So you’re new to Beginner Triathlete, triathlons in general, or even just working out? Welcome to the community.
I’m a random scrub finishing my second year of participating in triathlons. I’ve been around the BT forums for a few months now. I’m plenty new enough to remember how it feels to be overwhelmed by the information involved, and how answers from more experienced folks can make you feel more ignorant than you started. I’ve also been around just long enough to start seeing a lot of the same questions asked over and over.
This document is my attempt to put some brief, introductory-level information together in a way that would have helped me get started. It’s a mix of training advice, common forum topics, and some basic introductory discussion of gear.
It won’t cover everything you find relevant. It will include things you don’t think are relevant. If you’re already in training it will almost certainly include things with which you disagree. But with all those caveats, hopefully this will help a BT newcomer here or there.
Triathlon Distance Terminology
Short (Metric)
Sprint distances often vary, particularly the swim. One variant is a ‘pool sprint,’ where the swim takes place in a pool and is often in the 250-500 yard/meter range.
Sprint: 750m swim, 20km bike, 5km run.
Olympic: 1.5km swim, 40km bike, 10km run. This is also called the International Distance.
Long (Imperial)
The terms Ironman and Half Ironman, and the numbers 70.3 and 140.6 in a circle are trademarks of the World Triathlon Corporation (“WTC”). If your race is run by WTC it will include those names and symbols and cost more; if it is run by another organization it will likely be called ‘half distance’ or ‘full distance’ or other terms along those lines.
Half: 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run.
Full: 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, 26.2 mile run.
Using Beginnertriathlete.com
The BT website is a great resource for new triathletes. Some of my favorite features are introduced below. Each of these topics has a big button on the BT homepage to connect you:
Articles: Thorough discussions of meaningful topics by educated folks. Look through these, you’ll always find something interesting.
Training Programs: I believe that choosing and following an appropriate training plan is the key to meeting your goals.
Training Log: At first I resisted using this, and that was a mistake. They help keep me honest, help me feel accountable for doing my training, help me feel proud when I see how my volumes have changed over time, and help others answer my questions when I have them (if you post in the forums, other members can click through to your logs unless you mark them as private). You should use the logs.
Search Function: Use this when you have questions before just blindly posting in the forums. Chances are your question has been discussed in the forums or even in an article many times before. Even if the search function doesn’t find an answer to your exact question, you’ll at least be asking it from a more knowledgeable position.
Forums: The highlight of the site for me. It’s on my daily list of websites to check.
Don’t just stop with those, though. There are a lot of resources and you might find some other ones that are great for you.
Plan to Train, Train the Plan
Most triathlon training programs assume you can do six or more workouts a week of 30+ minutes each. If you haven’t worked out in years or are otherwise too out of shape for this, it may be a good idea to start with a “couch to…” program. To find one, do a BT article search to find a “couch to 5k” or “couch to sprint” plan and start there.
If you can already handle 30+ minute workouts most days, then pick a race that you want to build toward, ideally one 16 or more weeks in the future. If it’s your first triathlon event you should probably choose a Sprint distance race.
Don’t be in too much of a hurry to ramp up your training. You don’t have to do a half-iron distance race this year if it’s your first year of training. Do sprints this year, maybe an Olympic, and see how that goes – you have plenty of time to build up to longer-distance races. That said, follow your dreams – I’m just trying to emphasize that you don’t have to do everything all at once. The key is to establish good habits and build fitness for the long term without getting hurt.
Now start looking through training plans appropriate for the race distance you selected. Many books are available with plans, and BT has a number of free plans to choose from along with an active community happy to discuss them with you. Here are a few important things to keep in mind when choosing your plan:
Starting Volume: Look at the first week or two of training. Do the number of training sessions and the length of each feel do-able to you?
Peak Volume: Your plan probably peaks 2-3 weeks before your event. Assuming your fitness allows, will you be able to fit those weeks into the rest of your lifestyle?
Plan Flexibility: How likely are you to have sudden unexpected changes in your schedule? Some folks may never pick training schedules with more than one planned session per day, for instance, so that they can do double up sessions after unexpected business trips cause them to miss workouts.
Those are just suggestions to help guide your plan choice. Once you pick a plan, stick to it as well as you can! But when you can’t, don’t beat yourself up. It’s more important to rest up from being sick or let that injury heal thoroughly than to bat 1.000 in training sessions.
Many folks start training as part of an attempt to lose weight. When you start training your appetite will likely increase. If you don’t pay attention to your diet, the effect of physical training will easily be dwarfed by taking in more food.
Fancy Tracking Methods
The ideal circumstance would be to log every bit of training, everything you eat, and start some work to determine your base calorie burn rate, determine your target weight change rates, etc.
For instance, I know that I burn 2500 calories / day baseline, at least relative to how I track such things. If I want to lose a pound every two weeks, then I shoot for 2250 net calories per day. (How do I figure this? A pound is 3500 calories; one pound per two weeks is 3500 calories / 14 days = 250 calorie deficit per day. 2500-250 = 2250.)
So if that’s my goal, on a day where I’m going to burn 750 calories with exercise I’ll target 3000 calories in. If I wanted to lose a pound per week I’ll shoot for a net intake of 2000 calories per day.
Some folks track this information with online services, and there are several options. Others build their own spreadsheets.
Rules of Thumb
Most folks don’t want to do all that. If you’re looking for a more guideline-based approach this might help in moderation:
More Often: If you need to increase food intake volume due to training, try to do it with more meals, not larger meals.
Cheesy/Creamy Ingredients: Avoid cheese and creamy items like mayonnaise, ice cream, sour cream, Alfredo sauce, ranch/bleu cheese dressing, and similar items.
Bar Food: Avoid pizza, ribs, wings, and booze. I can easily eat a day’s worth of calories in an hour with these foods.
Preparation Keywords: Avoid foods with words like “crispy,” “battered,” and “buffalo” in the title. You can easily think you’re getting a healthy chicken salad and wind up with an inadvertent calorie bomb.
This is neither perfect nor comprehensive, but if you follow these rules you’d have a pretty good start.
Calories Burned Exercising
Some folks get pretty complex trying to estimate how many calories they burn. You probably shouldn’t use built-in calorie estimators in Garmin watches or things like that, and almost certainly shouldn’t use calorie estimators in gym cardio equipment. Other folks might yell at me for this, but if you’re trying to track calories burned I’d suggest using this as a starting estimate until you come up with something you like better:
Swim: 25 calories per 100 yards swimming. This may understate beginners and overstate advanced swimmers a bit.
Bike: 0.25 x weight in lbs x miles biked. This may overstate beginners and understate advanced bikers a bit.
Run: 0.75 x weight in lbs x miles ran. Only give yourself half credit for any distance done walking.
Race Nutrition
This is pretty important at half-iron and iron distance levels. For those events you should do the bulk of your training working on a nutrition plan for your race. I.e., if you’re going to target one gel and half a bottle per hour on the bike, then that’s how you should be doing your long training rides.
For sprints, however, you’re probably over thinking it. Just don’t do anything stupid the day before and eat something that’s going to make you sick. Don’t worry about carb-loading or gels. Eat a sensible meal the night before and a light breakfast the morning of. Many experienced triathletes will do a sprint dry, grabbing a cup of water during the run if necessary. Put a bottle of water or Gatorade on your bike if you want to feel a bit safer but you probably won’t need it.
Weightlifting
The generally accepted view on weightlifting on BT is that it is optional for triathletes. The consensus seems to be that it’s a fine thing to do if you just enjoy it for other benefits, but that it is not the most efficient way to improve your swim, bike, or run times if triathlon race performance is your goal. That said, many triathletes enjoy weightlifting and there’s a dedicated strength training forum on BT to talk about it.
BeginnerTriathlete (BT) Forums
These are a great place to ask your questions, help others out, and generally learn more about the sport. This is one of the friendlier online communities I’ve had the pleasure to come across.
