TRAINING PREPERATION

TAKE YOUR TIME

Thanks to work, life and family, we all have time pressures when it comes to improving our ability to swim and boosting confidence in the water. So the key is to focus on the here and now. Be calm in the water, focus on the basics of what you’re working on, and try not to stress about whether you’ll be capable of doing the race you’ve entered.

KEEP YOUR HEAD LOW

To breathe, you want to fight the urge to lift your head and instead turn your chin to the side. This is where your body roll will come in handy. Focus on turning your chin toward your shoulder, looking directly to the side or very slightly behind you. With this, try and ensure that this is the only change that you make within your stroke.

SMILE

Swimming can be really intimidating and cause you to feel tense. The more tense you are, the more likely it will feel like an uphill struggle. Having a smile on your face – even through gritted teeth – will help you to stay calm, more so than just thinking ‘relax’. This will then allow you to focus on the elements of your stroke that you intend to work on.

BREAK IT DOWN

Aim to break your learning down into segments by working out what your milestones are, and not just in terms of distance. Focus on working out your map to get to the distance: getting comfortable in the water, floating, moving forward and then making moving easier.

FINGERS FIRST

With your hands, aim to enter the water slightly wide of the center – you want to keep your arms in line with your shoulders and hips – and finger tips entering the water first. This will help you get the best ‘hold’ on the water and pull you through stronger. In an ideal world your fingers would have a relaxed small space between each of them, but when you’re just starting out think about keeping your fingers closed together.

GET HIGH

The first thing I always want to work on is getting someone as high in the water as possible – making sure the back, bum and legs are all at the surface. Focus on lengthening your spine and legs (not necessarily your arms) and making yourself as long as possible. The chances are, you’ll be looking at least slightly towards the bottom of the pool, but hopefully you’ll find your whole body rising in the water.

FOCUS YOUR KICK

Saving energy by kicking your legs and providing some propulsion is very important. It’ll make you faster and make your swimming feel easier. Focus your kick from the hip – your knee should be almost straight – and keep your kicks smooth and calm. A relaxed and easy movement is best.

KEEP YOUR ARMS MOVING

Aim for big circles with your arms. Of course you can make it more complex than this but, as long as your arms don’t
stop moving (not necessarily fast or slow) and you reach your arms back past your thighs, it’ll be easy to get your arms out of the water and place them in front of you. Don’t worry so much about what your hands do for now, that can come later.

ROCK YOUR HIPS

Rock your hips with every stroke you take – as if you’re ice skating or kayaking. This body roll will help you move your arms smoother, reach further, give you more power and, most importantly, make it easier for you to breathe, easier to turn your head and easier to find air.

FIGHT YOUR INSTINCTS

Swimming is counter- intuitive. If you can remember this, it’ll help you fight your panic and survival instincts.
It takes time to override some of these natural thoughts – i.e. looking forward, lifting your head up to breathe, kicking as hard and as fast as you can. As a survival instinct, this is what your body wants to do, but logically (you’ll
see in the tips later) you almost need to do the opposite.

BE PRODUCTIVE

If you don’t enjoy the water, something that can put you off is thinking you have to be in the water forever. But swims don’t have to be hours and hours long. Just 20-30mins of water time each session can be plenty if you can make yourself comfortable and be productive with your time.

DON'T FOCUS ON DISTANCE

When you first start your swims and sessions, don’t focus too much on the distance you’re swimming. This can be daunting, especially if you think you have to do a particular number of lengths in a session, or a certain amount of time. Instead, focus on good quality, how you feel in the water and aim to do a little more on average every time. Some days you’ll feel rubbish so you might have to swim shorter; other days you’ll feel magic and go much further. And remember that progress isn’t linear.

KEEP YOUR SESSIONS REGULAR

You should be aiming to swim as consistently as possible every week. Once a week should be the minimum to get any improvement, as any less means that you’re almost starting from scratch every time. The more
often you can be in the water, the more you can maintain any improvements and retain how
you feel in each session without having to remember too hard.

FOCUS ON TECHNIQUE

To start with, your sessions should be all about technique. The smoother and more controlled you can make your swim, the easier you’ll progress and the easier it’ll feel.

Once you’re able to swim 400m, however, you can try and change the efforts that you put in. That doesn’t mean that you have to think about all-out effort, but the ability to change pace will positively affect your fitness, your endurance and also your enjoyment of your sessions.

BE FLUID

Your stroke should be continuous with no stopping points or pauses. Keep your arms moving – they don’t have to move fast, but as long as they don’t stop it will make your life easier, it will maintain your momentum and help keep you higher in the water.

