r/triathlon

I'm not new to swimming and endurance sports. I'm a previous club swimmer and run a few marathons and halves a year. That doesn't stop me from respecting triathlons though! Three disciplines at once is a beast.

I was feeling really confident about the day. Training was well. Nutrition all good. The weather was ok... or so I thought.

For context, I'm a small frame guy. 5 feet 3 inches (160 cm), 108 lbs (49 kg). I always feel cold. The slightest breeze or lack of sun will have me wearing a long sleeve or hoodie, even during the summer.

Lake temp was 21.5C, air temp about 12C, and lots of wind this morning.

After I finished the swim, I wasn't too cold but not comfortable. The wind was still strong. The clouds were dark and it had just rained a bit I could tell from the damp road.

I ride 15 minutes in and the wind picks up. A lot. It starts raining a little. I'm watching my heart rate fall on my bike computer (heart rate monitor based). I've had this feeling before. Idk if it's hypothermia but I knew if I continued, I'd be putting my safety at risk. Especially with an open bike course.

I made the decision to turn around and DNF.

It sucked. I felt some shame. I watched other riders pass me and continue on unbothered.

I still don't know how to feel. Continuing would've been a scary grind. I wanted to finish my first but I was so cold. Shoulders tense. Could barely speak to the volunteers when I showed up to call in my DNF.

Anyone with similar DNF experiences? Thoughts on how to manage the cold as a smaller person like me? Thanks all.

Good thing i have rest day today!😅

Currently using Enve foundation 65s

Been working up to triathlons this year by doing duathlons, working my way up the standard distances ladder for them. Just heading into a time trial for a sprint duathlon in August, with a standard distance in December. I'm building these up slowly for disability reasons we don't need to get into.

My concern is food more than physicality, and it is really affecting the confidence I have that I will ever complete it, or come out the other side of it feeling recoverable. Nutrition before/during/after training is always my limiting factor, that it has outpaced my insomnia as the leading hurdle.

I had a nutritionist but no matter how many lists and options I have, between the severe depression and the ARFID...I think I may as well just stop everything I have worked toward for the last 8 months, and that is a saddening thing to hear myself say.

So I ask, does anyone have tips?

It’s more difficult to take my bike out and ride multiple hours a week than I expected, so I’m looking into an indoor trainer. I have my “nice” bike and a hybrid bike that stays in my shed (Fuji absolute 1.3)

Is there any issues with using my hybrid bike as my trainer? I don’t want to go through the trouble of moving my bike back and forth from a trainer and I figure weight, components, and aerodynamics aren’t important if your stationary. Buying a second road bike is a conversation I don’t want to have with the wife.

Hey, I should start with a bit of context.

I started running in July 2023. It was just a lot of walking with some running in between. Nothing consistent.

In 2024 I've build to consistent 2-3 hours of running per week despite stressful job and a lot of travel and long hours. That's when noob gains started. First sub 30 5k and so on.

2025 was a lot more consistent, I was doing like 2-4h per week of running while working the same job. That's when I've did my 5k pr (25 flat).

I was always using some kind of plan with easy running, threshold reps, etc.

Now here comes cycling. I've done some longer rides like 70-120k but it was like once per 5 months and I've ran in between. Then I started cycling seriously in October 2025. I've bought kickr and started to build volume with Ironman plan with swim cut off (I don't swim, I just wanted to combine running and cycling). I could do that because I've quit my job and went to university so I only had to study and could recover better. I started with 5h combined and ended with average of 9h at the end of 2025.

Plan was still something like halfway in the beginning of 2026 so I've built more volume, with peaks around 13h combined. I was recovering well and still am. The issue was that my times at running stalled and I was getting stronger on a bike. I attributed it to doing high volume (for me).

So when the plan ended, I've done trail marathon to celebrate, then started olympic plan to use "base" to sharpen myself and bring my times down.

Despite this shift, my running times and economy just stalled.

Mind you, I've added 35w to my FTP since October 25 (I'm sitting now at 3,6w/kg so it's not really comparable to 25min 5k as it is much better than running time) ​and times in running are the same. Now I have one hard week before FTP test, but I'm certain that I will add like 10w at that test, seeing how lately my power to hr ratio is trending.

Now I have a pause between semesters and no obligations (3 months) so I would like to use it the best I can. I've thought about concentrating only on running, so building to 5-6h per week and ditching a bike. But with that I wouldn't utilise the time properly.

I also think about cutting easy volume in running and only doing sessions. And to relegate time cut from running to cycling. I still can't hold z2 during easy runs so (determined by LTHR field test regularly).

I would like to do even more volume but even I ask myself if it is viable option when my times are so pathetic and it is relatively high volume even for much more accomplished athletes.

TLDR: I've stalled hard at running at slow times and I'm much stronger on a bike. What's the best course of action if I want to improve running, yet don't want to cut cycling?