With that said, there are certain types of conversations that seem to cause the forums to start smoking:
Tattoos:
Someone will start this topic and you’ll eventually get the following exchange:
A: I love my tattoo and it’s nobody else’s business so shut up.
B: I don’t get it. Tattoos are stupid.
A: You are stupid.
All: Fun commences.
Examples of similar topics: Biking with earphones. Anything on the axis of “safety vs. freedom.”
Advice
Someone will ask for advice then get advice they didn’t want.
A: I can only run twice a week, how do I get faster?
B: Run five times a week. You’ll never get faster running twice a week.
A: I said I can only run twice a week. Does anyone have anything helpful to say instead of being a jerk?
All: Fun commences.
Examples of similar topics: It’s impossible to train for IM while being a good dad/mom. A certain race was too hard or unfair. Anything where the poster really just wanted people to agree with him/her.
Calorie Math (In or Out)
Someone will say something a bit loosely, and then defend it to the death.
A: (.75 x weight x miles) is not a perfect measure of calories burned running. Don’t use it.
B: It’s 90% correct and to get the last 10% would require insanely complicated stuff. Just use it, it’s good enough.
A: That’s what I said. It’s not perfect. You say yourself it’s 10% wrong. Maybe you should have read my post.
All: Fun commences.
Examples of similar topics: All calories are the same when it comes to weight loss. Training based on maximum heart rate is a terrible idea.
Common Acronyms/Phrases
BT: Website beginnertriathlete.com and its various boards, people, and resources
FOP / MOP / BOP: Short for front / middle / back of pack, i.e., fast, average, and slow people. I tend to think of FOP and BOP as 1st and 4th quartile, but these terms are usually treated as subjective and not well-defined.
OWS: Open water swim.
IM: Ironman triathlon distance (140.6 miles, not necessarily branded)
HIM: Half Ironman triathlon distance (70.3 miles, not necessarily branded)
OLY: Olympic triathlon distance (~31.9 miles)
Mary:Marathon (26.2 mile run)
HM: Malf marathon (13.1 mile run)
ST: SlowTwitch, the ‘other’ triathlon website. It’s considered more rough-and-tumble, forum-wise.
First of all, feel free to show up for your first triathlon(s) in a mountain bike, old road bike, hybrid, whatever you have or can borrow. In a sprint triathlon this is pretty common. Once you’ve done some events, met some folks, etc., ask around to get a good feel for which bicycle shops in your area are well thought of. The key is selecting a bike whose basic geometry fits you, and then getting it fit to you by a professional.
Here’s how this would work in an ideal world: You get a ‘generic fit’ from a professional fitter where some completely unbiased guy measures you and recommends a few brands and models of bicycles based on your build, flexibility, and other factors. You then test them all and choose the one that feels best within your price range. Then you get a professional fitting where they make all your angles and lengths match the bike perfectly. The fitting should probably be free if you buy from a shop.
In practice there may be a few compromises vs. this approach. You have a few decisions to make:
Road Bike vs. Tri-/ Bike: Everything else being equal, tri bikes are faster, but I wouldn’t recommend one for your first bike or for your only bike. If you’re only going to have one road/tri bike, I suggest a road bike. This is subjective, but you can argue that road bikes are easier to learn on, more comfortable, and safer for beginners. Plus, you’ll be much more welcome to show up and join any group rides in your area with a road bike.
Bike Store vs. EBay/Craigslist/etc.: You can probably get a better deal on EBay or whatever. If you’re a tinkerer or have an educated friend to help you, go for it. You probably already know whether you’re the kind of person for whom this would work. I have no spare time and had no knowledge of bikes, so I went to a reputable local store and said, “Here’s my budget, please treat me well and I’ll hopefully remain a customer for years.” Note that there are ‘bike stores’ and ‘triathlon stores,’ often based as much on whoever happens to work there as on any official stance. I’d recommend the latter if you have a choice, but either is probably fine for your road bike.
A Quick Introduction to Gearing
Chainring: These are the big rings beside your pedals. The number represents the # of teeth. More teeth = more ‘work’ per turn of the pedals = faster per turn of the pedals. There are three main types you’ll be concerned about:
Triple Chainring (ex: 50/40/30): These are usually for mountain bikes, hybrids, people who ride some serious slopes, or people who are out of shape – that smallest ring is sometimes called the ‘granny ring.’
Standard (ex: 53/39): These are for bikers. No granny gear. Only having two rings makes shifting easier and cleaner.
Compact Chainring (ex: 50/34): These have two rings but have more relaxed gearing for hills or beginners at the cost of top-end speed. No shame in this – it’s what my P2 has. Most bikers would be better off with Compact than Standard – if you’re not contending for age group or overall wins, you’ll probably be better off Compact.
Cassette: This is the Christmas tree sticking out the side of the rear wheel. The number represents the # of teeth. More teeth = less ‘work’ per turn of the chainring = slower per turn of the pedals.
The first thing to look at is the number of gears. 7-10 is the normal range, with 10 being the standard. If your bike comes with fewer than 10 gears in the cassette, it may be more difficult to upgrade components in the future should you wish to do so.
Then look at the range of gears. The big number is the ‘easiest’ gear for climbing, and the small number is the ‘hardest’ gear for descents.
The wider the range of gears, the more versatility you have, but the clunkier it will be every time you change gears and the less you can fine-tune your speed/comfort.
Translating into Speed: The formula is easy. Pedaling at a cadence (pedal rotations/minute) of 90, it’s (rounded off) “7.23 x (# Front Teeth) / (# Back Teeth).”
Applying this formula to the biggest and smallest chain/gear combinations gives you a ‘speed range.’
If a hill is steep enough that you can only maintain ~6 mph and your lowest gear is ~9mph, that just means your cadence would have to drop to 60 rotations, not that you would fall over and die. Not ideal, but it happens!
When it comes time to buy you’ll also want to think about how much to spend. Very, very generally, here are some indicative price points to think about for new road bicycles to help set your expectations.
Cost
Where
Frame
Components
Pedals
Fitted
Quality
Wal-Mart
Varies
Poor
Platform
No
25%
$500-$1000
LBS
Aluminum/Alloy
Decent: Tiagra
Clip (purchase)
Yes
50%
$1000-$2000
LBS
Aluminum
Good: 105
Clip (purchase)
Yes
90%
$2000+
LBS
Carbon
Great: Ultegra
Clip (purchase)
Yes
100%
The ‘quality’ column is just an indicative number to convey my impression. Again, this is a way-oversimplified chart that’s leaving out a lot of stuff, but my goal here is to give someone new a rough idea of what to expect. There’s a sweet spot between $1000 and $2000 where you can get a bike with a good frame, quality components that will be good enough to ride for years. Anything below that, with tiagra/sora components, and there’s a good chance you’ll be looking to upgrade in a year or two
Bicycle Accessories
Essential
Helmet and Glasses: Don’t skimp on these. I like the glasses with changeable lenses so that I can put in clear lenses when riding before dawn.
Front and Rear Lights: These are small. You’ll probably want a white light for the front and a red light for the back. I prefer blinking lights for pre-dawn rides, especially for the rear light, but choose whatever makes you feel safe and able to see. Some people also put lights on the front and/or back of their helmets.
Floor Pump / Frame Pump: You’ll need to inflate your tires before each ride. If you’re not worried about the weight, consider a small frame pump that attaches to the seat tube.
Tire Repair Kit: Ideally get this in a small saddle bag or other form you can attach to your bike. It should include a spare tube, CO2 canisters if you don’t carry a frame pump, tire levers, and inflation connector.
Bottle Cages and Bottles: You’ll probably want at least two bottle cages and water bottles to place in them. A standard setup would be one on each of the main vertical tubes on your bike but there are several options.
Bike Shorts and Jersey: Bike shorts have nice big pads to keep your undercarriage happy. Many folks swear by bibs in place of bike shorts – bibs are shorts with shoulder straps that hold it up and snug. I usually just ride in tri-shorts and a jersey. Note that you do not wear underwear underneath bibs / bike shorts / tri shorts.
