Anyone ever done an "indoor triathlon"?

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2006-10-30 4:12 PM

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Champion
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Brooklyn, NY
Subject: Anyone ever done an "indoor triathlon"?
Here's how it works, or so I gather:
swim: they count your laps over a given period of time (10 minutes, in the case of the one in my neighborhood)

bike: you ride a stationary (spin) bike for a set period of time (30 minutes, I think), and they measure the total rotations of the wheel. You can set the tension for whatever you want.

run: you run on a treadmill for a set period of time (30 minutes). The elevation you choose acts as a multiplier on your total run distance, so, e.g., if you run on a 1% elevation, your run dist. is multiplied by 1.05. You can adjust the speed as often as you want, but elevation must stay unchanged.

Anyone done one of these things? Are they fun? Any tips or suggestions?




2006-10-30 4:43 PM
in reply to: #583447

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Champion
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Tacoma, Washington
Subject: RE: Anyone ever done an "indoor triathlon"?
I've done 2 types of indoor tri.

One years ago, we used a Concept II rower instead of swim, then had a bike set up on a computrainer, then ran on a treadmill set at 5% slope. 10 minutes on each apparatus, with 5 minute "transitions" between, longest total distance wins. Was really fun, and they started a new person every 15 minutes.

Did another one this past winter which was a pool swim, then a trainer ride (on your own bike), then running on an indoor track (6 laps to the mile). The did 20 minutes each leg, and your transition was included in which ever next leg.
2006-10-30 7:58 PM
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2006-10-30 10:31 PM
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Tulsa, Oklahoma
Subject: RE: Anyone ever done an "indoor triathlon"?
You seem to have the idea.....we have an indoor tri here every January at one of the local health clubs. It is definately different - but fun for that time of year. No one takes it too seriously - just good fun when the weather is not so nice outside.

One thing about indoor tris is that can take a good part of a day to get everyone through - depending on how large the tri is. You are limited to the amount of swim lanes and equipment available at one time. Typically you are given a swim start time and you just show up a little before your start time.

The swim here is 500 meters there are lap counters at one end of the pool - one person per lane.

Run upstairs put on your tennis shoes and hop on a stationary bike - typically you set the resistance relatively high (good if you can test out the bikes ahead of time). There is a spotter to mark your time when you start the bike and then they come back when you start getting close to your finishing miledge.

This particular gym has a small indoor track so you run around the track.....something like 36 times.....it can be a little daunting! You have a counter asigned to count your laps.....

Enjoy!




2006-10-31 12:45 AM
in reply to: #583447

Master
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Denver
Subject: RE: Anyone ever done an "indoor triathlon"?
I've done two of them and they were great training for the "outside" ones I've done. Transitions are quite different. PM me if you want to discuss in detail.
2006-10-31 5:10 AM
in reply to: #583447

Master
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Raleigh, North Carolina
Subject: RE: Anyone ever done an "indoor triathlon"?

Yep...like Lara said.  I did 2 of them with a similar format.  Each event was weighted slightly differently which made the bike performance slightly higher than the run and swim.

Indoor tri's are a great break from the mid winter blahs around here too.  Just something to change up the pace.  They are definitely fun and different and I had no compliants.

For the bike - if they are measuring wheel revolutions, and don't have any gearing set up -  and just tension, crank away at the low tension.  All the ones I did had the machines set in "bicycle mode" which means that every time you increased resistance, the machine would act as if you switched to a higher gear and "travel" further per pedal revolution.  Trick is to find the resistance where you can hammer out 90 or so RPM's and hang there.  If its a spin bike, and there's no multiplier for resistance, I figure you could just put the thing in 0 tension and get that thing spinning.

The run is interesting.  30 mins at incline sounds like you could really have some smoking legs when its all over.  All my events were weighted according to the participant that went the furthest in the alloted time period.  (the guy that went the furthest got 100% of the points, the guy who went half of his distance got 50% of his points, etc) and the treadmills were all set to the same incline 1% in one race and 0% in the other.  Sounds like some serious points can be made if you can adjust incline and maintain speed.

I'd recommend indoor tri's just for the break in monotony and the chance to change things up a bit.  Good luck.  Lets us know how you do and what you think.

2006-10-31 7:02 AM
in reply to: #583447

Expert
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Delano, MN
Subject: RE: Anyone ever done an "indoor triathlon"?
We have one here in MN in Feb. 30 minutes swim (they count laps), 30 minutes on a stationary bike, 30 minutes on the treadmill with 10 minutes to transition between disciplines. Top mileage wins. It's a fun event when you can't get outside (here the water is too hard - ice). We'll get together as a BT group afterwards and go out to eat. It's a good time. My only advice is watch the transition times (I almost missed the start of the bike last year as I was pokey getting upstairs to the bikes).
2006-10-31 8:22 PM
in reply to: #583447

Master
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Minnesota
Subject: RE: Anyone ever done an "indoor triathlon"?
I really liked the Tri-U-Mah indoor tri this past Feb & will do it again in Feb 2007. It breaks up the monotony of winter training and keeps me motivated to get faster!
2006-11-01 3:46 PM
in reply to: #583447

Member
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Subject: RE: Anyone ever done an "indoor triathlon"?
I've done two - in Chi-town. It really is a great way to motivate yourself for off-season training if you live in a place where there is no way to swim outdoors. Our races were set up (they do a whole series throughout the winter in Chicago) so that the swim was timed at about 15-20 minutes with lap counters, then transition and stationary bike for about 30, then running the indoor track for 25 or something with lap counters - that got tedious as it was a small track. But the lap counters motivated us throughout as well.

I would certainly recommend it to anyone who wants to remember what it feels like to race even a little during an indoor off-season!
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