1.5k in 32:12 swim today.  Lost at least a minute struggling with the goggles as per usual in the first 300m(this is clear from looking at my splits) not to mention going head first into some lump doing back stroke.  Defo lose time on the turns too, if there was an imaginary 1500m long swimming pool then reckon I could clear it in sub 30 minutes now.  Will join a tri club for their swimming sessions next week and hope they can give me some tips as it is clearly very much a technical thing and I would like to know I am at least close to maximum efficiency. 

Regards bike buying I am thinking I will go for the carbon framed Boardman for a grand, cost £60 a month for a year using the bike to work scheme.  There are paperwork formalities to sort, but hope to get it in the next fortnight. Not a specialist tri/time trial bike, but everyone speaks well of it as a road bike.  Another ton for pedals and shoes and perhaps fifty for aero bars and hopefully that is my lot,  happy to hear anyone elses thoughts on this. Will be a totally new experience for me, not a clue if I am any good at biking.

Rob you didnt mention helmet. get a specific time trial aero helmet can save up to a minute on a 40k TT

Oh yeah how much do they cost?  Think I have a tescos basic helmet knocking around somewhere.  Triathlon ain't a cheap sport for sure.  Will have to start thinking about tri suits or wet suits come summer.  I have tri shorts. And a tescos basic wetsuit.  Also goggles, thinking I might need to try prescription goggles and then put contacts in during the swim/bike transition.  Will waste about a minute as a guess but what else am I to do?  Genuine question, I mean I did the whole swim in the pool today with a bit of water in the goggles washing around.  But this is chlorinated water, what if it is sea water?  How much of a problem is that?

Saw a bike for five and a half grand on one website, fk me how cool did that look.

I'll put that another way for illustration. You would probably go significantly quicker on a £500 frameset with £500 wheels and good tyres and inners than you will on the Boardman which will probably have fairly average wheels, tyres and inners.

Your first piece of advice was "enjoy it" and that was the best bit of advice.  So, for £650 the lot.  I am gonna look back and have a rethink.

I am grateful for your advice Eternal, don't for one second think I don't appreciate it..  But it is a complicated matter for sure, I suppose I had my heart set on a boardman and being the stubborn little sh1t that I am I just want to make a decision and stick with it.

I'd buy one of those rapid fire controllers. Did all 3 on Grand Theft Auto 5 and my finger nearly fell off.

Cycle to work is a great initiative.

Gem got a "Fuji" Carbon Fibre bike (as used by one of the teams in "Le Toure") from Evans.
So light you could pick it up with your "pinkey"

Got it for £1,499 less £250 as it was the only one left in the previous year's livery (which she preferred anyway) and less VAT
so it cost only £1,040 and, as you say, docked from her salary for a year, so quite painless!

P.S. sorry to talk about money but you started it.....

Missed a few posts on this thread,  the one thing would be the swim conditions. Maybe I’m banging on a little about this specific discipline.
Your background sport can be relative as I entered Triathlon from a Biking background I already had that part sorted along with the fitness/ stamina from solo Time trailing over 25/50 miles. I spent 3 months pre race swimming in a 50m pool working on my Front crawl. My first Tri was in a Black Fresh water reservoir with DEEP WATER signs everywhere (nervy). I ended up swimming Breaststroke for most of the mile swim. Over the years I have seen many a good pool swimmer completely lose it when the shock of swimming in the sea with no prep.  Re the goggles, I bought the most expensive..They leaked. I bought the cheapest ... they lasted a little longer. The Solution for me was to change to the inner eye socket goggles with a hard seal not the soft flexi around the eyes type. They only cost a tenner and still use them now.  Stick with it Rob it’s a fun experience.

That's a good question Rob. Really thinking about it I wouldn't change anything about my first one because the experience made me want to do another and that was the key thing. There's a thousand and one big and little things which will make you better but without the enjoyment you won't keep coming back.

Eastbourne half in 1:42:40 this morning.  I thought they referred to a few gentle inclines early doors,  the fourth mile was non stop up hill, did 7:30 miles average if you ignore the uphill bits, slightly disappointed as I thought I would go under 1:40, the early hills were a real shock to the system they were not gentle inclines ff, should be done by the trade descriptions act.

Nice effort.

Thanks. Wish I was fit enough to even thin about what you are going to do.

Nice one Rob. I ran Eastbourne Half a few years ago in 76 something.  It's definitely not a 'gentle incline'... Beachy Head is a brute of a hill.  It's always fooking windy along the sea front too can be a ball ache.  I was planning on running it this year in prep for Brighton Marathon but my ankle's been messed up since December so I haven't run at all this year.

Keep going though, Rob, you'll be fine if you stick at it :)

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http://tinypic.com/r/2cenet/8

My carbon fibre Boardman bastard bike.  A grand's worth of bike for about sixty quid a month for a year, will do me.  Will just use it for commuting until approx. 20 April before the bike training begins in earnest.(Brighton Marathon 12 April then 13-19 April proper on the lash in Portugal.

Need to get aero bars and pedals and shoes, prob anoer tonnish, think I have a helmet somewhere around the house.

OK Aunty, shall bear that in mind.  First mini-bike ride today.  7.2k into work took 16 minutes = 27km/hr.  without traffic and just a week or two of training hope to get that down to a solid 14:12 = 30km/hr.  Then I just need to try and add the distance and hopefully get close to doing the whole 40k at that speed = 1hr 20.

Just to put things into perspective my old £120 halfords hybrid it took me about half an hour to do the same journey.  tbf I didn't try to go quick then because, basically, I didn't enjoy it enough to sweat over it.

Thanks.

Monthly update:
Went in the sea for the first time last Thursday, just to get used to it.  We just got in a circle and threw a ball around, when you dropped it you had to swim round the circle.  I couldn’t swim for toffee.  Going strong in the pool, consistently 2m/100m (did 1500m in 31 mins) but was fked with my (admittedly cr@p) wetsuit on and the cold and the sea water.  I tried to get my head underwater and breathe properly but it wasn’t happening, so just did that crappy front crawl where your head is always above water.  I was prepared for a shock but it was still a shock – I have a lot to learn.  Not done much biking other than to work and back, had a 40 miler planned for yesterday but matey backed out with a hangover so I swam instead.  Playing cricket on Sunday exactly 40k away, might bike it as a TT just to give me a starting point as to what I might achieve on the day.  Basically this will be with no training, hopefully can get under 1:40, perhaps close to 1:30 – this would be a good base to attack 1:20 on the day with 3 months of training.  Got my aerobars (£27)delivered this morning, looking forward to giving them a go.  My bro in law reckons aeros are more important than proper shoes with pedal fixings.  My workmates say the other way round.  I haven’t got the proper shoes yet, that will be another ton if I decide they’re worth it.  If you bike in trainers then at least it will save you time in T2.  Haven’t run since the Brighton Marathon 2 weeks ago (3:46) hope to do a gentle 5 miler at lunch just to get me back into the swing of things, I have a 10k race early July and hope to go under 42 minutes (46:30 last year), my running training will largely be training for that race.

All advice greatly appreciated.

entered half marathon last night
october
start training tonight ! 1 mile