Optional
Clip Shoes and Petals: Yes, you will eventually want petals and shoes that clip together. It might be scary the first time you clip in. You’ll get used to it quickly. Many folks fall over once or twice at first. Consider it a rite of initiation. If you want official triathlon shoes, make sure that the tightening strap is a single strap that you pull away from the bike to tighten. Socks are optional; many triathletes go without for short or even long rides.
Computer: Most people like to have a small computer on their bicycle to track their cadence, speed, and mileage. A small sensor is placed on your rear derailleur which simply counts how often a magnet on your wheel (speed) and pedal (cadence) go by. These come in wired and wireless, with most people preferring wireless at a reasonable incremental cost.
Trainer: A trainer is a small machine into which you hook your rear wheel. It allows you to bicycle in the comfort of your own home while watching TV or otherwise occupied. Trainers can be boring, or at least monotonous, so some folks like to get Spinervals or other bike DVDs to make the time go faster or feel like they’re cycling with a group. Not only do trainers allow you to train whenever you want, they also keep you honest in terms of keeping up your energy level – there are no stoplights, hills to cruise down, etc. I’ve heard it said that an hour on the trainer is as good as two outdoors. People swear by the Kurt Kinetic Fluid and Cycle Ops Fluid trainers. If you can afford a decent a trainer, just get one of those. I don’t really know why they’re better, but many folks seem to agree.
Power Training: When you get more involved in the sport you’ll start hearing a lot about Power Meters. These are more advanced ways of monitoring your power output, etc. By all reports these are fantastic training devices, but unless you’re really well off, don’t worry about these until you have a few races or a season of training under your belt.
Aero Bars: You can clip aero bars onto your road bike to get some of the effect of having a tri bike. You still won’t have necessarily have the same geometry, seat position, bar-end shifters, etc., of a tri bike, but I’ve seen at least one credible wind tunnel / race track study suggesting that for a professional, clipping aero bars on a road bike gives you approximately 40% of the benefit of moving up to a tri bike at a fraction of the cost. Others seem to find them a bit cheesy.
Aero Helmet: These are the silly looking teardrop helmets. I’ve heard some debate about whether they’re actually faster for riders with poor form who don’t do a good job of holding their head steady and straight. In the wind tunnel, and worn properly in appropriate conditions, however, there seems to be little doubt that these reduce drag substantially.
Race Wheels: These are expensive. Even decent used race wheels can go for $1000 or more. I haven’t seen as big a difference from my race wheels as I’d have expected given the cost. But they look really, really cool.
Other Gear
Running Shoes: Go to a reputable running store and have them fit you for a running shoe. If it’s a good store they’ll try you out in several models and have you run around in them to fit your mechanics.
Tri-Suit: A tri suit is an outfit that can be used through all three phases of the triathlon. They’re not cheap, but at $50-$100 you should probably buy one. One piece vs. two piece is optional. Some folks love the one-piece because they feel it stays in place better. Others get nervous before the race and appreciate being able to separate the top and bottom for certain bathroom-related reasons.
Body Glide and/or Chamois Butter: Some folks need to apply these frequently to avoid chafing from running and/or biking. Others find they can do just fine without as long as they have a good saddle. If you’re getting sore in the saddle area these are a great first thing to try.
Running Clothes: You’d probably do well to get a few pairs of running shorts, shirts, and socks. Wearing cotton is a bad idea if you plan on sweating while you work out. Chances are your running shorts will have a liner; if so, don’t wear underwear underneath. (Yes, I’m an idiot, and I did this for two years until I learned better on the BT forums.) Many triathletes run sockless for sprint or even Olympic distance runs.
Run Belt: This is a small elastic belt with a pair of attachments for race numbers. Many races require you to keep your number visible during the run. Grabbing a race belt with number pre-attached can be much easier than trying to pin a race number on to your shirt.
Wetsuit: At some point you’ll wonder if you should wear a wetsuit. If you have one and they’re legal to wear (water temperature under 78), you should probably wear one. If you wear one, you should probably get sleeved. You can rent them for $25-$50, but you can get a new one from XTERRA at a reasonable price. Never pay full retail at XTERRA, they have near-constant discounts. You can get a decent sleeved wetsuit from them for $200 or less. Call them on the phone and they will be very helpful in sizing you.
GPS / Heart Rate Monitor: Many triathletes wear a watch that also functions as a heart rate monitor and/or GPS device. Polar and Garmin are popular brands. For instance, I love my Garmin 305. I bought the mount and clipping wrist strap kit for it. This allows me to use it as a bike computer with cadence, heart rate, and distance/speed functions, and then pop it off the bike and onto my wrist to use on my run.
Yankz: Yankz are replacement laces for your running shoes. They are elastic. There are plenty of alternatives to the Yankz brand. Once you thread them through you don’t need to tie them anymore. They’re cheap, they’re cool, and they’ll save you a little time in transition.
Foot Pod: This is a small device that you attach to your running shoe. It counts your steps and measures your pace and running cadence / step rate. Some (all?) can speak wirelessly with watches. Some people even use these while running on treadmills, feeling that it gives them a more reliable measure of distance run than the treadmill display.
Training Intensity
Many training plans will use some guideline to indicate how vigorous the workout should be. For instance, the fast portion of a tempo run should be at a higher effort level than a long weekend run. For people new to endurance training, the more common problem is training too hard. These methods can be a good way of making sure you don’t overstrain and increase your chance of injury.
Below is a brief introduction to some of the most common ways of guiding and quantifying those effort levels.
Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE)
The least technical common measure of training intensity is Rate of Perceived Exertion, or RPE. It is most commonly expressed as a 10-point scale to measure effort level.
RPE
Description
0
Sitting on your couch
2
Casual stroll around the neighborhood
4
Putting forth effort but able to carry on conversation, could sustain for long period
6
Noticeable effort, can still speak but sentences require some effort, could sustain for an hour
8
Working hard, talking only possible in gasps, could sustain for 30 minutes
10
Full effort, breath gasping in and out, could sustain for 1-2 minutes
For beginners, most workouts should probably be in the 4-6 RPE range, especially running. Biking you probably want to spend at least some time in the 6-8 range. Only move up in the 8-10 range once you’ve been working out awhile and (ideally) have a plan that calls for it.
Heart Rate Training (HRT)
This is a seemingly innocuous topic about which many people feel strongly. In principal, you establish a range of heart beat rate zones and attempt to target specific zones for certain workouts to guide your effort level.
HR Zone
Description
1
Easy effort, rarely used except for recovery days
2
Sustainable effort level, many triathletes do the bulk of their training in this zone
3
This is a ‘tweener’ zone and beginners are often instructed to avoid spending much time at this level
4
High effort level, many triathletes use this for ‘threshold’ workouts to increase sustainable speed
5
Sprint, sustainable for only short periods of time, this level usually for intervals and short races
The controversial aspect of HRT is the method by which you assign heart rate ranges to those zones. Two variables are involved – some ‘high’ heart rate level, and a series of %s applied to that level. May variations exist, including Karvonen, Zoladz, Maffetone, and others – use Google if you want more detail on those.
The most commonly discussed methods of determining the ‘high’ heart rate level on BT are discussed below.
Maximum Heart-Rate
You can establish training zones based on your maximum heart rate.
Age-Based Max HR: Maximum heart rate based your age, i.e., 220-age. So if you’re 40 it would be 180.
Observed Max HR: Train really hard a few times and check the maximum HR your watch observes.
Lactic Threshold
This is based on the results of a lactic threshold test. It takes approximately 50 minutes to do for each sport, usually running and cycling. Assuming you have a heart rate monitor with lap functionality, here’s the test:
Setup: Try to do this on a trainer for bike or treadmill for run if possible. You want flat, controllable, and by yourself.
Warmup: Run or bike at a comfortable pace for 10 minutes.
Main Set I: Choose a pace you think you can sustain for 30 minutes. Go hard for 10 minutes.
Main Set II: Hit your lap button and continue going hard for another 20 minutes.
