Triathlon is a terrific sport.
Swimming, biking, running. These are the things we used to do every day as kids, just for fun. Thus, getting into multisport racing, I think, gives us a chance to get back in touch with that kid we used to be. It gives us a chance to do something healthy, something fun, just because we can. There’s something beautiful there.
In my opinion, there are two basic types of people who get into triathlon:
1. Former high school or college athletes. These are folks who, after spending decades dedicated to a single sport, are now looking for a way to compete and stay active without having to do the same thing they’ve always done day after day after day. These folks like multisport racing because with three separate disciplines to train, there’s a new and different challenge every single day. It’s never just the same old grind.
2. Emerging athletes. These are folks who didn’t really get into organized sports as kids but who’ve discovered a fit lifestyle as adults. These folks have maybe done a few 5k or 10k runs or a couple of bike or adventure races and are now looking for their next challenge. They’ve heard of triathlon, of course, and they’re wondering what the fuss is about.
Whichever of those you are, I want you to know that there’s something here for you. For the experienced athlete, multisport offers a wide variety of different training and racing opportunities. You can be as committed or as laid back as you want to be. What you won’t face is the need to train the same things over and over again. For the emerging athlete, triathlon is a serious challenge. It will push you to balance your time, learn to pace yourself across multiple disciplines of racing, and seriously grow your competitive skillset in at least one direction. In both cases, what you’ll always have, as a triathlete, is a new challenge every day.
A Little Bit about Me
Hi. My name is Dan.
In the above dichotomy, I’m definitely Athlete #1. I swam competitively for eleven years, including all four years of college. My last race was the finals of the 200 yard butterfly at the Eastern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championships in 1995, a rough swim to finish off what had been by far my roughest year as a competitive swimmer. I finished that race and threw my goggles away without even warming down, beginning what would prove to be a fifteen year layoff from swimming—and competitive sports in general. Then, four-and-a-half years ago, my wife and I got His and Her mountain bikes for her birthday, and at her insistence, we started riding recreationally. It turned out that I liked riding, and pretty soon, I decided to give triathlon a try, just to see what the fuss was about. I’d been running and lifting weights recreationally, and I knew I could swim, so all I needed to do—I thought—was to learn to put it all together.
Famous last words.
Triathlon has been a good fit for me. I like having some structure to my athletic training, and I like having races that act as the focal points for my training season. And, truth be told, I like to race, too. The upcoming season will be my fifth as a triathlete, and in that time I’ve raced dozens of different triathlon and multisport events. For example, last year I ran/raced:
o Brian’s Beachside Boogie
o The Westport Minuteman 10K
o The Milford Y-Tri (3rd in Age Group, 27th Overall)
o The NYC Tour de Cure Metric Century (Named one of the Top 10 riders)
o Greenwich Point 1-Mile Swim (2nd in Age Group, 18th Overall)
o Amica Ocean Beach 19.7 Triathlon
o Litchfield Hills Olympic Triathlon
o Westport Kiwanus Triathlon (3rd in Age Group, 11th Overall)
o Hartford Half-Marathon
All of which is not to say that I know everything there is to know about triathlon. I definitely do not. However, I do know a few things, and I’m looking forward to the opportunity to pass some of that along. At the same time, I sincerely hope to learn from other members of the club as well, especially from folks who run well. Running is by far my weakest discipline. Training with folks who run well would benefit me a great deal.
Some General Thoughts on Multisport Training and Racing
In a perfect world, a typical triathlete would like to train each discipline at least twice per week and take at least one day per week completely off. This would give the athlete one longer effort every week and one shorter or easier effort every week in all three disciplines. In the real world, however, this isn’t always possible. Dealing with the time constraints of real life while balancing the need to train in three separate disciplines at the same time is one of the fundamental challenges of the multisport lifestyle.
All things being equal, the smart triathlete therefore focuses relatively more effort on his or her weakest discipline.
Don’t think of a triathlon, even a sprint triathlon, as a short swim, followed by a short bike ride, followed by a short run. Instead, realize that a triathlon is a single event with three parts. You want to train to be able to finish the full event, not to be able to do each of the three components separately. That means that if you think your race is going to take an hour and a half, then you need to train to be able to manage a race-paced effort that lasts for a full hour and a half.
With that in mind, know that triathlon is an endurance sport. Even a “sprint” triathlon generally lasts at least a good hour or more. It is therefore almost always more beneficial to train longer, easier efforts than shorter, faster ones. The classic saying is, “You need to train slow if you want to go fast.” Training at a manageable aerobic pace will allow you to recover in time to train again tomorrow. This is an utter necessity when you are trying to train three separate disciplines, all at the same time.
All things being equal, most people find it easiest to do the majority of their base aerobic training on the bike. The bike is a little easier on the joints than running, and it has far more carryover to the run than swimming does. It’s also easier to maintain a manageable aerobic heart rate on the bike than it is when running or swimming. So for most people, becoming a triathlete means learning to love their bikes.
Another classic saying is that “Nutrition is the Fourth Discipline.” You will want to learn about in-race nutrition, and you will want to practice with it. For races that last ninety minutes or less, you can probably get by with nothing more than a couple of bottle of Gatorade, stored on your bike. If you decide to try a longer race, things can get a little more complicated. Moreover, understanding your body’s blood sugar level during long workouts is a critical component of doing those longer workouts well.
Even if you don’t swim well… Don’t panic! You can’t win a triathlon in the swim. In fact, in the Y-Tri, you probably won’t spend more than six or seven minutes in the water, maximum. After that, you’ll spend the next forty-five minutes to an hour on your bike or on the road running. Prioritize your training accordingly.
We’re not going to try to do all of our workouts together as a club. I doubt that would work—for anyone. Instead, we’ll try to swim together once per week, on Wednesdays, and we’ll get together on Saturday mornings for a long ride, long run, or brick workout. If nothing else, I would like to make sure that everyone that works with the club knows what it feels like to run off the bike and has the confidence to know that they can do it well.
Finally, relax. Even Jennifer Lopez has finished a triathlon. And if she can do it, so can you. Train, be ready, and compete. That’s what it’s all about.
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