I recently competed in an olympic distance triathlon. The Olympic consists of swimming in open water for 1 mile, road biking for 25 to 28 miles and running for 6.2 miles.
These distances alone aren’t a big deal, but put them together and you’re talking about some pain. I’ve always been in decent shape, but never been in triathlon shape. My wife is a competitive runner and recently made the transition to triathlons. She thought I’d like it, so I committed to training and competing.
Earlier this year I competed and did well and had a great time. It took some commitment but it was actually kind of fun. Here’s how I did it.
First I set my sights on a likely event. I chose the Pacific Crest Challenge in late June. Since it was February, I had plenty of time to get in triathlon shape. That was the first hurdle, finding a triathlon within a feasible distance from my home and a feasible time frame for training.
Next I had to figure out how I was going to train for this thing. Running was a no brainer, I could do that right out my front door. Fortunately I also have a road bike that I was used to riding on again off again, so I didn’t need to worry about that. The question was where was I gonna swim?
I decided to join our local YMCA. It’s relatively cheap, close and has a great full length pool. Now that I had all the tools in place I had to figure out when and what to do.
As luck would have it the YMCA had a 5 AM spin class. I’d never been to spin class before, but I thought it would be a way to start getting my biking legs beneath me.
My first session was brutal, but I got through it in a pool of sweat. It is an hour class so I had plenty of time to swim before work. So, for the entire month of February and March, twice a week I would wake early and head to spin then onto swimming.
At first the swimming was difficult. I felt slow and winded, but I quickly built up my stamina and soon I was doing the 33 laps that made up a mile.
I despise running, so I eased into that slowly. In late March I started adding some short 3 mile runs to my spin and swimming regimen. I also started doing some actual road biking when the weather permitted. I was starting to feel pretty good. The amazing thing though was that I was actually sticking with it.
Usually when I tell myself to work out i’d do it for a week maybe 2 then lose interest. Here I was going forward and feeling strong at 2 months.
The difference is the variety. I really enjoy alternating between running, swimming and biking. Running is still my least favorite, but I’m getting better at it and can actually enjoy it to some degree.
By the time May rolled around I felt like I was in good shape. My swimming was strong, i’d been doing more actual road biking on the road and my running was getting faster.
Whenever I worked out I made sure I was doing the distances I would be doing in the race. I always swam 33 laps, or 1 mile, I always biked at least 25 miles, and I always ran at least 5 miles.
Once I felt good in all categories I started stacking the workouts. For example I’d do a 25 mile ride, then immediately put on my running shoes and run a slow mile or 2. This was brutal at first but really built up my confidence and helped me understand what the race would actually feel like.
I also started swimming in lakes with a full wetsuit, goggles, nose plug, ear plugs and swim cap. This was crucial to my success. I was amazed how much different it was from pool swimming. It was intimidating and took a lot of concentration to control my breathing. If I hadn’t gone out in the lake I’m sure I would have panicked and failed in my first triathlon.
By Mid June I felt totally ready. The big day finally arrived and I kicked ass. But more importantly I felt relaxed because I was prepared. Instead of a struggle it was a pleasure to compete.