Cooldown: Hit your lap button and cooldown for 10 minutes.
Check Watch: Measure your average HR over the Main Set II and that’s your lactic threshold.
From there you repeat the test every month or two to recalibrate your training zones. This allows your improving fitness to be reflected in your training intensity. Though you will only want to do this test when you have been training for consistently for months.
Heart Rate Zones
It seems nearly unanimous on BT that if you are going to use HRT, you should use the lactic threshold method. If you’re a beginner, too out of shape to do the lactic threshold test, or just aren’t going to do it, then some people think that the observed max HR method works just fine. The age-based max HR is sketchier just because individuals can vary so widely from the population norm.
Frankly, if you’re a beginner, any method that convinces you to keep your effort level down is probably beneficial. Just be careful not to disclose on BT that you’re using a max-HR method because they will heap scorn on you. In their defense, they’re just trying to help.
Once you’ve established your method and the key heart rate, here are common percentile ranges and a rounded-off example:
HR Zone
Max HR
Ex: Max HR 185
Threshold
Ex: Threshold 170
1
60-70%
110-130
65-80%
110-140
2
70-80%
130-150
80-90%
140-150
3
80-90%
150-165
90-95%
150-160
4
90-95%
165-175
95-100%
160-170
5
95-100%
175-185
100%+
170+
Note that the lactic threshold will be lower than your maximum heart rate, so the %s used will be correspondingly higher.
This applies to bicycling. When you get more involved in the sport you’ll start hearing a lot about Power Meters and/or Computrainers. These are more advanced ways of monitoring your power output, etc. By all reports these are fantastic training devices. You probably don’t need to worry about these until you have a few races or a season of training under your belt.
First of all, don’t panic. While some BTers were former swimmers, many of us have no swimming background whatsoever. Don’t freak out if you can barely swim a length without stopping. (A length is one trip down the pool, a lap is down and back. In a 25 yard pool, a length is 25 yards and a lap is 50 yards.)
Many runners and cyclists want to approach swim training the way they approached running and biking at first, just hopping in the pool and trying to go farther and farther, trusting their body to learn how to improve itself. This is not the best way to approach swimming. Don’t grind out meaningless laps with terrible form. Get lessons. Watch Youtube videos, there are plenty out there.
If you have a specific event length in mind, then absolutely you’ll want a few practices where you swim that length straight through. Otherwise, however, you’ll be better off getting lessons, then spending more of your practice time doing drills and shorter 100- or 200-yard intervals with 5-20 second rest periods that allow you to maintain good form and pace.
If you absolutely must swim before you have lessons and are desperate for tips, here are a few things to keep in mind early on:
Balance: Do your best to keep your body balanced in the water. Particularly don’t let your feet hang down, that creates a ton of drag.
Rotate: Don’t lift your head out of the water to breathe. When you reach forward with your lead arm, rotate on your side a little and use that motion to clear your mouth breathe. If you lift your head, your feet or arm will immediately drop and create drag to compensate.
Breathe Slowly: If you find yourself dying for breath, try kicking easier. Only kick enough to keep your feet up, don’t try to push yourself forward with kicks.
Bilateral Breathing: Most beginners have a side on which they find it easier to breathe. Try to learn to breathe on either side, ideally working up to bilateral breathing, a ‘left-right-left-breathe, right-left-right-breathe’ pattern. If you can’t do that yet, try to breathe to one side going down and the other side coming back. The longer you practice breathing only on one side the harder it will be to break the habit later. In races, many folks only breathe to one side because that’s most efficient for them, but being able to choose which side based on conditions can be a big help.
Other Considerations
Counting Laps
A lot of starters have a tough time keeping track of laps (a lap is two lengths of the pool, i.e., down and back to where you started).
Here’s what works for me: I suggest counting lengths and breaking your workout into thirds – so if I’m doing 900 yards (18 laps / 36 lengths) I’ll count to twelve three times. Counting lengths helps you keep count because you know whether your number should be odd (going away) or even (coming back). So if you can’t remember if you’re on8 or 9, just think about which way you’re going to settle the issue.
Other folks use different methods. For instance you could put coins at one end of the pool and slide over appropriate change after each lap. There are also (believe it or not!) certain products for sale that do this for you. Or you could use any waterproof watch with ‘lap’ functionality and just hit the lap button each lap – just make sure it’s meant for this and doesn’t have a lap button that will trigger everytime your hand enters the water. Use the search function on BT and you’ll find plenty of conversations about this topic and what various folk do to help.
Finally, once you start to settle into consistent lap times it becomes obvious. Your pool probably has a big analog clock on the wall. If your lap times are around 1:40 per 100 yards, you can count on the second hand reliably moving about 10 seconds ‘backward’ per lap.
Open Water Swims
Your first time swimming in open water you may freak out. Many do. Try to get some open water lake/ocean/etc. practice before your first triathlon with an open water swim, but never do that by yourself. When you do practice open water swims practice ‘sighting.’ Sighting means you look up every 6-12 strokes to make sure you’re still going in the right direction. If open water swims scare you greatly, consider starting off with a pool sprint or two where the swim is much shorter and done in a pool. In ‘pool sprints,’ swimmers usually volunteer their expected speed then begin one at a time rather than en-masse and swim a certain number of laps in the pool.
Bike Training: Bike Hard
General Outlook
The best way to get faster on the bicycle is to spend time in the saddle (you’ll sometimes see the acronym “TITS”). When biking it’s easy just to cruise around aimlessly feeling good about yourself, so make sure you’re pushing yourself when you’re out there. Biking is low impact, so you may be less likely to injure yourself with high effort level workouts biking than you would if you were running.
One great way to push yourself on the bike is to ride with groups. Most cities have several established riding groups with weekly rides at certain times. Your local bike shops can probably tell you how to find out more. Usually this will involve reaching out to the ride leader.
As a beginner, make sure that you can maintain whatever pace the ride leader says the particular ride targets. If you don’t have a road bike, ask about it – do not just assume you can show up with anything other than a road bike. Also ask the ride leader to help you out if he observes any etiquette breaches. It will take you a few rides (or years!) to get up to speed on all the various social niceties involved with group riding, so let me leader know you want to learn.
Finally, if you come upon another cyclist or group while you’re out for a ride, never join them or tuck in to draft without asking. And if you’re on a tri bike, you probably shouldn’t ask.
Special Training Gear
Trainers
Getting a trainer might help, especially if you’re in an area with spotty weather. Trainers can be boring, or at least monotonous, so try to put your bike trainer in front of a TV if that helps. Some folks like to get Spinervals or other bike DVDs to make the time go faster or feel like they’re cycling with a group.
Not only do trainers allow you to train whenever you want, they also keep you honest in terms of keeping up your energy level – there are no stoplights, hills to cruise down, etc. People swear by the Kurt Kinetic Fluid and Cycle Ops Fluid trainers. If you get a trainer, you can’t go wrong one of those. I don’t really know why they’re better, but many folks seem to think so.
There’s another option called “rollers” that serve a similar purpose. Your bike literally just sits on rollers, forcing you to keep balance, so you can develop some handling/balance skills on them.
Power Meters
When you get more involved in the sport you’ll start hearing a lot about Power Meters. These are more advanced ways of monitoring your power output, etc., but don’t worry about those quite yet.
Computrainers
Computrainers are like a combination trainer, computer, and ride simulator. They are expensive and are often used as part of off-season classes where several folks get together for virtual group rides and/or races. Many folks that have done a Computrainer program swear by them. You can download actual video/topography from Ironman courses and do an Ironman course in your living room.
Other Recommendations
Some basic tips for beginning cyclists include:
Effort on Hills: Unless you’re doing actual hill work, try to keep your effort level somewhat constant rather than pushing super-hard up hills and then coasting down hills, this will help you maintain endurance in the long run.
Pedal Faster: It’s really tempting to muscle your way around, but that’s hard on your knees. Instead, shift down and try to keep your cadence around 90-95 rotations per minute. That’s 90-95 rotations with each leg. Optimal cadence will vary from person to person, but beginners sometimes err way too far on the low side. Keep the cadence up to work on your endurance without hurting yourself.