SESSION 1 - BEGINNERS

KEY SESSION 1 FOR BEGINNERS: RELAX IN THE WATER 

Try this balance and relaxation set for your first couple of sessions, and then repeat it to make sure you feel comfortable in the water. You probably won’t need anything serious for recovery – a banana will do the trick.

DURATION: 25-30mins

KIT: Kickboard/float if needed

MAIN SET

1min getting used to floating on your back

1min floating on your front totally relaxed (‘Dead Man’ float)

1min floating on your front stretched out – arms in front, ears between your arms, legs stretched

2mins of sink-downs, getting used to going under water and exhaling before popping up

4 x 1 length (100m), breaststroke

4 x 1 length (100m) full stroke front crawl – take a rest at the end of each length

2 x 1 length kick (50m) – keep your arms still, aim for a streamlined position; you can use a kickboard/float here

2 x 4 lengths (200m) full stroke front crawl – minimal rest at the end of each length but take as long as you need at the end of each 100m

2 x lengths (50m) breaststroke

SESSION 2 - BEGINNERS

KEY SESSION 2 FOR BEGINNERS: STRENGTH PYRAMID

This pyramid session will help build strength and also start you thinking about technique. You could do this session every week or every other week and note the changes in how you feel. Afterwards, eating a banana or cereal bar would be perfect for recovery.

DURATION: 30mins

KIT: Pull buoy required

WARM-UP
100m (4 x lengths) warm-up,
your choice of stroke(s)

MAIN SET 1 

1 x [25m; 50m; 75m; 50m; 25m]
All front crawl with pull buoy
Take 20-30secs rest after each block

MAIN SET 2 

1 x [25m; 50m; 75m; 50m; 25m]
All front crawl without pull buoy
Take 20-30secs rest after each block

COOL-DOWN 

50m easy swim

SESSION 3 - BEGINNERS

KEY SESSION 3 FOR BEGINNERS: ENDURANCE FOCUS

This is a more endurance-focused set, with more swimming and added variety. You can do a version of this session every week – as you get stronger and feel better, reduce the recoveries and do more reps, or lengthen them. After this session you may feel more tired, so take a recovery bar with you. That or a milkshake to take the edge off things until you get to some proper food later.

DURATION: 40mins (1,000m total)

KIT: Pull buoy

WARM-UP
150m (6 lengths), your choice of stroke(s)

MAIN SET
4 x 100m, consistent freestyle swimming with 45secs after each 100m. Aim to keep the same steady speed and same stroke technique each length, so make sure you take the full 45secs rest.

6 x 50m with 20secs rest after each 50m. Alternate one 50m with pull buoy, one without, aim to keep as smooth and controlled as possible.

COOL-DOWN
100m, your choice of stroke(s)

The bike leg of a race is a double-edged sword for triathletes because on one hand, the bike is the easiest of the three disciplines in which to make improvements. But on the other hand, triathletes often don't have enough time to commit to making their cycling stronger. Fortunately, with just two workouts a week, triathletes can make huge gains on the bike without spending countless hours in the saddle and away from family, work, friends and real life.

The Long Ride

No matter what distance triathlon you're racing or what your skill level is, you're going to have to cover the same distance as every other athlete lining up to start the race. The easiest way to make that a breeze is to build up your bike endurance week by week until you're able to bike longer than you'll actually have to during the race. This is called an over-distance ride.

Building up your endurance so you can easily ride long enough in your race is simple. Each week, ride progressively longer in five to 10 percent increments until you can ride the following distances and times:

• Sprint: 30 to 35K
• Olympic: 60K
• 70.3: 115K
• IRONMAN: 5.5 hours

If you get in one long ride each week, and prior to your race you get in at least five rides of the distances or times prescribed above, you'll have excellent bike endurance by the time your race comes around.

The Intense Ride

Once you've built up the ability to ride long enough to finish your chosen race distance, you'll likely want to get faster. You can do this with an intense ride once a week. This intense ride doesn't take much time, just 30 to 60 minutes, but fair warning: When we say intense, we mean intense!

The purpose of the intense ride is to increase your VO2 Max, which is the amount of air your body can process, and is a big determining factor for success at every triathlon distance from sprint all the way up to IRONMAN. How to increase your VO2 Max is with intense bursts of effort (perhaps better known as interval training) where the bursts of intervals are anywhere from 15 seconds to eight minutes.

