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Triathlon, Running Coaching and Stuff

Try this link to Roger Harle's most excellent coaching website www.andfir.co.uk

Hints on training

Training is a hard thing to balance with your social and working life at the best of times. With triathlon it becomes difficult in triplicate. The bonus is with three disciplines you can have the flexibility to switch your routine. If the rain is hammering down and you don't fancy a run, go down to the pool for a dip. if you can't face a n hour in the pool and the weather is fine, get on your bike or slip your trainers on.

Different people can handle different amounts of training and different ratios to the three disciplines. this will depend on your individual strengths, weaknesses and desires. A common rule is train a little more in your weakest discipline. Good advice but not followed very often. there is always a tendency to drift back the discipline you are best at or enjoy the most.

When I started I tried to fit in an equal number of sessions of swimming, running and biking and then added some gym work. Not many people train more than 10 hours a week. Don't think Oh my god 10 hours I'll never fit that in. Start with the number of hours you want to train and the number of sessions that this represent. Once this is established divided up your disciplines and then work on the intensities of these. If you are very new don't worry too much about doing hard and easy sections just get used to the sessions themselves and train as you feel. You'll enjoy it more that way, and that's what is all about anyway.

I wont give examples of how to train but work on hard day-easy day through the week and have a rest day to allow your body to recover.

Don't increase your training volumes by more than 10% per week. if you ran 15 miles one week don't suddenly shoot up to 25 miles. if you went out for a 1 hour ride don't think that you can do 3 hours. You may be able to but you may also suffer afterwards and disrupt the following weeks training.

This is a typical week for me. Bear in mind I am a complete nutter and have been training for a number of years

Lunchtime or early morning   Evening

M    Swim                              Run on track (YOSC) hard session

T     Easy Run                         Bike

W    Swim or Run                   Run with Hogweeds 1-1.5 hours

T    Bike or Run or Gym          Bike or Swim (Swim-fit Yate pool)

F    easy Swim                        general doss or take dog out

S    Long Bike or long Run or a Bike/run session

S    Similar to Saturday Hogweeds sunday morning sometimes

If you are training for a sprint event clearly you don't need to train as much as a longer event. Don't do too much.

Try the run pages swim pages and bike pages for more tips

Here are some triathlon terms and things to practice

The BRICK.

Also known as a back to back session. This is a training session consisting of a bike ride immediately followed by a run. It's important to practice this on a regular basis to get used to how your legs are going to feel during a race. NOT ALWAYS GOOD!! During the bike ride your blood has been rushing to get oxygen to the muscles being used for your pedal power. Then suddenly, you're off the bike and running. This means that the blood has to re-route to the muscles now being used predominantly for the run. During this time of transition, your legs are likely to feel very heavy. As you get into the run this will get better, leaving you to run like a gazelle to the finish line. The more you practice, the easier it will be.

Another good reason for doing a brick session is getting in some transition practice.......

TRANSITIONS.

Transitions are the fourth element of a triathlon   At the elite end of the scale,  the time spent in transition could determine whether the race is won or lost. When you start a triathlon race, the clock never stops, so every second counts.

There is T1 and T2.

T1 is the swim to bike transition. You will exit the pool, run to your bike in the transition area, put on your shoes, race number, helmet etc and exit the transition area.

T2 is where you get off your bike, run into the transition area, park your bike, take off your helmet (ALWAYS AFTER your bike is racked, otherwise disqualification), put on your trainers (if you haven't already got them on),  then zip out of transition onto the run.

GO THROUGH ALL OF THIS IN YOUR HEAD BEFORE THE RACE!

*Know where all the exits are; The pool exit, the bike exit, the run exit.

*Walk it through. If you can, walk from the pool area into transition so you know exactly where your bike is. A brightly coloured towel might make your bike location easier to spot. Look for landmarks in relation to your bike, or count the number of racks, and remember which one your bike is on. Now look around and establish where the bike exit is. You also have to know where the run exit is. It may or may not be the same exit as the bike.

*Put elastic laces in your trainers to get them on quicker, Have them already tied so they literally slip straight on. Put talcum powder in your trainers so they go on even easier.

*Speak to a triathlete for thousands more hints and tips. They will only be forthcoming so long as you don't beat them!