Shift Earlier: This is one thing good cyclists frequently point out to beginners who seem to try to stay in the same gear as long as possible. Don’t start up a hill in a huge gear, and don’t spin aimlessly at the top of one. Instead, anticipate changes in resistance and shift proactively.
Be Paranoid: Always have safety lights, wear helmets and eye protection, don’t listen to headphones, and obey traffic laws as if you were a car unless you know local laws saying otherwise. Assume that every car ahead of you wants to hit you, because most drivers just aren’t used to looking for cyclists. Watch out for cars that pass you that suddenly decide to make a right turn. Carry ID, tire repair kits, and some cash. Just be prudent.
Run Training: Run More
A lot of people get hurt ramping up their running mileage or intensity too quickly. They decide to start running sprints in their second week of training, or go an extra three miles on their long run because it just feels so good. These kinds of decisions can often lead to injury. As a result much of the advice around run training is based around injury avoidance.
Key Themes
Keep the Pace Easy
Many folks recommend doing no speed work whatsoever until you have been doing significant mileage (often 20-30 or more miles per week) for some period of time (3-6 months or even a year). The consensus for beginners is to keep most or all of your training at a nice steady pace with a comfortable effort level.
It might be hard to make yourself slow down, but if you have to run at a 12:00 / mile pace to be comfortable then do it. If you need to walk half the time (or more!) in order to keep your breath, then walk.
This is part of why heart rate monitors can be a real game changer for beginners. They give you an objective measure to help reduce overtraining to help avoid injury.
Ramp Up Slowly
Many aspiring triathletes are Type A folks who want to see improvement fast. Once you have a few weeks of training in you may feel like you can really ramp up your speed and distance. This probably isn’t the best approach.
One widely quoted rule of thumb is not to increase your weekly mileage by more than 10%. If you’re below 10 miles/week it might be impossible to meet this rule literally. Once you build up to 10 miles/week, however, you might want to start observing this guideline. Yes, that means it will take 10 weeks go to from 10 miles/week to 20 miles/week, but it’s worth taking your time to reduce the chance of injury. Be sure to take occasional lower-volume recovery weeks.
Spread the Miles
Keep the day-to-day running load manageable. If you can go out for 4-6 easy, short runs or even walk/runs a week to start that is more ideal than trying to do two long runs or trying to ramp up your pace too quickly.
Ideally your weekly long run will be roughly one-third of your weekly mileage. If you’re following a plan with 2-3 runs/week, however, it’s unavoidable that your long run will be a larger percentage of your weekly miles. If you’re on one of those plans, consider adding an additional one or two mile run to a few of your bike or swim workouts through the week.
For instance, if you’re on a plan that calls for 30, 45, and 60 minute runs in a given week, the long run represents 44% of your running time. Adding a pair of easy 20 minute runs to other workouts, however, gives you additional low-stress miles and reduces the long run to 34% of your time.
How You Get Faster
If you come to the BT forums and ask, “What should I do to run faster,” the first thing folks will do is look at your logs. The answer you’ll almost certainly get is “run more.” Not necessarily longer, or harder, or faster, or do more tempo runs, or intervals, but simply more. More days, more miles.
Keep that in mind when you start getting comfortable and start wondering about whether you should do 400 meter sprints at the local HS track – unless you’ve been running a lot for a long time, the answer is probably “not yet.”
Other Notes
Running Surfaces: Even running easy adds a lot of stress to your joints. If you have local trails you can run on that would be ideal. Most folks would say to avoid concrete and asphalt if you can. That said, a lot of folks run on concrete and asphalt because those are their choices. Remember that asphalt is ‘softer’ than concrete, but be safe.
Barefoot Running: Many folks have been inspired by Born to Run to try barefoot running (often with Vibrams, Nike Free, etc.), with varying degrees of success. Feel free to dabble with this, but if you do, go slowly! It can really load your leg muscles in new ways, so take your time building up barefoot miles.
Running Cadence: Many runners recommend targeting 180 steps/minute. Footpods are available to count your steps. Certain websites list songs by ‘bpm’ to help runners target specific cadences when running to the music.
Be Natural: The most persuasive approach I’ve seen is to keep it as simple as possible when you are first starting – get a good shoe, run slow, and run often, and your body will teach itself how to move efficiently.
Race Day
Pre-Race
For your “A” race, the race toward which your training plan has been geared, your plan probably calls for you to taper your training the last week. If you’re tapering and start feeling lethargic, generally disappointed, a touch irritable, maybe even mildly sick, don’t worry, that’s normal.
If it’s your first triathlon, try to go to the information session the night before if there is one. Make sure you drink plenty of water the days leading up to the race – although you should be doing that anyway. Don’t do anything crazy with your diet before the race. Have a healthy/normal dinner, light breakfast.
If it’s a sprint, don’t worry about nutrition during the event. Put some Gatorade on your bike if you really want to but gels are almost certainly overkill.
One of the golden rules is: Never try anything new in a race. Sometimes it’s unavoidable…but avoid it if you can.
On race morning, get there early, 90 minutes or more before start. Check in and do packet pickup if you haven’t already. Attach any numbers they give you as instructed to your helmet, bicycle, and/or race belt. Rack your bike on the appropriate rack – look for the area designated to your race number and put your bike there. Observe how others folks rack their bikes. Make sure your tires are inflated properly and do a visual inspection of your bike. If you discover a small problem with your bike, there are probably some bike shop folks around with a tent set up to help folks out.
Put a very small towel beside your bike, ideally a hand towel or normal towel folded into quarters. On that towel put your helmet, bike shoes, socks (if any) and bike glasses in one small pile. Some folks put bike helmet and glasses on the bike. Put your run shoes and run belt in another small pile. Keep this all compact if you don’t want to annoy your neighbors. Look around at how other folks set up their transition areas. Notice that a few people have probably taken up a lot of room or have sloppy transition areas and pat yourself on the back for making an effort to be considerate.
Half an hour before start, get all your swim gear on and get to the swim start area. If it’s an open water swim (OWS) you probably have the chance to hop in and warm up for 15 minutes. It’s a great idea to do so, particularly if you’re still somewhat new to OWS and/or wetsuits, and you can pat yourself on the back for having practiced this while you watch other new folks start to freak out.
If you do start to freak out a bit during an OWS, don’t worry, you’re not the first. I’d practiced OWS, but in my first event I got kicked in the face and wound up grabbing a dock 20 yards from shore, but I still finished. Tread water if you have to and control your breathing. If necessary, wave for a kayak or whatever support they have in the water. You can get a breather, calm down, and continue, they won’t toss you out.
Transitions
Practice your transitions. A beginner going through the motions can easily lose three minutes vs. the field with slow transitions. Do you have any idea how hard those three minutes would be to make up in the 5k? The weekend before your race, take your gear outside and just do the transitions three times to get a feel for how efficiently you can do it.
I don’t claim to have this down to a science and experienced people probably have a more systematic/efficient approach to these steps, but your transitions will look something like the following:
T1: Run to your bike, remove wetsuit (if wearing one), goggles, and swim cap. Put on bike shoes, helmet, and glasses. Never take your bike off the rack without having your helmet on! Run with your bike to the mount line. Cross the mount line, get on your bike, and go.
T2: Hop off your bike at the dismount line, run to your transition area. Rack your bike, remove bike gear, put on running shoes and belt, and go.
Advanced Methods: The items above are just the basics. As you become faster you will start to learn more about advanced transition methods like flying mounts and dismounts. As a beginner, keep it simple for now.
Good luck! If you have any questions, don't hesitate to visit the forums.
