Suggested offline reading?

Well, the most popular one is definately The Triathlete's Training Bible by Joe Friel

See, that's funny because after being on BT awhile I've seen the mocking that book takes.  It's also the first and only book I've owned on tris, purchased way back in 2000 when I was just starting to think that I might try a tri someday. 

there is a lot of good info in that book, and there are a lot of people on this site whose advice you should take with a grain of salt.

inspirational:

"Gold in the Water"

"Know Regrets" by Tim Durant

"Born to Run" Christopher MgDougall

Both fiction, both good

Zinn and the Art of Triathlon Bikes

Edited by sesh 2009-06-25 12:22 PM

Born to Run is non-fiction. Excellent read.

x2.

Add to the list "Endurance Sports Nutrition"

John

Found "Becoming an Ironman" both entertaining and inspirational.

LANCE.....pretty interesting book and he got his start in triathlons.  Pretty motivating book so far.

That book gets criticized because it contains misinformation, it misuses some physiological and training concepts and coined terms. I haven't read the new version but I am assuming/hoping some of the things the book has been criticized for is been corrected, in particular given the book's title and the fact that because of it beginners will take the content at face value. (but maybe you should take my advice with a gran of salt )

Anyway, I would highly recommend you the Scientific Training for Triathletes by Philip Skiba; it is a simple book that will help you understand the popular training concepts and bust some of the myths out there.

I found the Triathlete's Training Bible overwhelming and pretty difficult to use, particularly the training plan creation method. Subcategories of workouts, blah, blah... it made my head hurt.

I like the magazines that come with my various memberships... USMS Swimmer, USA Triathlon, and others like Bicycling. They usually have a good mix of useful articles and athlete profiles.

In Pursuit of Excellence and Embracing Your Potential, both by Terry Orlick. 

For swimming : Fitness swimming by Emmet Hines
For running : Daniel's running formula and Run Faster from Brad Hudson are great books.

More Fire, how to run the kenyan way is also a great book. By Toby Tanser