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The good news: You won’t get bored training for triathlon, because you’re never stuck
with one sport. The bad news: Preparing for each of triathlon’s three disciplines demands
a distinct focus and set of skills. The other good news: With these simple training tips for
each sport, you’ll be on the right track.
Swim
There’s strong evidence that time-consuming endurance training is far less helpful for
swimming—and may even hurt your performance—than it is for biking and running.
Cumulative fatigue—and the need to train to resist it—is much greater in running
and biking than in swimming (which always comes first in triathlons). And
the swim leg is always the shortest of the three, typically
lasting just one-third to one-quarter as long as the run and bike legs. Also, swimming is
fundamentally an unnatural activity in which practice—without coaching, at
least—does not make perfect. When you swim more and more miles, you’re more likely
to be practicing your mistakes than refining your technique and boosting your endurance.
Here are four strategies for efficient swimming:
Count Your Strokes Regularly: Your best measure of efficiency is how many strokes you take
getting from one end of the pool to the other. One stroke occurs each time one of your arms enters
the water in front of you.
Practice Stroke Elimination: Set a stroke-count target of 10% lower than your norm. If you
usually take 22 strokes per length on endurance swims or repeats, set a new limit of just 20. See how
far into a swim or set you can hold that count instead of how fast you can finish.
Streamline Yourself With Skills: When not counting strokes, work on getting your nervous
system used to these efficiency-promoting skills:
- Head down: If more than a sliver of the back of your head shows above the surface as
you swim, you’re holding your head too high. Ask a friend to check you.
- Swim downhill: Shift your weight forward until you feel as if you’re leaning on your
chest. This keeps your body more horizontal, making your hips and legs feel lighter. That reduces
the need to kick and tire your leg muscles.
- Swim taller: Say to yourself on each stroke, “The most important thing I do with my
hand is lengthen my body.” Reach, don’t pull. That gives you a longer stroke and a longer, sleeker
“vessel.” Slice your hand in close to your head, instead of reaching over the water.
- Swim less, drill more: If you’re unable to reduce your stroke count to a consistent
20 strokes per 25 yards, try doing at least 60% of your yardage in stroke drills for the next
month or two and see how your stroke reacts. Even when you reduce your stroke count to 20,
drills should constitute at least 25% of your total workout time.
Bike
It’s often said that triathlons all come down to the run. I disagree. Although you have to
be a good runner to be competitive, you first have to come off the bike with legs that
haven’t been mangled beyond their running abilities.
Building-block Rides: These short rides increase endurance and accustom beginners to
extended time in the saddle. Do them at an easy pace in an easy gear. These should start at
5 miles and gradually increase to 10 or 15 miles.
Medium-distance Rides: These are most useful for those training for an Olympic distance
race (25-mile cycling leg). They can range from 20 to 30 miles, with intensity depending on race
goal.
Long Rides: These are typically performed at a slow, even, conversational pace. They can
range from 40 to 100 miles or more. The goal is primarily to increase
endurance.
Recovery Workouts: These are short rides at a low intensity, with a lot of spinning.
They can range from five to 20 miles. The goal is to recover from a difficult or long workout.
Time Trials: Do these race-simulation rides on a course with few or no stops and at an
intensity close to your desired race pace. They are typically half of your race distance.
Group Rides: Intensity depends on the group. Many group rides go 25 to 40 miles. These can
be killer workouts, great social gatherings, or a bit of both.
Hill or Power Workouts: Climbing can help increase your strength and power, two components
that help you go faster. Or do power workouts, which integrate intervals (brief periods of hard
efforts) in the middle of a ride. These workouts are considered speedwork and should not be
attempted without first completing base training.
Run
By far, most triathletes’ injuries result from running, primarily because it’s so
stressful on the body. Fortunately, training in more than one activity significantly improves
your chances of staying healthy. Here are some hints to help you train safely and effectively:
Build a Solid Foundation: Running requires muscle strength and involves high cardiovascular
and respiratory demands, so it’s vital that you progress gradually, taking measures along the
way to let your body recover.
Follow Time, Not Mileage: It’s far easier to track your progress this way. It’s
also much less distracting and often helps to avoid excessive mileage, which can lead to
overtraining or injury.
Follow the 10% Rule: Experts contend that you shouldn’t increase your weekly miles by
more than 10%. If you’ve run three times this week for 20 minutes each workout for a total
of 60 minutes, next week’s running time should not exceed 66 minutes. Also, you should back
off by 10% every third or fourth week of training. After this recovery week, continue increasing
your time again by 10%, beginning where you left off.
Plan Your Workouts: Plan runs for a day that isn’t too
close to other hard workouts. If you do a hard ride on Wednesday, Thursday would not be a good
day to do a long run. And allow an easy day before and after hard runs.
Go for Consistency: Maintain an even pace throughout your runs. The most frequent mistake
new runners make when training is blowing up after the first few minutes.
Concentrate on Form: This teaches your body to hone in on biomechnical improvements and
to run more efficiently. Focus on running relaxed, smoothly and
naturally, without unusually jarring foot strikes. Some quick tips:
- Try to minimize excessive bouncing.
- Relax your upper body, especially your shoulders.
- Find a comfortable stride length and cadence (number of steps you take to cover a distance).
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