It also gives you a better feel for the water which improves your front crawl. When you are doing these little changes it is sometimes a good idea to find a swimmer who is swimming at your pace in the lane next to you. Try your different techniques and see if you go faster or slower, this saves you having to check the time. Since the majority of people swimming at the pools are doing laps, their speed is generally consistent. This can also be fun.
Workouts generally consist of a warm up, work out, cool down.
The bike portion for My First Triathlon is perhaps the most import from a safety standpoint. We highly recommend that you train with a friend who is an experienced cyclist. We do not recommend riding with large groups of cyclists until you are comfortable with large groups. The safest place to ride is on closed to traffic roads, many parks have paths exclusive to bikes. An alternative to road biking is mountain biking, a great way to get bike fit without having to deal with traffic.