Does Triathlon *Actually* Start On The Bike? | GTN Coach's Corner

[@gtn]

Always remember to use #gtncoachescorner when asking your questions!👇

[@tomwilson7977]

Weheyyyyy, that’s me on the cover of the video 🙋🏻‍♂️🙋🏻‍♂️🙋🏻‍♂️🤣🤣look mum!! I’ve made it 🤣🤣

[@nickmallett7391]

Ask Sam Long if the swim matters.🤣

[@gourami7]

I was going to say the same and Lionel Sanders as well

[@teamadministrator4822]

@@gourami7 me too !!!

[@marcuswills6569]

Sam Long's post race interview at the T100 was heart breaking. Takes some serious mental fortitude to overcome his swim race after race. He's an inspiration to many.

[@thestreakpodcast]

Absolutely. I race in southern Germany. Sprint and Olympic mainly. I like to do well in my age group. 50-54. There's some fast guys down here. Gotta swim hard to be in the mix. Always.

[@jeffglover7546]

Thanks for the specifics about how to deal with heat and nutrition. Really well worded!

[@gonzalobriones2319]

Of Course it does!!! If you swim right and able to keep a controlled HR during the swim, it means the world!

[@coboisarapatanas]

I’m 1’50/100m open water swimmer. Average/below average swimmer. I never skip a swim session.. 1st because I was able to improve from 2’20 to 1’50; 2nd and really important cardiovascular function is very well trained in the pool without the risk o lesion, and this improvement in fitness transfers to bike and run.. 3rd I can swim until I bury myself and it’s all fine 😅

[@99cya]

the amount of training and effort the swim requires is way too much for what it is in the end. its a necessary evil :D

[@iberiksoderblom]

Well, swimming matters. I suck so much at swimming, that even if I'm pretty good on the bike and very good on the run, there is no chanse to make up for the time lost.

[@alansmith2593]

Another brilliant coaches corner. Always get so into the science behind training :) Proper looking forward to training after off season :)

[@sociallyukeys]

Post C-section, biking was the best for me! Some of it depends on how the healing process is going, too. I wound up have issues with the scar healing after one of mine, so swimming wasn’t my best bet. But if there are no issues healing, it would be an awesome option!

[@coachg4810]

Always train the kick in swimming, especially if you don't come from a swim background and have a weak/ineffective kick. You might never be super efficient or fast at kick reps, but it does improve, and is an essential technique to improve/master. You might spend a lot of time in a wetsuit in races, but the ability to kick when required is essential e.g. at the start or to get to a turn ahead of someone. But the big reason, and I'm mostly looking at the blokes here, is that on that race when it's no wetsuit, you'll be in a world of pain if you can't kick!

[@Civera89]

I did my first full Ironman yesterday at IM Arizona. The swim definitely mattered bc it was so cold!

[@pal_lokomotivet2679]

For age groupers not at all. In Norseman my swim place was 176. My bike leg was 105. My total place in t2 was 106.

[@mikerobinson2619]

Excuse me, I think you dropped something! 😂

[@pal_lokomotivet2679]

@@mikerobinson2619what are you talking about

[@monsieurvilla]

Awesome nutrition/heat management advice

[@gtn]

Thanks!

[@josep9599]

The swim matters to me, as someone who has cycled and ran my whole life and doesn’t know how to swim 😂

[@colinb8327]

The question should be can the swim lose me a race? You’re never going to win the race on the swim, it doesn’t account for a big enough time portion of the race. However if your not fast enough, the time deficit you can accrue can be to great to overcome, so yes, it can lose you a race.

[@davethedogdude]

Beyond simply that deficit, In an ITU Olympic (draft legal on the bike), not getting out of the water to get into the front or a near front paceline will put you even further out of the race unless you are a massively better cyclist than everyone else in front of you and manage to hook up with more of said cyclists.

