Triathlon

Why you should sign up to your first triathlon, and why “I can’t swim” isn’t an excuse not to.

Triathlons are fast becoming the new craze, for good reason:

• Your chance of injury is far lower during triathlon training compared to half marathon or marathon training.
• Triathlon training is far more varied and therefore more enjoyable than single-event training. Don’t feel like running today? Go for a ride instead!
• Triathlon training turns you into an all-round athlete.
• Triathlons are really fun (I promise).

And yet, people are constantly finding excuses not to sign up to their first triathlon. Here are six triathlon myths busted.

1. The swim is scary

Triathlon swim starts are only scary if you put yourself right at the front of your swim wave. If you are not a confident swimmer (and don’t want to accidentally get punched in the face), place yourself at the back of your wave and wait 10–15 seconds after the start gun before starting to swim. You’ll have your own space and will be able to relax into your swim quickly.We recommend choosing an event with a pool or lake swim (rather than a sea swim) to begin with.

2. I can’t swim for that long

The swim is by far the shortest leg of a triathlon. In an Olympic (Standard) Distance Triathlon, you’ll spend approximately 1 hour and 20 minutes on your bike and only about 35 minutes in the water. You can also breast-stroke (the entire time) if you need to! Trust me — you won’t be the only one.

3. I need all of the expensive gear

It’s true that you’ll need more gear for a triathlon than for a run, but it doesn’t need to make you bankrupt. Here is our recommended bare-minimum gear-list:

• Wetsuit: You can get good entry-level wetsuits for around £80. Wiggle is a good place to start.
• Swimming goggles
• Bike: You can use any type of bike for a triathlon, as long as it is road-safe. If you are keen to get a road bike, entry-level road bikes from decathlon are surprisingly good value for money, at around £300.
• Cycling helmet: This is mandatory for triathlon events. You can buy cycling helmets just about anywhere.
• Tri-suit: Tri-suits are handy because you can wear them for all three legs of a triathlon, which will save you time in transition. You can get them as a one-piece or two-piece for as little as £40 on wiggle.
• Running shoes
• A number/bib belt: These are used to hold your race number and cost very little.

** Optional extras **

• Cycling shoes and pedals: There are two main options for these — SPD-SL or SPD. Both of these are fine, but make sure you buy the correct shoes to match the pedals. For beginners, we recommend using SPD (mountain bike-style) clips, as they are easier to clip- in and out of.

4. Transitions are confusing

Transitions (the bit between the swim and the cycle and between the cycle and the run) can be confusing to begin with, but, with a little bit of organization and practice, you can take all of the stress out of race-day.There are plenty of youtube videos with tips for practicing your transitions, and you can use triathlon towels to help organize your kit on race-day.

5. Everyone else is going to be a pro

The beauty of triathlon is that it gathers all sorts of people to participate. During a triathlon, you’re just as likely to come across someone riding a hybrid or mountain bike as you are to see someone on a 10 grand TT bike. The majority of people are there to enjoy themselves, and, no matter your level, you will fit right in.

6. Triathlons are hard

There are so many triathlon distances to choose from that there is something for everyone. The shortest option is the super sprint triathlon:Super sprint triathlon: Swim 400m / Cycle 10km / Run 2.5kmTriathlons are not as scary as you think, and they’ll help you discover new places, new friends, and new things about yourself.So… what’s your excuse?Find your next triathlon on Let’s Do This.

If you haven’t yet been converted to realise that three sports in one can be just as good, if not better than one, then have a read and let us try our hand at changing your mind. We’d hate to think you were missing out.

1. The variety makes it interesting

If you’ve ever complained that running — or any sport for that matter — is too repetitive then you’ll find relief in signing up for a triathlon. Your training will be a switch-up of what you feel like and when. You’ll barely have the chance to exhaust yourself of one sport at all.

2. You’ve probably forgotten you like one of them

It wouldn’t be a stretch to imagine that you’ve not swum since school. Or not swum more than a lap on holiday at least. But as soon as you get back into it — even if it takes a while — you’ll probably remember how much fun you found it (particularly when you swim competitively). It really can be therapeutic, and if nothing else it’ll just be a change that you can enjoy from time to time.

3. Training doesn’t depend on weather

You hate the gym and it’s raining. There’s really nothing more disappointing than wanting to get rid of some excess energy by training for your running or biking event and not being able to. But with a triathlon you have to fit in swimming anyway, so there’s always good, productive exercise to get your endorphins going even when nature’s set against you.