During the winter, start incorporating these intense bursts of effort by making them short with lots of rest in between. A workout could be as follows:

• 10-minute warmup 
• Six sets of 15-seconds hard effort, 4:45 minutes rest
• 5-minute cool down

As the training progresses, gradually increase the duration of the interval, increase the number of intervals completed or decrease the length of rest time between intervals. During the race season, a hard ride day could be as follows:

• 5-minute warmup
• Six sets of 8-minutes hard effort, 2-minutes rest
• 5-minute cool down

By focusing on these two workouts, every triathlete, regardless of skill level or distance of race they're focusing on, will be able to complete the required distance of the bike portion of their race AND do so in a time that's personally fast and satisfying.

TOP 5 CYCLING TIPS FOR BEGINNERS

1. Know the rules about your helmet

You could be disqualified from the race before you even have the chance to ride if you don’t follow one simple rule. Before touching the bike in transition, always have your helmet on and clasped. The same for transitioning from the bike to the run; leave your helmet clasped until you have parked your bike in transition.

2. You can ride the bike you have now (probably)

Many new triathletes’ biggest biking fear is that their bike isn’t up to scratch. Whilst you may be faster on a top-level triathlon bike, you can also ride a road bike, a hybrid or a mountain bike. As long as the bike is in road-worthy working order (a good tune-up is way less expensive that a new bike!) and has two brakes and no fixed wheel (it’s not a “fixie”), it will be fine for the race. Yes, there will be racers with amazing bikes. Yes, they may come flying past at the speed of light. But isn’t it more important to be certain that you even like this whole triathlon thing before you spend thousands on a fancy bicycle? The good news is that after training and racing on a heavy hybrid, you will really fly if and when you decide to upgrade!

Note: It’s a smart idea no matter what style of bike you ride to check the fit (professionally or using online tips at home). This will allow for the most comfortable ride and the least likelihood of injury.

3. Triathlon shorts are more comfortable than cycling shorts

Triathlon shorts are made for triathlon. They have a nice, thin, quick-dry pad, which means less chafing and no extra fabric bunched up where you don’t want it. Trigirl tri shorts and trisuits have top-of-the-line women’s-specific pads, meaning that they are ergonomically shaped to offer the best comfort on your bike.

Additionally, that tempting giant, squishy gel saddle isn’t that great either. The perfect saddle should be wide enough to support your sits bones (a good reason to look for a women’s saddle), but any wider has the potential to chafe and the gel is just one more thing to bunch up where you don’t want it!

4. Proper pedalling

This one applies to all cyclists, not just beginner triathletes!

Without coaching, it’s easy to head out on a bike and just start pedalling, with no real thought of proper pedalling form or correct cadence (the speed at which your legs turn the pedals).

Your cadence should probably be quicker than you think- a good range is between 80-105 RPMs (rotations per minute, per leg) on flat ground. Studies have shown that 90 RPM tends to cause less leg fatigue and is therefore a good sweet spot to allow for easier running off the bike. To measure your RPMs, either count the number of times your leg hits 6 o’clock in 15 seconds and multiply by four, invest in a cycling computer that shows cadence, or try a good spin or Wattbike with a cadence monitor.

As far as pedalling form, if you’ve been told to work on the pull-up, forget what you’ve heard. More power comes from maximising power at the 3 o’clock position (and having a nice strong core and  glutes). Check out this article from Cycling Weekly for more details on achieving your best pedal stroke.

5. Know what drafting is- and don’t do it on the bike

British Triathlon Federation rules prohibit drafting on the cycling leg of the triathlon, so it’s important to understand what drafting is and not to do it.

Simply put, drafting is riding close behind another rider, which allows you to take advantage of their slipstream and reduces your energy output. While this sounds like a great way to save energy for the run, it’s not allowed (except in draft-legal races) and if caught, you will incur a penalty.

To avoid drafting, stay at least seven meters back from other cyclists except whilst passing. You have 15 seconds to pass or to drop back. And as triathlon cycling rules also dictate that rules of the road apply, you should always ride on the left, pass on the right.

SET-UP YOUR TRANSITION AREA

Get familiar with the transition area and be sure your gear is set up efficiently. This will help ensure a quick transition between the first transition (T1) from swim to bike and the second transition (T2) from bike to run.

Your Location

• If you can choose your own spot, look for one at the end of a row and close to the exit. This is usually a good location for the bike exit.
• Make your spot visually distinctive—with a balloon, bandana, flag, ribbon or funky towel—so it's easy to find.
• Memorize your spot by walking from the water's edge to the T1 transition area. Take note of landmarks to help find your bike.