[@trbeyond]

Regarding question 1, one part was not answered. But yes, hot conditions have been shown to affect substrate utilization. In other words (keeping it very simple) you will start burning carbs at a lower effort than when you are racing in cool conditions

[@Jm-Gonz]

Cozumel is a fun as hell race, but it’s definitely hot and humid, and the wind on the back side of the island can range from very mild or it can be brutal

[@Mike0]

I'm weaker at swimming 200th position on swim, 100 on bike 100 on run, 100 overall(ish). So half the people ahead of me did too much swim training/went to hard on the swim, not fast enough on the bike/run.

[@bekachanturia8901]

As Sam Long or Leonel Sanders if swim matters lol!

[@oliviermonnin8375]

Hi, quick question. Done Olympic triathlon and half ironman distance going for full ironman in July. Never ran a marathon before. Is it worth competing in a marathon a few months before the ironman to know you can do the distance? Or good enough to just train at 30/34km and never do a full marathon to avoid injury

[@richardfile4001]

30 km is plenty for training

[@cathnz9726]

And for the csection mum, that's major surgery. Let your body take the time it needs. Do you have a women's specialist physio, they might be able to help with exercises too.

[@mikerobinson2619]

#gtncoachescorner a couple of months ago I killed my bike frame by ramming the down tube into a traffic light pole as I fell over while stopped (please, just don’t ask) It would cost more to fix the carbon than the frame was worth. As I couldn’t afford a new bike right away, not the one I want anyway (and with winter round the corner) I invested in a wahoo kickr with zwift click and cog. I’ve built myself an indoor setup using damaged frame, and all is great in watopia. The other day I realised I have no idea how much maintenance is required on my zombie bike? Do I need to de grease and lube the chain at intervals? What about the cog, is that degreaser proof or will I damage it if I try and clean it? I did a total clean up and lube before putting the bike on the trainer, and it’s in my garage so no road grime, but I imagine it will need the occasional bit of tlc?

[@mastrepolo]

#gtncoachescorner thank you all for helping out a newbie: I have two questions: I’m obsessed with data analytics, I am training for my first 70.3 next year and am looking at getting a CGM like lingo, is it worth the cost to be able to isolate my nutrients better for the 70.3 or is it overkill? Second question, I’m currently thinking about buying a speedmax cfr tri bike (currently on a Fuji Grand Fondo with Aero bars, ftp ~275, 88kg and 40th a old) luckily the price won’t be a factor, is this also overkill? I’m an avid rider, and would be training on the tri bike ~10hrs a week but understand that it would be solo training moving forward. Again thanks for all the help!

[@Aleks-World]

#gtncoachescorner if someone has a hypoglycaemic event in medicine, you can sometimes treat this with buccal glucose as its absorbed through the membranes in the mouth. When considering nutrition in the race, how much of a glucose gel could you absorb with the same technique - even if just 5g per gel, could this make a significant enough difference to the amount of in-race nutrition you ingest over a race as you could take in more carbs and avoid upsetting the stomach? Thanks

[@Enduranceben3051]

#gtncoachescorner Hi team, this is a long one. Can I ask your thoughts on exercise addiction? I feel that I have been addicted to training for the past few years since starting triathlon and chasing the iron distance, becoming my entire identity. We’re always reminded about having ‘no limits’ and ‘no pain no gain’, and we often express how hard we train as triathletes in the number of hours we train, pushing me to try and get that weekly total higher and higher at the expense of all other areas of my life - increasing TSS totals, the Strava graphs, FTP, the list goes on. I’ve personally felt this have a big impact on my mental health, relationships, social life, and finances. The pressure to buy faster bikes, aero equipment, the stress of missing sessions and feeling like you’re never doing enough despite putting in back to back 20 hour weeks. This is making me think about quitting the sport altogether and taking everything less seriously. I used to run ultras before triathlon, where I had a much better balance (which I may go back to). Nobody cares about pace, your average HR, finishing times and places, and there is a lower physical ceiling on what your body can take as opposed to low impact cycling for example, encouraging rest. When does passion and a ‘healthy’ lifestyle turn into an addiction?

[@costri99]

If it didn't there's always a duathalon

[@WilliamStrain-th4xw]

Sam Longs T100 race was ruined by his swim time!

[@CueBeanKa]

The last question shows the peril of digging too deeply into the data. Some data can be extremely helpful, but if you're getting worried about 2 BPM instead of listening to what your body is telling you, you need to scale back.

