and 10K run.

In my prime I swam the mile in 20 minutes, most bikers and runners will do it 40 minutes.  Lost my 20 minute advantage by time I got off the bike to the bikers.  The top peddlers will do 50K it in just over an hour.  By the time the bikers and I got into a real race, the runners would pass us both.

Start with this.

Swim a mile in 30 minutes.

Bike 30 miles in 75 minutes.

Run 6 miles in 50 minutes.

How you do may depend upon how heavy the events are stacked with specialists or generalist.  I was a swimmer who tried to run.

Answer 2

I can tell you it'll be the hardest thing you ever did.