That's the spirit! It looks like a reasonably standard sprint distance and looks like a fun-orientated event so good for a first go.

I guess the swimming is very dependent on where you are now and how much you want to put into it. It's very technique orientated which is the reason most people find it to be the hardest discipline - although luckily for most it's also the shortest in the race. In the worst case scenario you could get through it realatively easily by doing breaststroke and you still won't be near the back of the field (most of the slower times on the previous results will be doing breaststroke). If you want to perform a bit better though you'll need to learn freestyle. How difficult that's going to be will depend on where you are right now. Can you swim front crawl (freestyle) at all?

Because of the technique needed I think lessons would be the ideal way of learning. A coach will pick up straight away on your major flaws and get you a passable stroke pretty quickly imo. Other than that there are plenty of vids on youtube, and some good books around. The one I bought is SwimSmooth which is really good, although it doesn't look readily available in the US. The most important things are breathing and body positioning. Poor breathing limits your oxygen supply so getting that sorted is priority (imagine holding your hand over your mouth for 4 seconds in every 5 while on the bike and you can picture how any flaws in your technique will have you gasping).

The good news is that despite all the stories I've heard about people trying it out and barely managing one 25m length of the pool without drowning/swallowing tons of water, all these stories seem to result in the people picking it up really quickly.

I got pretty lucky with the swimming. I used to swim in a club when I was younger, and even though I gave it up when I was about 11 (so 20 years ago) I think the technique had been stored up somewhere in my head and I picked it up again pretty quickly. Cos of this I'm not 100% sure what it's like to go into it completely green.

As for times, I think that if you learn to maintain a steady crawl stroke then 500m probably shouldn't take more than say 12.00. The elite can do it in <7.00, my current time is prob about 9.00, and I'd estimate that I could probably breaststroke it in about 14.00. That said, you can probably add a little onto those times for it being in open water - choppy water and jostling for space with other swimmers can slow you down.

As for running I think that, as an already fit guy, you could easily get to 3 miles within 6 weeks, but you won't be overly comfortable with it in that short space of time. The sooner you incorporate running into your training the better, even if you start really easy, like doing a couple of half-mile (or less) runs each week.

How about this for an idea. You could start tagging a very short run onto the end of your rides once or twice a week. This way you don't have to give over additional time to scheduling a separate session. You're already warmed up and are already wearing sports gear. When you get home, just stick on your running shoes and just set off on a really short run, even if it's just a few minutes round the block or something, and you don't even need to run the whole way. You could walk 2 mins, run 2 mins then walk 2 mins back home. Build that up slowly and you'll have a decent running base in no time at all, with the advantage that you're used to running off the bike.

Going back to times. If we make a very conservative estimate I think we could put the swim at 15.00, the bike at 50.00 (slow to save some for the run) and the run at 30.00, then we get 1:35 which is not too far above average. With more than 6 months to go before the event, with some well-structured (note 'well-structured' doesn't equal 'ball-breaking') you can crush that estimate imo.

Edit: Holy crap, just hit post and saw what a huge wall of text I'd just written!

I was running 10 miles/week as recently as about last april so I think I won't have much trouble getting back into it. It took me maybe 6 weeks to get from zero running to that. I will start earlier than 6 weeks away, but I was just saying I thought the running part would be doable.

I asked around and found some good advice on swim clinics and lessons. Can I breast stroke? I don't know, that's probably what I do.

Meanwhile I am skipping my ride today because I started coughing unstoppably last night. This happens to me about once per winter, where I'll develop a terrible cough and will have it for weeks. Hopefully I can baby it and be back to riding soon.

That's good about the runnning, you should easily pick it up again.

Getting in a swim class would be perfect. You will very likely be able to swim breaststroke as that's what's most people do. It'll get you through the swim but you'll do way better if you learn freestyle/front crawl.

From looking at videos it appears that what I do now is most like a crawl, minus regular breathing and any sort of coordination. A friend of mine who has done triathalons has suggested several clinics/coaching places to me. Some of these places throw in some other tri stuff if you sign up for a clinic, like, you can ride or run with their weekend groups, get lower-priced stuff in the other sports, etc.

Sounds awesome, get on it. The sooner you do it the more time you have to perfect your game imo.

I'll so that sprint triathlon with you if you just want someone to race against... Best of 3 individual times in run, bike, and swim. 2 out of 3 wins. Let me know by early-mid May so that I can start working out in time.

I'm pretty sure I'm going to do it. You think you only need a month?