PS: I know that I should stop competing myself to others but even comparing myself to myself it's pretty bad. ​

https://preview.redd.it/x0oxc7a8zebh1.png?width=700&format=png&auto=webp&s=3ad1fad009454652c78b7f2059ed3ee756e5f46c

Obviously big Respect for all the Participants, but it was always talked about, that its a battle between lucy charles-barclay and Daisy Davies and Alanis Siffert absolutely Smashed it with a 7min 30s Lead. Makes me even happier as Swiss.

I did my first ever open water swim (3,8k) today, and it went really well. I wasn’t scared at all. The lake I swam in is known for having very few fish, and the fish that are there are generally quite small, so I didn’t see any.
In the future, I’d like to swim in larger lakes. Many lakes in Germany have Wels/catfish, some of which can grow to over 2.5 meters long. That made me wonder: do open water swimmers actually come across fish that big?
I honestly don’t know how I’d react if I suddenly looked down and saw a 2.5-meter catfish swimming beneath me😅

Hey all, wanted to ask if there were specific drills (or even preparation beforehand) to attack cardiac drift. What did yall do to ensure your heart didnt work harder over time at the same pace? Do you just slow down and maintain the zone you intend to be in to fix it over time or hold the pace you wanted instead?

On a vein I feel might be similar, my race paces/heart rates are fine up to the 10k mark but my low aerobic is an embarrassingly massive canyon leap backwards. How do I go about fixing how fast I can go with a low HR while not losing my speed on the top end? Can I go for the paces I want on interval/Tempo days without any worry and just let the slow runs work themselves out? Is there a better way to train to maintain speed and catch my low aerobic up?

Anyone have any suggestions on tri suits to try? I don’t want to spend a fortune, but I also don’t know where to start or what to look for. I just don’t want the shorts riding up when I run! Any advice will help, thank you!

Hi everyone,
I’m looking to do my first ever triathlon in November - probably a sprint distance.
I can do the distance for each discipline independently, just need to put them together and get a bit quicker - would be about 1hour 55mins now (not including transitions or accumulated fatigue).
I just have no idea where to start and what to structure my training and weeks like. I already go to the gym a couple times a week, I just don’t know how to structure triathlon focused workouts that can support my other training.
Would love some advice about how to train (swim, cycle, run) and what to do in the gym. I trust your tried and true methods better than all the different articles online 😅
Thank you!

Say 'bike' again. Say 'bike' again, I dare you, I double dare you motherfucker, say bike one more Goddamn time!

But in all seriousness I hope the questions makes sense.

I’ve been strictly training on a TT bike for a November full Ironman at which point my plan is to transition back to road cycling like a normal human being. November will be close to a year of riding TT.

My bike of choice before starting this midlife crisis adventure was a Canyon Endurace but now I’m thinking that an Aero bike will be much more comfortable switching back from TT.

Has anyone tried this switcharoo?

If I don’t do it this year I’d likely have to wait until next year’s race to have another chance at a 70.3.

My background:

-competitive swimmer through youth and high school, been about a year since touching the water though

-no cycling experience, only have a MTB

-strong runner (1:30 half marathon this spring)

Should I commit to jones beach 2026 or wait for 2027?

I have been training for the Toronto triathlon since January. It will be my first triathlon.

I came into this as a very strong swimmer. I was a competitive swimmer growing up, and at 38 years old, I still maintain a CSS of about 1:25/100m. I expected the swim to be the easiest part of the tri for me.

Today was my first open water swim to prep for the triathlon in 3 weeks, and all I can say is WOW. It was by far the most brutal swim I have ever done. I could barely hold a 2:00/100m pace, and after 1500m I was completely smoked. With both the wetsuit and my trisuit, I felt like I could barely breathe, and I had to work way harder than expected to keep my stroke going.

To say it is completely different from pool swimming would be a massive understatement.

Needless to say, the last three weeks of swims in my training schedule have all been updated to open-water swims. I am hoping the extra time will help make things more comfortable.

Any advice from more seasoned open-water swimmers?

I used to compete for my country in a sport before giving it up to try running. I have run 14mins for 5k now and am close to a sub-4 mile. However, what I really want to do is get as good at triathlon as I can.

About four years ago I could swim 200m in 2:08 and 50m in 26s. The furthest I have cycled at once is 90km and the furthest I have rode in a day is 180km. I run around 75mpw. I have also done a sub 5 half-ironman for fun as my sunday long run during a break from training so my aerobic capacity is not what I need to focus for improvement.

In triathlon, I would want to focus on sprint to olympic distance events.

My questions are: what is the most efficient way to train swimming to get back to a level where I can hold 1:16/100m in a pool whilst still maintaining a focus on running 80+mpw? Right now I am swimming 1000m as 400warm up and some freestyle drills and maybe some 15m sprints. I feel quite lost with how to get back to fitness efficiently.

Cycling I don’t mind so much right now as I feel getting back to a comfortable swimming ability is more important, but I may be underestimating how hard cycling would be. I have never raced cycling so don’t know what the learning curve would be like for getting to a racing standard.

I understand the best advice would be to approach other people at the top level, but I thought coming here would be useful as well. I feel going all in on triathlon may not be smart for my running, but I love swimming and want to find a competitive use for it alongside running!