Can I seek some advice on how to make the transition from marathon training to triathlon training please? I completed the London Marathon on Sunday and am booked into a Familiarisation Camp for the 70.3 distance at Wimbleball on Saturday. I will miss the swim but be able to attend the bike (half of the course) and run sessions (a third of the course).
To my eternal shame, I have not done any triathlon related training yet and have my first race, a standard distance tri in less than 5 weeks', before the HIM 4 weeks' after that.
I am unsure how to adapt the schedules out there to incorporate recovery from the marathon and the short timeframe. Most schedules seem to be a minimum of 12 weeks and I am unsure which weeks to miss out.
I have done some sprint triathlons although this was in 2008 before I had my last baby. The marathon has been my first endurance event so I do not have a background in endurance racing. I am just a keen runner!
Many thanks for any advice.
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I did VLM last year and then a HIM 4 or 5 weeks later.
Don't sweat the run, it will be a piece of cake. Give up running until you fancy one, I think I only ran twice between the two.
Swimming and biking need building but your cardio system is in good order so you just need to get some miles on the bike. Open water swimming if possible.
Remember the following:
Simples! So I would suggest you don't need to pile in loads of sessions. The majority of the triathlon training schedules are there to help you build cardio fitness. So longer bikes are better than hard bikes.
So the next few weeks get rest and start building towards the longer bikes. In 3-4 weeks depending on recovery add a weekly run.
Meface
Meface, I love tip 7, hahahaha.
As the others have said, get out on the bike, that's the most important thing, as your running is obviously fine. I guess the Wimbleball route is hilly (?), so make sure you train on the hills too. OW swimming should be starting up soon, so you'll be able to get a few sessions in too. I probably only did about 6 or 7 OW swims before my HIM, and that was fine.
Good luck, and we'll no doubt see you at an IM next year then....
MsE, I did exactly the same as you 2 years ago, didn't run for a few weeks after VLM, just spent lots of time on the bike, had an open water swim lesson having never swum open water before and did 1 ow sprint to ensure I knew what it would be like, and like Lee a few open water training swims (it's lots nicer than swimming in a pool anyway)
Wimbleball is a fantastic course but definately v. hilly, so I'd suggest getting some hills into your training (where are you based?), and practice fuelling on the bike as well.
Enjoy it it's a great race.
Lots of great advice up here.
I'd add that, if you haven't done much OW swimming, it would give you a lot of confidence if you've swum in the lake, so is there any way you can get to the swim session at the weekend?