I’ve been invited by a friend to do a sprint triathlon. The race is in one month and I’m scared I will be unprepared if I decide to enter. The only training I’ve done so far is soccer and running 15-20 miles a week, with a little weight training thrown in 3-4 days a week. Should I sign up for the race? Is it possible to be prepared for a sprint triathlon in one month? Its a 250m swim, 12 mile bike, and 3 mile run.
You have 30 days to prep for a triathlon. In your case you have 30 days to learn how to comfortably swim 250M and bike 12 miles. The run portion should take care of itself.
Anyone can cover 12 miles on a bike.
Now to brass tacks — Practice swimming…and try to cover 250M comfortably. Swimming is the least time crunched of the 3 events. If you swim the distance in 4 minutes or 7 minutes it doesn’t matter much — particularly if you spend 3 minutes in T1 looking for your socks. The bike and the run are where you make up your time. But to be safe you must learn how to swim with ease and efficiency.
Start here with the swim http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJpFVvho0o4
For more technical concepts go here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97b6XIntfcc&feature=fvw (there are 4 other parts…)
Essentially your race is A) Be able to swim for 7 minutes B) Ride for at least 1 hour C) Run for at least 30 minutes. If you can do these things consecutively with a 4-5 minute rest in between then you can do a sprint tri.
Again, I would focus on swim SKILLS (not endurance or force — skills like balance, sighting and breathing). Go on your normal run schedule — but try it after riding a bike for an hour beforehand twice a week.
Anything is possible if you ignore the naysayers.
