I've been dealing with nagging plantar fasciitis for some time. Rather than training through it again, I've decided to cut way back on running and focus on biking and swimming for a while - the idea is to do a few triathlons this summer just to see how it goes.
I'm only 10 days into the biking and running (alternating days) but I'm curious about how weak I am in these events relative to my running. I'm 39 and ran a half marathon in 1:23 this fall and 17:30 for a 5K. I occassionally place in my age group at small local races - could I ever expect to do the same in the triathlon? What would be some realistic goals?
Based on the 4 swim workouts I've done so far (about 15-20 min each) I'd like to think I could do a half mile in the pool in about 20 minutes right now. How fast might I do in 6 months if I build up to 2 hours swimming each week? 15min for a half mile? Faster? How much weaker would I be than most other triathletes at my running ability? I'm having a few swimmers give me some tips on my stroke which apparently isn't too bad for someone who hasn't done any lap swimming since age 10. Any suggestions for workouts beyond building volume while concentrating on form? Would sprints be helpful, especially at this early stage?
How about biking? This fall when I was focusing on running but dealing with PF, I was riding a pretty flat 18 mile course in about 63-65 minutes twice a week; 63min was a hard effort. Those 7 or 8 bike rides were the most biking I've ever done, so I hope I can improve a lot once I add some volume. (I've got a $200 off-the-rack bike which is somewhere between a road bike and mountain bike; I do have clipless pedals. Eventually I might get a decent bike with aero-bars and all but probably not for another year or two.) I'm on an indoor trainer for the winter so I've just been riding for an hour a day, 3 min hard, 5 min easy; average heart rate was 136bpm on my best day. If build up to riding 4 hours a week, how much might I improve? 18 miles in an hour? 20? How competitive would that be compared to my running? Any training suggestions besides getting off the trainer as soon as the weather gets decent?
Thanks for any feedback or advice.