My First Triathlon - A How-To Guide

Triathlon competition is divided into 3 components, namely the swimming event, cycling and the running event, and each of the three sport require your body to do it differently - this idea alone can be daunting to a beginner triathlete.

Novice triathlon training should focus on finding out how the 3 separate sports interact with one another, and how this impacts your body.

A beginner triathlon curriculum should include possible goals that you could meet every calendar week and a gradual increase in load.

Try to recruit an acquaintance or join a team in training if possible.

Your schedule as well as your training partner (if you can find one) will help keep track of your progress.

Beginner Training for Swimming

The swimming competition is frequently the most disheartening for novices for the reason that it is in this sport in which they're the not so familiar.

Not unless you were good in swimming since childhood, you must overcome your initial concern during your training.

Tailor your training curriculum to making your swimming more efficient.

This would help reduce fatigue and by improving your technique, you would also improve your speed.

Perform your training in open seas so that you would be comfortable to the circumstances you would face on the actual race.

You can practice by dodging oncoming waves to avoid being forced backwards.

As much as manageable, wear your triathlon wetsuit while training.

As the saying goes, you should train like you race.

If you get tired quickly when you're in the water this is most probably because of poor technique.

In your swim strokes, incorporate greater arm work and lesser kick.

You will not only swim at a greater distance at half the effort, but you will preserve your legs for the biking and the running portions.

Different considerations are taken into consideration in a triathlon competition compared to competitions purely for swimming where you may observe that the swimmers use their legs a lot.

It may make you go faster but it cannot pay for the weariness your legs will endure.

You need your legs to be fresh for the later parts in the race.

Novice Training for Biking

The longest portion of the race with regards to distance and normally time is cycling.

Make sure that an experienced bike expert fits you to your bike.

A proper bike fit would make your triathlon bike training much more successful and gratifying.

Try and bike two or three times every week.

You can practice at a gym in one of their exercise bikes or you may do one or 2 of those rides on a wind-trainer.

As your season advances, try and think about a plan for one longer ride of 2 or three hours once every week.

Don't worry about the distance you could cover.

Focus yourself more on the actual time you spend on the bike and in obtaining a cadence and speed that works well for you.

You may also want to incorporate spinning classes in your training to improve your speed on the bike.

Spinning classes are full of anaerobic exercises that would help improve your ability and performance and developing camaraderie with the other spinners will as well be a bonus.

On your training rides, like during the actual race, you must eat and drink as much as you can while you bike (while still being comfortable ).

It is essential to guard yourself against dehydration.

Be well prepared for the day of the race, you should know how to change a punctured bike tire and know the rules of triathlon events on your training (for instance those against drafting and all helmet requirements).

Novice Training for the Run

For beginners training for triathlon running training, stick with the same training you do for the swimming event: mimicking the circumstances you will be having during the actual race.

This means learning to run on already tired legs.

Make us of "Brick" workouts into your training.

Bricks are back-to-back bike-run workouts that not only help your endurance, but help your muscles adapt to the unusual transition from biking to running.

After a bike workout your legs would surely feel like bricks during the first few minutes on your feet.

Ease into running with smaller strides to loosen up your muscles before moving on to longer, faster strides.

Although you should try and work on your outdoors running, the treadmills you can exercise these days are so advanced that they act as a very good alternative if you just could not go outdoors to run as much as possible for whatever reason.

Definitely you should try to work some outdoors running in with your triathlon treadmill training curriculum, but there's no reason that a great part of your triathlon run training cannot be done with treadmill training.

The electronic displays that many of the treadmills have are a great way to keep track of your progress and male sure you are up to date with your training.

Terry Stevennson is an avid writer, fitness consultant and triathlete. He provides technical advice on training for a triathlon to http://www.TriathlonTrainingSchedule.org
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