[@scotts6067]

If your a pro or top amateur the swim matters. If not the swim is just the warm up.

[@bobfoster687]

Heat training!

[@ODonnchadhaBrian]

Even if it doesn't matter, It's still the best part.

[@PeacefulRallyCar-pw3cs]

They spend thousands in the wind tunnel. Water is 100x more dense than air. Does it make sense?

[@tonystack1622]

Swim like crazy if you are reasonable at it , is my policy.

[@magnemmar4869]

Triathlon starts when whiners start complaining about the swim and try to justify their lack of stroke technique or swim training. The race starts when the clock starts. If you want the race to start on the bike, don't do a triathlon. Duh.

[@pal_lokomotivet2679]

Too simplistic. The race starts when you have to prioritize kids, workout, rest with the amount of time you have to work out. Time spent on bike run will pay of way more in finish time. It was very easy for me to get down to 1.10 with 30 min swim a week. But in periods I tried to swim two hours pr week but didn’t improve Mor than maybe 5 min end time. If I used this time on bike run if would pay off much more

[@ChristosVasiliou-ln9vy]

If you are a sound swimmer probably don't matter.. either way swimming rewires your brain and is a form of psychotherapy 😊😊

[@michelebelardinelli5126]

Swim leg Is too short in 70.3 and 140.6. Good swimmers are too penalized

[@Huumf]

Agree

[@henry-uf3cq]

Couldn't agree more. Especially since the swim marathon is a thing (10 km openwater, it's an olympic event!!)

[@michelebelardinelli5126]

@@henry-uf3cq imho, the right swim leg for 70.3, is about 2.7 km. For Ironman is 5.5-6 km

[@andrewmckenzie3661]

IM swim should be 2 hours for average swimmer, 7km would be good IMHO

[@michelebelardinelli5126]

@@andrewmckenzie3661 7km in 2 hours Is a pace for a good swimmer (1'40"x 100mt) more than an intermediate. Imo

[@trailsandbeers]

Does triathlon actually start on the bike? hmmm, does the bike matter... might as well start with the run... 🤔🤪

[@EgglyMcBagelface3]

Algorithm!

[@ironman140.6]

Ask Lionel and Sam - it does matter big time, no matter the distance.

[@Jm-Gonz]

Ask Lionel sanders or Sam long if it matters 😂

[@michaelhatch1994]

Runners can't swim and swimmers can't run. I'm a swimmer!!!😢

[@shaunkiyabu2707]

Can’t start the bike leg if you don’t get past the swim leg. Only undisciplined athletes think the race starts on the bike.

[@gbilya2]

Swim is not a big factor in Full Ironman.

[@evisule84]

Wales disagrees.

[@WalzySZN]

sorry, do you watch t100? 😂

[@alfredhuang7365]

I would like to change the topic: What if Thriathlon start from the biking, then run,then swim ?

[@coenlaseur9116]

Everyone will drown

[@shaunkiyabu2707]

Not a good idea…swimming in a lake or ocean in the dark is super dangerous.

[@FunkZoned]

No, starts with the swim

[@michaelvrbanac6923]

Stop giving nutrition advice until you read Professor Timothy Knoakes' work and read science on ketones and ketosis. Latex tubes with sealant is best for ensuring an athlete finishes the bike.

[@andrewcockburn7484]

Tubeless is the best. If you do get a flat, plugging it is far quicker than changing a tube.

[@michaelvrbanac6923]

@andrewcockburn7484 not necessarily. Pinch flat a tubeless yet? I have. Sux. Not all punctures seal with a plug either. Had that happen too many times.

[@andrewcockburn7484]

​@@michaelvrbanac6923My last puncture was a pinch flat while warming up for a race. I plugged both holes, finished the race, and the tyre is still holding air.

[@michaelvrbanac6923]

@andrewcockburn7484 and your point is? Road or mountain? Totally different beast. You got lucky.

[@andrewcockburn7484]

@@michaelvrbanac6923 my point is pretty obvious. Plugs can fix pinch flats.