4. It’s amazing for your body

Everyone knows exercise is good for your body. But triathlons particularly are fabulous ways to exercise. You’re unlikely to strain a muscle from overuse, because (of course) you’re never just using one muscle. You’re unlikely to risk the knee wreckage that comes from the repetitive pavement pounding of only running training. Instead, as each sport uses different parts of your body, the physical stress is distributed across different parts of your body too. And with both cycling and swimming particularly you’ll reap the benefits of such low-impact sports and protect yourself from the debilitating injuries you usually suffer from.

5. You’ll tone up even more

It’s definitely an exercise step-up from other training you’re likely to have done. It’s no mean feat training for a triathlon, but you’ll be able to see the physical effects on your body in no time. What’s more, you’ll see it everywhere. Just as there’s no one muscle you’ll overuse, no one part of your body will be targeted either. You’ll get that body you’ve been dreaming of without even really realising it.

6. The transition zones are exciting

Switching between swimming, cycling and running involves an attempt to move from one sport and one station to the next as quickly as possible. It’s almost childish how satisfying it is to try and beat your previous time for popping on your cycling shoes, clipping your helmet and finding you bike. But nobody can deny that they’re not an exciting part of the race as all your spectators cheer for you to do it faster.

7. You’ll get a completely different level of fitness

You might already be fit. But if you haven’t yet trained for a triathlon, you will be about to achieve a completely different kind of fitness. Being able to do three sports, one after the other, and for that long, is more than the methodical plodding of running. Triathlon’s are absolutely about endurance and being able to work different muscles in immediate sequence. It’ll feel great to actually just be able to keep going and you’ll probably feel it in other parts of your life too.

8. You’ll be outside even more

Open-water swimming is unbelievable. Cycling outside in the elements is overwhelmingly energising. And running in the hills can really be show-stoppingly beautiful. You won’t always be outside, but to train properly you’ll need to try your hand at some simulations of the real deal race day.

9. It’s a life achievement

You tell anyone you’ve signed up to a triathlon and it will be pretty impressive. Whether it’s written on your CV or its telling your family and friends, there aren’t that many people who have matched that kind of training and commitment. Even triathlon training itself racks up pretty amazing distances. And crossing the finish line on race day is just another amazing demonstration of perseverance and hard-work.

Why should I? How do I ? When do I? Here are all of your triathlon taper questions answered.

Once you’ve got used to training countless times a week and shedding sweat and tears while you build up to a big triathlon, it can be very hard to take your foot off the gas and take it easy for a week. Many athletes will think that having a chilled week before your triathlon will lose fitness and hinder your performance but they would be wrong. Giving your body a break and less work to do is exactly what you want to do to give yourself the best chance at success.

Why should I taper?

Tapering gives your body a chance to recover from the strain that you would have been putting it under in all your weeks of training. Taking your training load down lets your muscles heal, meaning that when you hit that start line, they’re ready to go and will be able to carry you further and faster than if you had been training the day before. It also means that your muscles are more prepared to race after you’ve exposed them to a different kind of training.

How do I taper?

Although you may think of tapering as just taking a week off before the triathlon, this isn’t how to do it. The best way to taper is to reduce your overall training load but keep the same training intensity. For example if your normal Monday session is a 30mile bike ride at 20mph, instead do a 20mile ride but still at 20mph so you’re keeping the body working at the same sort of level but not putting the body under stress for as long, giving you more of a chance to recovery efficiently and effectively.

How long should I taper for?

The general rule is: the longer the race, the longer the taper. You want to try and drop your weekly training volume by 20–25% for each week that you are tapering. If you’re doing a sprint triathlon, you won’t need weeks and weeks of tapering when a few days will do. Whereas an Ironman will require nearly a month-long taper.

Is there such thing as tapering too much?

Yes, yes there is. If you take too much time off and take it too easy in the days/weeks leading up to the day then you can end up feeling sluggish and lethargic on the start line. This doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll have a bad race but it does mean you’ll have to work harder for the race that you’ve worked for and deserve. If you’re worried about over-tapering, then steer more towards a taper of higher intensity and higher recovery training to ensure that you get lots of race pace practice in.

Why am I getting slower?

Don’t worry if you start showing some slower times for a few sessions. This is perfectly normal while your body adjusts to a new training routine. Tapering can be a mental challenge while you try and change what you’re doing when you feel like you should be doing more. Any training that you do within the last 10 days before your triathlon won’t aid your performance or fitness, while a decent rest will.

It is quite common for someone on their taper to get a bit grumpy because of all this, so try and stay positive and be nice to all the people who have been supporting you in all your training.

Tapering for distance

Like I said earlier; the longer the race, the longer the taper. Triathlons come in various different distances and you can’t taper the same way for each of them. Here is how long you should be tapering for each specific triathlon.