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A Beginner's Guide to Triathlon
A FAQ on using the site and a compilation of basic triathlon advice
Author's Note
Triathlon Distances and Names
Using BeginnerTriathlete.com
Triathlon Training Plans
Triathlon for Weight Loss
Tracking Calories Burned in Triathlon Training
Triathlon Race Nutrition
Weightlifting and its role in Triathlon Training
The Triathlete Forums: A gold mine
Equipment needed for Triathlon
Buying a Bike for Triathlon
Basics of Bike Gears
Bike Accessories
Other Triathlon Gear
Training Intensity
Training by Perceived Exertion
Training by Heart Rate
Training by Power (bike)
Swim Training
Beginning Swimming
Lap Swimming
Open Water Swimming
Bicycle Training
Cycling Overview
Bike Training - Special Gear
Cycling Tips
Run Training
Running Overview
Other Popular Running Topics
Race Day
Pre-race
Transitions
From the Author
So you’re new to Beginner Triathlete, triathlons in general, or even just working out? Welcome to the community.
I’m a random scrub finishing my second year of participating in triathlons. I’ve been around the BT forums for a few months now. I’m plenty new enough to remember how it feels to be overwhelmed by the information involved, and how answers from more experienced folks can make you feel more ignorant than you started. I’ve also been around just long enough to start seeing a lot of the same questions asked over and over.
This document is my attempt to put some brief, introductory-level information together in a way that would have helped me get started. It’s a mix of training advice, common forum topics, and some basic introductory discussion of gear.
It won’t cover everything you find relevant. It will include things you don’t think are relevant. If you’re already in training it will almost certainly include things with which you disagree. But with all those caveats, hopefully this will help a BT newcomer here or there.
Triathlon Distance Terminology
Short (Metric)
Sprint distances often vary, particularly the swim. One variant is a ‘pool sprint,’ where the swim takes place in a pool and is often in the 250-500 yard/meter range.
Long (Imperial)
The terms Ironman and Half Ironman, and the numbers 70.3 and 140.6 in a circle are trademarks of the World Triathlon Corporation (“WTC”). If your race is run by WTC it will include those names and symbols and cost more; if it is run by another organization it will likely be called ‘half distance’ or ‘full distance’ or other terms along those lines.
Using Beginnertriathlete.com
The BT website is a great resource for new triathletes. Some of my favorite features are introduced below. Each of these topics has a big button on the BT homepage to connect you:
Don’t just stop with those, though. There are a lot of resources and you might find some other ones that are great for you.
Plan to Train, Train the Plan
Most triathlon training programs assume you can do six or more workouts a week of 30+ minutes each. If you haven’t worked out in years or are otherwise too out of shape for this, it may be a good idea to start with a “couch to…” program. To find one, do a BT article search to find a “couch to 5k” or “couch to sprint” plan and start there.
If you can already handle 30+ minute workouts most days, then pick a race that you want to build toward, ideally one 16 or more weeks in the future. If it’s your first triathlon event you should probably choose a Sprint distance race.
Don’t be in too much of a hurry to ramp up your training. You don’t have to do a half-iron distance race this year if it’s your first year of training. Do sprints this year, maybe an Olympic, and see how that goes – you have plenty of time to build up to longer-distance races. That said, follow your dreams – I’m just trying to emphasize that you don’t have to do everything all at once. The key is to establish good habits and build fitness for the long term without getting hurt.
Now start looking through training plans appropriate for the race distance you selected. Many books are available with plans, and BT has a number of free plans to choose from along with an active community happy to discuss them with you. Here are a few important things to keep in mind when choosing your plan:
Those are just suggestions to help guide your plan choice. Once you pick a plan, stick to it as well as you can! But when you can’t, don’t beat yourself up. It’s more important to rest up from being sick or let that injury heal thoroughly than to bat 1.000 in training sessions.
More information at: Choosing a Triathlon Training Plan
Training to Lose Weight
Many folks start training as part of an attempt to lose weight. When you start training your appetite will likely increase. If you don’t pay attention to your diet, the effect of physical training will easily be dwarfed by taking in more food.
Fancy Tracking Methods
The ideal circumstance would be to log every bit of training, everything you eat, and start some work to determine your base calorie burn rate, determine your target weight change rates, etc.
For instance, I know that I burn 2500 calories / day baseline, at least relative to how I track such things. If I want to lose a pound every two weeks, then I shoot for 2250 net calories per day. (How do I figure this? A pound is 3500 calories; one pound per two weeks is 3500 calories / 14 days = 250 calorie deficit per day. 2500-250 = 2250.)
So if that’s my goal, on a day where I’m going to burn 750 calories with exercise I’ll target 3000 calories in. If I wanted to lose a pound per week I’ll shoot for a net intake of 2000 calories per day.
Some folks track this information with online services, and there are several options. Others build their own spreadsheets.
Rules of Thumb
Most folks don’t want to do all that. If you’re looking for a more guideline-based approach this might help in moderation:
This is neither perfect nor comprehensive, but if you follow these rules you’d have a pretty good start.
Calories Burned Exercising
Some folks get pretty complex trying to estimate how many calories they burn. You probably shouldn’t use built-in calorie estimators in Garmin watches or things like that, and almost certainly shouldn’t use calorie estimators in gym cardio equipment. Other folks might yell at me for this, but if you’re trying to track calories burned I’d suggest using this as a starting estimate until you come up with something you like better:
Race Nutrition
This is pretty important at half-iron and iron distance levels. For those events you should do the bulk of your training working on a nutrition plan for your race. I.e., if you’re going to target one gel and half a bottle per hour on the bike, then that’s how you should be doing your long training rides.
For sprints, however, you’re probably over thinking it. Just don’t do anything stupid the day before and eat something that’s going to make you sick. Don’t worry about carb-loading or gels. Eat a sensible meal the night before and a light breakfast the morning of. Many experienced triathletes will do a sprint dry, grabbing a cup of water during the run if necessary. Put a bottle of water or Gatorade on your bike if you want to feel a bit safer but you probably won’t need it.
Weightlifting
The generally accepted view on weightlifting on BT is that it is optional for triathletes. The consensus seems to be that it’s a fine thing to do if you just enjoy it for other benefits, but that it is not the most efficient way to improve your swim, bike, or run times if triathlon race performance is your goal. That said, many triathletes enjoy weightlifting and there’s a dedicated strength training forum on BT to talk about it.
BeginnerTriathlete (BT) Forums
These are a great place to ask your questions, help others out, and generally learn more about the sport. This is one of the friendlier online communities I’ve had the pleasure to come across.
With that said, there are certain types of conversations that seem to cause the forums to start smoking:
Tattoos:
Someone will start this topic and you’ll eventually get the following exchange:
Advice
Someone will ask for advice then get advice they didn’t want.
Calorie Math (In or Out)
Someone will say something a bit loosely, and then defend it to the death.
Common Acronyms/Phrases
Triathlon Equipment
(You may also be interested in reading BT's three-part series on triathlon equipment, which details the absolute essentials versus the niceties.)
Buying a Bicycle
General Purchasing Advice
First of all, feel free to show up for your first triathlon(s) in a mountain bike, old road bike, hybrid, whatever you have or can borrow. In a sprint triathlon this is pretty common. Once you’ve done some events, met some folks, etc., ask around to get a good feel for which bicycle shops in your area are well thought of. The key is selecting a bike whose basic geometry fits you, and then getting it fit to you by a professional.
Here’s how this would work in an ideal world: You get a ‘generic fit’ from a professional fitter where some completely unbiased guy measures you and recommends a few brands and models of bicycles based on your build, flexibility, and other factors. You then test them all and choose the one that feels best within your price range. Then you get a professional fitting where they make all your angles and lengths match the bike perfectly. The fitting should probably be free if you buy from a shop.
In practice there may be a few compromises vs. this approach. You have a few decisions to make:
VIDEO: Triathlon Bike or Road Bike?
A Quick Introduction to Gearing
Chainring: These are the big rings beside your pedals. The number represents the # of teeth. More teeth = more ‘work’ per turn of the pedals = faster per turn of the pedals. There are three main types you’ll be concerned about:
Cassette: This is the Christmas tree sticking out the side of the rear wheel. The number represents the # of teeth. More teeth = less ‘work’ per turn of the chainring = slower per turn of the pedals.