Half joking half serious... 100% would do. Would make for a good "New Years goal". I wouldn't train yet though, maybe Jan or Feb would start working myself into that kinda shape. I've actually wanted to do a sprint tri as it is obv the easiest of the evils... Pretty decent swimmer and runner back in the good ol days, not sure how I'd do with all three, though. Guess we'll find out!

Well, I think it would be great for you to do it. Registration starts in January, I have heard it fills up fast.

This week was pretty wrecked due to sickness.

Starting tomorrow I am going on a cruise. I'll probably do a spin class and/or some exercise bike crap, and I have a 40-50 mile ride planned for Cozumel. Never ridden there but apparently in recent history they decomissioned the old highway and turned it into a bike-only road (and built a new highway). There is going to be an Iron Man there a few days after I'll be there. Bike rental will probably be a kind of ****ty mountain bike but at least I can get some exercise and do something I like.

subscribing

I love cycling so Ill be reading and asking things if you dont mind, BOL
lml

So I was on a cruise for the last week, so no updates. I went to their gym twice to ride an exercise bike (so much hate for them). Basically just did my intervals plus normal ride intensity on either side of them, about 45 minutes each time. That's less time than I was supposed to but I literally can not stand exercise bikes.

Rented a ****ty bike in Cozumel and rode around the island (my GPS says 40 miles but I feel like it was stuck a little at the end. I'm calling it 40 miles though). Bike was basically a kind of old but in reasonable shape mountain bike. I don't really understand why they rent mountain bikes given that cozumel has basically no hills whatsoever, but whatever, I guess most people find them more accessible or comfortable. It was like driving a truck. I did the circuit in about 2:40, averaging about 15 mph. Oh and the wind was brutal. Weather web site says it was 16mph, might have been higher. Mountain bikes are very upright compared to road bikes so it was even worse for me than usual.

There was an Iron Man in Cozumel today, so on thursday when I was there, there were a ton of extremely badass people riding and running. On Strava there are 30 people listed who rode the same loop as me - I was 29th/30, no surprise there. On my regular bike I probably would have been about 20/30 at best, lots of badasses out there.

When I got back to my room I felt pretty much like **** - by the end of the night I was definitely down with a very bad cold, probably the worst I've ever had. Basically couldn't sleep for a few nights from the coughing. Thursday night and friday morning I almost couldn't move. My abs are hard as rocks now, though.

I'm cleared to start lifting weights again by my ortho doctor. Probably will start again tomorrow. It's been probably... 10-12 weeks since I last lifted weights (problems with my left wrist)

First weight-lifting session since september. Took it pretty easy, wanted to see how it felt on the wrist and back. Seems OK. These weights were harder for me than I wanted them to be... Deadlift in particular was pathetic but my legs were pretty jello-y after the squats.

Lift	Reps
HBBS	65x5,115x5,115x5,115x5,115x5
Bench Press	65x5,85x5,105x5,115x5,110x3
Deadlift	115.0x5,115.0x5,115.0x5
Pull-ups	None, none many.

Got plenty of protein today for once! A ****-ton of fat though. But still well within my calorie limits.

Well, I managed to tweak my back last night. ****ing awesome.

I'm sore as **** from lifting weights tuesday. I basically said **** it to my plan for the day and just decided to ride for enjoyment. I was kind of coughing up a lung so I cut it short.

Time: 1:01
Distance: 16.5 mi
Avg Power: 157
Avg HR: 145
Avg Speed: 16.3 mph

I'm still basically coughing too much to ride (and riding makes it much much worse). Cancelled ride today, probably replacing tomorrows ride with something shorter and lower intensity. Should be through this soon though.

I'm basically at the end of cycle 1 of the training program, even though I ****ed up the last 3 weeks pretty bad due to illness and vacation. He sort of specifically says that it's kind of a waste of your time trying to make up for rides you missed, better to plow through and stay on schedule. So I guess I'm going to enter a maintenace period for a few weeks and then start again and try to stick to the program better.

Maintenance is basically the same hours/week (6-7) but mostly just riding at 65-85% of threshold power, mixing in some short high intensity periods. I'm planning to ride 2 days during the week, 1:30 each, and probably 3 hours on sat or sun.

I am hoping the next training cycle goes better. I should have a more flexible schedule. My big problem this year so far was that I had meetings in the morning tues, wed, and thurs, and I can't ride mon/fri because I am riding every sat/sun and 3 days in a row is a no-no. As it got into the fall sunrise got later and later and I basically couldn't fit rides in and make these meetings. All 3 of those meetings have been cancelled or moved later.

