oOOOooh Im neeewwww

If you are in pretty good shape, why don't you try the olympic training programs and use either the 2x balanced or the 3x balanced depending on the available time that you have during the week. Welcome to the site, you will find a lot of great information and meet a lot of great people who are very knowlegable. Good luck on your training.

Olympic sounds about right. Also, if you do not presently own a bike, you can do a lot of your training on a stationary but eventually you will have to beg, borrow, steal, or...shudder...buy a bike to participate in a tri. I would recommend that you get a bike at least a month before whatever tri you will be participating in, in order to learn how to ride it; it is not the same as a stationary. First, you have to adjust to the seat which takes a week or two, and then you have to learn to use your gears to your advantage. But, if you have a lot of time, you can pick everyone's brain on what best bike to get between now and then.

Welcome Caci - Dynamite decision to jump into "tri-ing" You could likely do the olympic training. Your swimming should be a piece of cake (green with envy here). Ditto on getting a bike of some sort - you are young - in good shape and if you have a competitor in there that's itching to maybe grab some hardware along the way in these events - then maybe an outlay for a road bike is in order. (I am really happy with my Douglass from Colorado Cyclery - the 2003 closeouts are a steal - (IMHO) Do you run - when you pick a program you could probably get up to speed with the swimming no problem - go into maintainance and spend most of your time on the bike and developing the run. (Or are you already a runner)

In any case - you've come to the right place!

Thanks again everyone, From the responses I received on my other thread I think Im going to start with the 16 week sprint 3X balanced.

I hope to race in June-There are 4 races in Maryland in June. How do I know which race is best for me as a beginner?


Thanks

With your backgroung, I would have thought that you would have opted for the 20wk olympic training schedule. But, it is much better to start slowly and successfully than to reach too fast and risk injury. If you follow your 16 wk training schedule, you will have over a month to decide which tri to participate in in June. But that time, you should know what your physcical capacity and limits are so the decision of which tri to do will be made easier. The only other criteria to look for in a triathlon is that it be fun or at least enjoyable.