Translating into Speed: The formula is easy. Pedaling at a cadence (pedal rotations/minute) of 90, it’s (rounded off) “7.23 x (# Front Teeth) / (# Back Teeth).”
See also: VIDEO: Beginner Triathlon Biking - Basic Shifting, Gearing and Pedals
Generic Price Levels
When it comes time to buy you’ll also want to think about how much to spend. Very, very generally, here are some indicative price points to think about for new road bicycles to help set your expectations.
Cost
Where
Frame
Components
Pedals
Fitted
Quality
Wal-Mart
Varies
Poor
Platform
No
25%
$500-$1000
LBS
Aluminum/Alloy
Decent: Tiagra
Clip (purchase)
Yes
50%
$1000-$2000
LBS
Aluminum
Good: 105
Clip (purchase)
Yes
90%
$2000+
LBS
Carbon
Great: Ultegra
Clip (purchase)
Yes
100%
The ‘quality’ column is just an indicative number to convey my impression. Again, this is a way-oversimplified chart that’s leaving out a lot of stuff, but my goal here is to give someone new a rough idea of what to expect. There’s a sweet spot between $1000 and $2000 where you can get a bike with a good frame, quality components that will be good enough to ride for years. Anything below that, with tiagra/sora components, and there’s a good chance you’ll be looking to upgrade in a year or two
Bicycle Accessories
Essential
Optional
Other Gear
Training Intensity
Many training plans will use some guideline to indicate how vigorous the workout should be. For instance, the fast portion of a tempo run should be at a higher effort level than a long weekend run. For people new to endurance training, the more common problem is training too hard. These methods can be a good way of making sure you don’t overstrain and increase your chance of injury.
Below is a brief introduction to some of the most common ways of guiding and quantifying those effort levels.
Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE)
The least technical common measure of training intensity is Rate of Perceived Exertion, or RPE. It is most commonly expressed as a 10-point scale to measure effort level.
RPE
Description
0
Sitting on your couch
2
Casual stroll around the neighborhood
4
Putting forth effort but able to carry on conversation, could sustain for long period
6
Noticeable effort, can still speak but sentences require some effort, could sustain for an hour
8
Working hard, talking only possible in gasps, could sustain for 30 minutes
10
Full effort, breath gasping in and out, could sustain for 1-2 minutes
For beginners, most workouts should probably be in the 4-6 RPE range, especially running. Biking you probably want to spend at least some time in the 6-8 range. Only move up in the 8-10 range once you’ve been working out awhile and (ideally) have a plan that calls for it.
Heart Rate Training (HRT)
This is a seemingly innocuous topic about which many people feel strongly. In principal, you establish a range of heart beat rate zones and attempt to target specific zones for certain workouts to guide your effort level.
HR Zone
Description
1
Easy effort, rarely used except for recovery days
2
Sustainable effort level, many triathletes do the bulk of their training in this zone
3
This is a ‘tweener’ zone and beginners are often instructed to avoid spending much time at this level
4
High effort level, many triathletes use this for ‘threshold’ workouts to increase sustainable speed
5
Sprint, sustainable for only short periods of time, this level usually for intervals and short races
The controversial aspect of HRT is the method by which you assign heart rate ranges to those zones. Two variables are involved – some ‘high’ heart rate level, and a series of %s applied to that level. May variations exist, including Karvonen, Zoladz, Maffetone, and others – use Google if you want more detail on those.
The most commonly discussed methods of determining the ‘high’ heart rate level on BT are discussed below.
Maximum Heart-Rate
You can establish training zones based on your maximum heart rate.
Lactic Threshold
This is based on the results of a lactic threshold test. It takes approximately 50 minutes to do for each sport, usually running and cycling. Assuming you have a heart rate monitor with lap functionality, here’s the test:
From there you repeat the test every month or two to recalibrate your training zones. This allows your improving fitness to be reflected in your training intensity. Though you will only want to do this test when you have been training for consistently for months.
Heart Rate Zones
It seems nearly unanimous on BT that if you are going to use HRT, you should use the lactic threshold method. If you’re a beginner, too out of shape to do the lactic threshold test, or just aren’t going to do it, then some people think that the observed max HR method works just fine. The age-based max HR is sketchier just because individuals can vary so widely from the population norm.
Frankly, if you’re a beginner, any method that convinces you to keep your effort level down is probably beneficial. Just be careful not to disclose on BT that you’re using a max-HR method because they will heap scorn on you. In their defense, they’re just trying to help.
Once you’ve established your method and the key heart rate, here are common percentile ranges and a rounded-off example:
HR Zone
Max HR
Ex: Max HR 185
Threshold
Ex: Threshold 170
1
60-70%
110-130
65-80%
110-140
2
70-80%
130-150
80-90%
140-150
3
80-90%
150-165
90-95%
150-160
4
90-95%
165-175
95-100%
160-170
5
95-100%
175-185
100%+
170+
Note that the lactic threshold will be lower than your maximum heart rate, so the %s used will be correspondingly higher.
See more: Lactate Threshold Heart-Rate Zone Testing Protocol
Bike Training with Power
This applies to bicycling. When you get more involved in the sport you’ll start hearing a lot about Power Meters and/or Computrainers. These are more advanced ways of monitoring your power output, etc. By all reports these are fantastic training devices. You probably don’t need to worry about these until you have a few races or a season of training under your belt.
More information at: VIDEO: Training With A Power Meter
Swim Training: Swim Smart
Beginning Swimmers
First of all, don’t panic. While some BTers were former swimmers, many of us have no swimming background whatsoever. Don’t freak out if you can barely swim a length without stopping. (A length is one trip down the pool, a lap is down and back. In a 25 yard pool, a length is 25 yards and a lap is 50 yards.)
Many runners and cyclists want to approach swim training the way they approached running and biking at first, just hopping in the pool and trying to go farther and farther, trusting their body to learn how to improve itself. This is not the best way to approach swimming. Don’t grind out meaningless laps with terrible form. Get lessons. Watch Youtube videos, there are plenty out there.
If you have a specific event length in mind, then absolutely you’ll want a few practices where you swim that length straight through. Otherwise, however, you’ll be better off getting lessons, then spending more of your practice time doing drills and shorter 100- or 200-yard intervals with 5-20 second rest periods that allow you to maintain good form and pace.
If you absolutely must swim before you have lessons and are desperate for tips, here are a few things to keep in mind early on:
Other Considerations
Counting Laps
A lot of starters have a tough time keeping track of laps (a lap is two lengths of the pool, i.e., down and back to where you started).
Here’s what works for me: I suggest counting lengths and breaking your workout into thirds – so if I’m doing 900 yards (18 laps / 36 lengths) I’ll count to twelve three times. Counting lengths helps you keep count because you know whether your number should be odd (going away) or even (coming back). So if you can’t remember if you’re on8 or 9, just think about which way you’re going to settle the issue.
Other folks use different methods. For instance you could put coins at one end of the pool and slide over appropriate change after each lap. There are also (believe it or not!) certain products for sale that do this for you. Or you could use any waterproof watch with ‘lap’ functionality and just hit the lap button each lap – just make sure it’s meant for this and doesn’t have a lap button that will trigger everytime your hand enters the water. Use the search function on BT and you’ll find plenty of conversations about this topic and what various folk do to help.
Finally, once you start to settle into consistent lap times it becomes obvious. Your pool probably has a big analog clock on the wall. If your lap times are around 1:40 per 100 yards, you can count on the second hand reliably moving about 10 seconds ‘backward’ per lap.
Open Water Swims
Your first time swimming in open water you may freak out. Many do. Try to get some open water lake/ocean/etc. practice before your first triathlon with an open water swim, but never do that by yourself. When you do practice open water swims practice ‘sighting.’ Sighting means you look up every 6-12 strokes to make sure you’re still going in the right direction. If open water swims scare you greatly, consider starting off with a pool sprint or two where the swim is much shorter and done in a pool. In ‘pool sprints,’ swimmers usually volunteer their expected speed then begin one at a time rather than en-masse and swim a certain number of laps in the pool.
