What to consider in a triathlon training program?
When considering a triathlon training program that is right for you, first you need to assess where you are at as an athlete, is this your first triathlon, or have you done a few and now want to get to a new level of success, or are you some what of a veteran and want to to take your goals to the next level. In this article on triathlon training program we are going to focus on the beginner and get you ready for your very first race.
Before we go into the actual picking of the race and looking at equipment for the big day, we need to make an assessment of ourselves.
Let’s ask some tough questions before picking the right triathlon training program..
The following questions are very important and require special consideration in determining a plan that is appropriate for your current level to minimize risk and injury:
- Coming off the couch?
- What are your goals?
- How much time do you have per week to train?
- Right now, do you have a base in running, biking or swimming?
- Do you have any prior injuries that could pose a problem?
- Are you overweight?
- Your revised training plan assessment
8. Available plans
We have to make a few assumptions before choosing the triathlon training program right for you.
I’m going to make assumptions about you, you have been doing a little bit of swimming, biking and running, and your looking to do a sprint triathlon race, which is a .5 mile swim, 13 mile bike, and a 3.2 mile run or 5k.
So where do you start to get ready for your first triathlon experience, a beginner triathlon training program starts with the essentials to success, lets start with what triathlon equipment you will need. Let’s look at the triathlon swim portion first. Lets review what you will need entering the water.
- swim suit/ should consider swimming in what you will bike and run in. Tri suit or a thin bike short would be good.
- swim cap, usually provided by the race
- um, thats it.
Depending on the water temperature you might want to get a wet-suit, to avoid having to think about this, you could do your first triathlon with a pool start, by far less intimidating than an open water swim. This would be my recommendation. Triathlon training for beginners starts with swim workouts in the pool so why not find a race where you cut the anxiety and worry down to the minimum, get one under you belt. Pool swim is the way to go. Coming out of the water in your first triathlon you will get to the transition area.
Once there, with your towel laid out, helmet on your bike, bike shoes with socks ready, sunglasses inside your helmet, you are ready to go…. so let’s review the stuff you need at this point.
- bike
- helmet
- gloves
- sunglasses
- bike shoes
- socks
- towel to dry feet
- towel to lay stuff out on top
- have your run stuff laid out as well
- um, that’s it.
So now your on your bike, you will walk or run your bike to the mounting area, no worries about this, just take it easy, the goal should be to have fun and finish. Once on your bike, stay focused and go for it. Your triathlon training schedule that led up to this should allow you to enjoy the fact that your out of the water and on your bike, great job. Now that we are coming into the final transition and run portion lets see what you will need for your 5k…
- running shoes, that was easy
- maybe a hat if your a hat person
- that’s it…
Your legs might feel a little strange at first but they will come back for you, in your triathlon training for beginners plan you should have done a few bricks a long the way to get ready for this moment. Just get into a groove, don’t worry about going fast, just get comfortable and again enjoy yourself and have fun. Save some energy for the big moment, your triumphant finish.
You can see the finish line, pick up your pace if you can and smile for the cameras and your fans. Great job, you are now an official triathlon finisher.
To get more information about triathlon training program for beginners, GO HERE.
