For those of you who do triathlons, are you also serious about cycling? I'm a competitive cyclist (road racing and cyclocross racing) and have been interested in maybe doing a triathlon, I attempted to train for one earlier this year but it interrupted my training in cycling since hours that could have gone to being on the bike went to running and swimming. As soon as I transferred those hours back to my cycling the performance gains were trippled on the bike. How do you guys balance the three sports so you don't interfere with your performance gains in cycling?

When I began training for triathlons my saddle time decreased but my training rides actually seem to be more productive. I'm not sure if knowing I have to maximize my training time now has pushed me to get more out of my training rides or if the cross training benefit of running and swimming is helping my cycling (probably both) but my time trials have actually been improving at a better rate with 3 or 4 training rides a week then they were when I was doing 6 or 7.

If you choose triathlon, something has to give. You can't have it all.. That said, I know plenty of super strong cyclists who are also triathletes.

i agree...

i was a cyclist now triathlete. overall my fitness is better because instead of riding 2-3x/week as a recreational cyclist, i work out 5-6x/week now to fit in the running and swimming. but the added weight of having bigger/stronger upper body muscles from swimming probably makes my climbing less than optimal.

triathlon is great though, dont' get me wrong. and your cycling may improve just because your overall fitness is better. but if i wanted to be a great cyclist, i'd ride 5-6x/week instead of 1-2x/week.

john

Just to reiterate what others have said, I'm predominantly race MTB and train on road. This year I decided i would try to do an Ironman. I spent a pile of time running and swimming building those bases up and sacrificed my cycling a bit. To be honest, I became a much more fit athlete, riding for 5-6hours and going for a run afterward was no problem. My explosive sprints etc on the bike definitely suffered as a result of it though. Slow twitch vs. fast twitch. The bike was still my best event by far in the Ironman though.

I actually really enjoyed the triathlon training, I never really got to the point of being sick of riding this year which often happened in years past. The diversity in training was a really nice change and kept me motivated.

If you do train for a triathlon, the season after, when/if you get back into cyclist specific training, should be amazing as a result of building a large, diverse training base as a result of the triathlon training.

b.

This is my 3rd year doing tri's. I wanted to try one; got tired to doing mountain bike races and was road riding quite a bit. I would do one just to say you did, however, if your passion is road biking, you probably won't like doing the training it takes to become competetive in this sport. For smaller tri's, you can get thru the run okay by doing a lot of riding, but if you want to get thru the run in a "timely" manner, then you're going to have to hit the road with tennis shoes. I'm finding that a lot of my training for next year will be mainly running. I'm a good biker, and just a decent runner. I can run a 7:00 - 7:15 minute mile for 5 miles no problem, but that's not going to put you on the podium.

Swimming - some guys are just good at this. You can't go out and successfully become a fast swimmer by only swimming once a week. I did a 1/2 ironman last week and it's difficult to overcome a 10 minute deficit before you even get on the bike. (I'm swimming 3-4 times a week consistently - I'm strong, just not super fast.)

It's all about goals. If you want to do one, they're great. I'd strongly suggest doing it. If you want to be a contender, it takes a lot more sacrifice than biking does in my opinion.

I agree with SlowMo. There is some serious training required to be good at Triathlons. A Lady from my Triathlon club went to Lausanne for the Age Group Worlds. She was doing 19 hours training a week as well as working fulltime. That was for standard distance triathlons, and she came about 50th in her age group.
Personally I swim 3 times a week, run 3 times a week and cycle 3 times a week. But that's probably only about 8 - 9 hours a week and again I normally compete in Sprint Distance Triathlons. 750m swim, 20km cycle and 5km run. Great fun.
I have heard the following as a guide for a competitive Triathlete:
Swim in the morning 6 days 2 hours, cycle straight after work in the afternoon 5 days, 2 hrs, run off the bike 1 hour. Saturday or Sunday depending on your schedule long cycle and/or long run.

I enjoy doing Triathlons and the training variations have kept me motivated and fresh.

I use to ride recreatoinally and since I think you crit guys are nuts... kinda like rollerberdy on a bike, I decided to try triathlons. I spent a fair amout of time reading up on the subject before I started my training, thats my compulsive nature i guess. But I suggest you read a book before you start your training. It will definetly improve your performance and quality of training.

I train about 15hrs a week on average and work about 70hrs or so. Its not hard to get in the training time, but I dont have a family. And I know you guys wont likely believe this but if you train with a purpose and with a plan you can do really good in your first year... worst finish has been 2nd in my age group. Even finished in the top 3 a few times. And I dont think my cycling has been hurt.... quite the opposite I have increased my speed and endurance tremendously this last year. The key is to put in the time. The triathloon training bible by joel friel is a great book. For longer triathlons IronFit by Don fink is awesome.... if you dont wanna do an ironman event only train to the raice you want to do plus a little more that way you can kick ass.

By the way if your swim times are slow and your swim more than twice a week for an hour at a time then your should get some professional swim lessons ($20-40 per hour) and your times will improve tremendously. Swimming is the most technical aspect of triathlon... and is usually the easiest to fix with instruction. You could take minutes off your time with proper technique and spend less time in the pool.

Otherwise give the triathlon a go. If your inshape you could cross train in a few weekd for a sprint distance.... you'll have a blast and wanna do more.