Bike Training: Bike Hard
General Outlook
The best way to get faster on the bicycle is to spend time in the saddle (you’ll sometimes see the acronym “TITS”). When biking it’s easy just to cruise around aimlessly feeling good about yourself, so make sure you’re pushing yourself when you’re out there. Biking is low impact, so you may be less likely to injure yourself with high effort level workouts biking than you would if you were running.
One great way to push yourself on the bike is to ride with groups. Most cities have several established riding groups with weekly rides at certain times. Your local bike shops can probably tell you how to find out more. Usually this will involve reaching out to the ride leader.
As a beginner, make sure that you can maintain whatever pace the ride leader says the particular ride targets. If you don’t have a road bike, ask about it – do not just assume you can show up with anything other than a road bike. Also ask the ride leader to help you out if he observes any etiquette breaches. It will take you a few rides (or years!) to get up to speed on all the various social niceties involved with group riding, so let me leader know you want to learn.
Finally, if you come upon another cyclist or group while you’re out for a ride, never join them or tuck in to draft without asking. And if you’re on a tri bike, you probably shouldn’t ask.
Special Training Gear
Trainers
Getting a trainer might help, especially if you’re in an area with spotty weather. Trainers can be boring, or at least monotonous, so try to put your bike trainer in front of a TV if that helps. Some folks like to get Spinervals or other bike DVDs to make the time go faster or feel like they’re cycling with a group.
Not only do trainers allow you to train whenever you want, they also keep you honest in terms of keeping up your energy level – there are no stoplights, hills to cruise down, etc. People swear by the Kurt Kinetic Fluid and Cycle Ops Fluid trainers. If you get a trainer, you can’t go wrong one of those. I don’t really know why they’re better, but many folks seem to think so.
There’s another option called “rollers” that serve a similar purpose. Your bike literally just sits on rollers, forcing you to keep balance, so you can develop some handling/balance skills on them.
Power Meters
When you get more involved in the sport you’ll start hearing a lot about Power Meters. These are more advanced ways of monitoring your power output, etc., but don’t worry about those quite yet.
Computrainers
Computrainers are like a combination trainer, computer, and ride simulator. They are expensive and are often used as part of off-season classes where several folks get together for virtual group rides and/or races. Many folks that have done a Computrainer program swear by them. You can download actual video/topography from Ironman courses and do an Ironman course in your living room.
Other Recommendations
Some basic tips for beginning cyclists include:
Run Training: Run More
A lot of people get hurt ramping up their running mileage or intensity too quickly. They decide to start running sprints in their second week of training, or go an extra three miles on their long run because it just feels so good. These kinds of decisions can often lead to injury. As a result much of the advice around run training is based around injury avoidance.
Key Themes
Keep the Pace Easy
Many folks recommend doing no speed work whatsoever until you have been doing significant mileage (often 20-30 or more miles per week) for some period of time (3-6 months or even a year). The consensus for beginners is to keep most or all of your training at a nice steady pace with a comfortable effort level.
It might be hard to make yourself slow down, but if you have to run at a 12:00 / mile pace to be comfortable then do it. If you need to walk half the time (or more!) in order to keep your breath, then walk.
This is part of why heart rate monitors can be a real game changer for beginners. They give you an objective measure to help reduce overtraining to help avoid injury.
Ramp Up Slowly
Many aspiring triathletes are Type A folks who want to see improvement fast. Once you have a few weeks of training in you may feel like you can really ramp up your speed and distance. This probably isn’t the best approach.
One widely quoted rule of thumb is not to increase your weekly mileage by more than 10%. If you’re below 10 miles/week it might be impossible to meet this rule literally. Once you build up to 10 miles/week, however, you might want to start observing this guideline. Yes, that means it will take 10 weeks go to from 10 miles/week to 20 miles/week, but it’s worth taking your time to reduce the chance of injury. Be sure to take occasional lower-volume recovery weeks.
Spread the Miles
Keep the day-to-day running load manageable. If you can go out for 4-6 easy, short runs or even walk/runs a week to start that is more ideal than trying to do two long runs or trying to ramp up your pace too quickly.
Ideally your weekly long run will be roughly one-third of your weekly mileage. If you’re following a plan with 2-3 runs/week, however, it’s unavoidable that your long run will be a larger percentage of your weekly miles. If you’re on one of those plans, consider adding an additional one or two mile run to a few of your bike or swim workouts through the week.
For instance, if you’re on a plan that calls for 30, 45, and 60 minute runs in a given week, the long run represents 44% of your running time. Adding a pair of easy 20 minute runs to other workouts, however, gives you additional low-stress miles and reduces the long run to 34% of your time.
How You Get Faster
If you come to the BT forums and ask, “What should I do to run faster,” the first thing folks will do is look at your logs. The answer you’ll almost certainly get is “run more.” Not necessarily longer, or harder, or faster, or do more tempo runs, or intervals, but simply more. More days, more miles.
Keep that in mind when you start getting comfortable and start wondering about whether you should do 400 meter sprints at the local HS track – unless you’ve been running a lot for a long time, the answer is probably “not yet.”
Other Notes
Race Day
Pre-Race
For your “A” race, the race toward which your training plan has been geared, your plan probably calls for you to taper your training the last week. If you’re tapering and start feeling lethargic, generally disappointed, a touch irritable, maybe even mildly sick, don’t worry, that’s normal.
If it’s your first triathlon, try to go to the information session the night before if there is one. Make sure you drink plenty of water the days leading up to the race – although you should be doing that anyway. Don’t do anything crazy with your diet before the race. Have a healthy/normal dinner, light breakfast.
If it’s a sprint, don’t worry about nutrition during the event. Put some Gatorade on your bike if you really want to but gels are almost certainly overkill.
One of the golden rules is: Never try anything new in a race. Sometimes it’s unavoidable…but avoid it if you can.
On race morning, get there early, 90 minutes or more before start. Check in and do packet pickup if you haven’t already. Attach any numbers they give you as instructed to your helmet, bicycle, and/or race belt. Rack your bike on the appropriate rack – look for the area designated to your race number and put your bike there. Observe how others folks rack their bikes. Make sure your tires are inflated properly and do a visual inspection of your bike. If you discover a small problem with your bike, there are probably some bike shop folks around with a tent set up to help folks out.
Put a very small towel beside your bike, ideally a hand towel or normal towel folded into quarters. On that towel put your helmet, bike shoes, socks (if any) and bike glasses in one small pile. Some folks put bike helmet and glasses on the bike. Put your run shoes and run belt in another small pile. Keep this all compact if you don’t want to annoy your neighbors. Look around at how other folks set up their transition areas. Notice that a few people have probably taken up a lot of room or have sloppy transition areas and pat yourself on the back for making an effort to be considerate.
Half an hour before start, get all your swim gear on and get to the swim start area. If it’s an open water swim (OWS) you probably have the chance to hop in and warm up for 15 minutes. It’s a great idea to do so, particularly if you’re still somewhat new to OWS and/or wetsuits, and you can pat yourself on the back for having practiced this while you watch other new folks start to freak out.
If you do start to freak out a bit during an OWS, don’t worry, you’re not the first. I’d practiced OWS, but in my first event I got kicked in the face and wound up grabbing a dock 20 yards from shore, but I still finished. Tread water if you have to and control your breathing. If necessary, wave for a kayak or whatever support they have in the water. You can get a breather, calm down, and continue, they won’t toss you out.
Transitions
Practice your transitions. A beginner going through the motions can easily lose three minutes vs. the field with slow transitions. Do you have any idea how hard those three minutes would be to make up in the 5k? The weekend before your race, take your gear outside and just do the transitions three times to get a feel for how efficiently you can do it.
I don’t claim to have this down to a science and experienced people probably have a more systematic/efficient approach to these steps, but your transitions will look something like the following:
Good luck! If you have any questions, don't hesitate to visit the forums.
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