• Sprint — Wind it down with 4–7 days to go.
• Olympic — Wind it down with 10 days to go.
• Half-Ironman — Wind it down with 2 weeks to go.
• Ironman — Wind it down with 3 weeks to go.

Packing for an Ironman is just like packing to go on holiday. You’ll remember the majority of stuff but if there’s one thing that you forget, you could be left on the sideline cheering on your mates. So make sure you’ve got everything with this handy list of ALL of the kit you’ll need.

There are two things that will help you keep on top of all of the stuff you’ll need for the Ironman.

1. Pack well in advance to avoid the unnecessary stress of running around the night before the event trying to find everything.
2. Breakdown your packing in terms of each leg of the race so you can be more focused with your packing.

Pre-race:

• Casual clothes and shoes
• Gear — GPS watch, heart rate monitor, power meter, etc
• Pre-race snacks
• Comfortable footwear
• Scissors — to trim down your race number (to fit better / to be more aero)

The Swim:

You will need to do some research in advance to see what the water temperature will be like so you know what sort of kit you’ll likely need. Not all races are wetsuit-legal so you’ll also need to check that. It is best to bring a wetsuit with you just in case. Better to have it and not need it than the other way around.

Many athlete will also bring two pairs of swimming goggles — one tinted pair and one clear pair — for in case you are swimming towards the sun.

• Warm clothes for the wait at the start
• Trisuit or tri-shorts and a top
• 2 sets of goggles
• Wetsuit
• An old shirt or towel — to wipe dirt off your feet before you get on the bike
• Waterproof suncream

The Cycle:

Before you even think about packing, make sure your bike is ready. If you can, take it to a shop to get a professional service and tune-up. You’ll want to take a small tool bag with you and I recommended that you get yourself a small seat bag so that you can have these tools when you’re out on the ride.

• Bike (obvs)
• Helmet — you won’t be allowed to compete without one
• Sunglasses
• Cycling shoes and socks
• Multiple water bottles
• Nutrition — gels, snacks, energy bars
• Seat bag with tool kit — multi-tool, inner tubes, tyre levers, CO2 cannisters, mini-pump, etc
• Foot pump

The Run:

Packing for the run requires the least amount of effort. Seeing as you can always wear your running shoes and your hat or visor to save crucial bag space.

• Running shoes
• Hat or visor
• Nutrition belt — for your energy gels and snacks
• Vaseline, plasters, etc — for post race recovery and comfort

by Alex Richardson

Alex is part of the Business Development team at Let’s Do This, responsible for all things events and race organisers. Outside work, he’s something of a newbie to endurance sports, but is learning from the (self-proclaimed) experts at Let’s Do This.

You can imagine the response I received when I announced to my girlfriend that I planned to whisk her away to the hills of Italy next year, over her birthday… to watch me race in the IronMan 70.3. Yes. Sheer, unbridled joy.

With the excitement of being made “chief spectator”, she was of course delighted to be involved (admittedly some promises have since been made about visiting cultural heritage sites).

What this means, most pertinently given this is a blog, is that I’ll be posting regularly over the next 9 months as I embark on a journey from 0 to 70.3 (miles, for those not in the know), in preparation for an event that stands in complete contrast to any natural physical abilities I have. To be clear, I’m a sprinter — and more specifically, the type of sprinter who had to cling on for the last 130m of the 200m. So the training I’ll be doing is far from my norm, and far from what I’ve done before.

As part of my preparations for this training regime, I wanted to start by speaking with someone who knows what they’re talking about. Thankfully, Let’s Do This comes equipped with an in-house ex-pro triathlete. He is, admittedly, more ex than pro*, but starting from where I am, he’s perfectly well qualified.

When I first asked Olly for advice, he suggested I give him an indication for where my split times might sit today. I won’t share those numbers, but his response said a lot: “Oh… right…”.

Apparently, when you’re starting from zero, the first step is volume. So as of today, I’m aiming to build out a base level of fitness. I’ll go into the details in my next post, but the basic gist is to use weekdays to swim and run steadily in equal measure, and then to use weekends to build miles on the bike.

Now, Olly was quick to warn me that stepping up my training too quickly could result in injury. So I’m starting light, and trying to steadily raise the distances I cover by 10% or so each week. Once I’m at a good base level (I’m guessing around Christmas time), I’ll transition into a more race-specific program, before getting active on the triathlon scene.

That’s the top line. If you’re bored already, don’t read the next post. If you’re keen to keep track of this mission, my next post will look at the specific sessions I’ll be using to up my base-line fitness, and how much they hurt.

*I will consider taking back this remark when he makes an appearance at a team spinning class