Also I've been doing a lot of contract work over the last year in addition to my regular job, and I think I am going to tell them I am not going to continue with that, at least for now. I mostly hate it anyway and took the work as a favor to someone who still works at my last job. Working on that contract job reminds me of why I had to leave that job in the first place, really infuriating how stupid it is.

This next cycle I am going to try to be better about posting the upcoming week's schedule, too, for people following along, and to keep me focused on it.

Lift	Reps
HBBS	65x5, 85x5, 95x5, 115x5, 115x5
Shoulder Press	35x5, 45x5, 45x5, 55x5
Deadlift	115.0x5, 115x5, 115x5

After this I feel fine so I will probably start to ramp up back to normal levels. Wrist feels... OK. Not perfect but OK.

Just tooling around.

Time: 1:20
Distance: 22 mi
Avg Power: 147
Avg HR: 149
Avg Speed: 16.1 mph

Got woken up in the middle of the night for work last night, couldn't get back to sleep, so I slept in this morning and didn't ride. Came home a bit early to ride, took the somewhat shorter option to get back before it starts to get dark. Decided to ride harder than usual because, why not.

Time: 0:56
Distance: 16.4 mi
Avg Power: 190
Avg HR: 155
Avg Speed: 17.4 mph

Basically rode right at my threshold for the entire ride up to the last mile or 2, where I slowed down a bit. Averaged 19 mph until I got to the hilly/windy part.

Rode yesterday and today, logging them both now. Random rides through the country side. Had a group ride planned today but I messed up the details and was too late so I rode by myself.

Saturday:
Time: 1:00
Distance: 16.5 mi
Avg Power: 167
Avg HR: 140
Avg Speed: 16.5 mph

Today:
Time: 2:30
Distance: 37.2 mi
Avg Power: 146
Avg HR: 140
Avg Speed: 15.5 mph

Dumbest weight lifting session ever. My wrist is definitely still injured so I'll be scheduling an appt with the ortho doctor, this time to get an MRI. So I only did squats, because it's the only exercise that doesn't stress my wrist.

I haven't done another road test yet - probably will in a few weeks when I get ready to start the next cycle. I did look through some of my rides from the last month though. I use Training Peaks software which makes some nice graphs and stats and stuff.

One of the things it shows is a mean maximal power curve. It's a little hard to explain but basically it has time on the X axis and power on the Y axis. A single point on the graph means the highest power, Y, you performed for the length of time X. So it samples all the periods in time interval the graph is for (say, all time or the last month or whatever) and makes the graph. So you can look at the graph and determine, "the best power output I did for 8 minutes in the last month is 300 watts" or whatever.

So like I said I have not done a road test, but my best 8-minute power output in the last month was 275 watts. My first road test in september was 225 watts which means a 50 watt improvement, about 25%. Not bad. Honestly it's probably better than that, because that 8 minute segment was embedded in a 3 hour ride, possibly I could have given more if I hadn't ridden 90 minutes already with 90 more to go (pretty sure that segment is from the traditional sprint on this ride, where everyone rides their ass off for the last few miles into the rest stop in the middle)

1 hour ride, sort of my regular loop.

Time: 1:00
Distance: 16.5 mi
Avg Power: 184
Avg HR: 138
Avg Speed: 16.8 mph

Thursday was cold in the morning so I had planned to ride in the afternoon. Ended up having to work late.

Saturday, I decided to go on a club ride, it's sometimes hard to tell what it'll be like. This one sucked - mostly sort of "in town" so a ton of lights and stop signs, general a too-laid-back and slow ride.

Time: 2:00
Distance: 29.1 mi
Avg Power: 117 (186 normalized)
Avg HR: 128
Avg Speed: 14.4 mph

There was a few miles of sprint towards the last re-group spot. I blew the doors off them.

Ride got cancelled this morning due to rain. Came back to the house and took the boy out for breakfast, where we murdered a stack of blueberry pancakes together.

Kinda bummed. Today was going to be the day I crossed a pretty arbitrary goal - 5000 km of (recorded) riding. I'm definitely missing a bunch of rides in my records because I used to only record it on my phone and lost a few months worth when I broke it. But anyway, it was a milestone, today was gonna be the day.

If it doesn't clear up enough for me to ride outside I'll probably have to haul out the trainer, which I hate, with all my heart. It's one of these:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HN1cuVRRRzM