Triathlon is the fastest growing sport in North America. The average age group athlete is between 30-44 years of age but gives the opportunity for all ages and abilities to strive for personnel excellences within the range of a sprint to an Ironman distance. This sport is made up of 3 very different sports (Swimming, Biking and Running) however learning how to bike after the swim and run off the bike is an entirely other type of sport in itself; not to mention the swim is within an open body of water instead of a pool.
A few tips:
One would be don’t always individualize training for each discipline on their own. Learning how to “Brick” two of the sports together is extremely important (i.e. Bike then run or swim then bike); since the body fatigue you get from transitioning from each sport can be mentally overwhelming and you need to ensure you are ready for that “feeling” when racing.
A second tip would be utilizing the swim workouts more to your advantage; since it is a low impact sport it can help increase endurance and cardiovascular ability instead of pounding the pavement on the run. You still have to get your run workouts in; but instead of doing an extra run workout to increase endurance add in a swim workout instead; which allows you to build cardio without the impact.
Lee Hart
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