Set Up Your Gear for T1 and T2

• Space is limited. Bring only what is necessary.
• Lay your items on an open towel so you can stand on it and wipe your feet clean and dry while putting on your helmet.
• Open the straps on your cycling shoes.
• Clothing and socks don't go well onto wet bodies, so roll your socks down to the toes to put them on easier. Do the same with sleeves or other clothing you might put on.
• Set the socks in your shoes.
• Attach the race number to the bike frame, helmet and the clothing you'll be wearing for the bike and/or run. Don't fold or cut it—you could get a penalty.

8-WEEK TRAINING PLAN FOR THE RUN

You’ve had a great swim, you’ve nailed the bike and the race is going to plan. Then the wheels come off completely on the last phase of the race – the dreaded run. The good news is you’re not alone. Many triathletes set themselves up for a great race but then simply work their way through the run, hanging on and hoping for the best.

Now is your chance to correct that with our eight-week plan to boost run fitness and speed. 

The training plan is for those working towards Olympic distance and is run-dominant, so you might need to make some sacrifices to your bike and swim volume, but these can create dividends in the run leg. If your race focus is on sprint, reduce the volume by about 30%, or if you’re going longer then increase by about 20-30%. To improve run form, fitness and speed in the last weeks, we’ve reduced rest days to one, inserting an easy run to up weekly run distance.

It may seem obvious but first and foremost is the need to include the long steady run each week, in order to make the distance comfortable. Once you have this and are confident about finishing the distance, you can begin to focus on improving your average steady run pace. The long steady run is also the best chance to include different run routes and I’d urge a mix of undulating, hilly and flat long runs.

Also, a structured plan will include interval sessions to highlight working at faster than race-pace speed, a tempo session so you can work at paces faster and slower than race pace and finally some bike/run sessions to hit race pace on tired legs. Above all, you must focus on the sessions that make your run faster, so expect these workouts to create fatigue.

To keep you focused through the plan, you can execute two time trials – there’s nothing more nerve-racking on a triathlete’s plan than the letters TT but these will ensure you monitor how effective the training is. If you’re improving, set new pace targets.

While we’re encouraging an increase in run volume, don’t forget most triathlete injuries are caused when run training, so include stretching and foam rolling in recovery. It’s not the most glamorous part of training but often the most crucial.

STRUCTURED SEASON PLAN

Endurance athletes can put in less time if they follow a plan that avoids so-called junk mileage. Here is a three-day-a-week running program designed for triathletes. While this running program is well-suited for most triathletes, be sure to modify it based on the race you're preparing for and your current fitness level.

Run Workout No 1: Track and Speed Session

Slogging away mile after mile will not improve your performance. Recreational triathletes can put in years of training, only to find they're running the same speed as two years before.

Begin by building up your aerobic endurance. This doesn't mean running slow in every workout. Track sessions, which will build endurance, strength, speed, technique and aerobic foundation, should be completed throughout the year.

Early season (16-26 weeks before your A race): Your goal during this "base phase" is to build aerobic endurance.  Intervals at the track are called "cruise repeats."  You should not try to run at your race pace yet.

These intervals build your aerobic foundation and train your legs to turn over faster than during a long run. 

Running fast promotes proper functional movement.  When you're running fast, you increase your stride length, which improves mobility and strengthens your core.

Below is an example of how to structure your early season workouts. Let's use the example of a 21-minute 5K runner—a 6:46 minute/mile. Be sure to jog for 200 meters of recovery between each set.

Week 1: 4 sets of 400 meters at 1:45 to 1:50 minutes; 6 sets of 200 meters at 50 to 55 seconds. Total: 2,800 meters (or about 1.7 miles)

Week 2: 5 sets of 400 meters at 1:45 to 1:50; 6 sets of 200 meters at 50 to 55 seconds. Total: 3,200 meters (or about 1.98 miles)

Week 3: 6 sets of 400 meters at 1:45 to 1:50 minutes; 6 sets of 200 meters at 50 to 55 seconds. Total: 3,400 meters (or 2.1 miles)

Week 4: 3 sets of 400 meters at 1:45 minutes; 4 sets of 200 meters at 50 seconds. Total: 2,000 meters (or 1.24 miles)

FINDING THE RIGHT FIT IN YOUR SHOES

Walk into any local running store and you’ll face a colorful wall holding dozens of shoes. Needless to say, finding the best-fitting shoe among numerous choices isn’t easy. To make matters more complicated, not every shoe is right for you. Whichever pair you choose must fit properly from heel to toe and feel comfortable with your regular running stride.

Most of us prefer to shop online these days, but there’s a little more risk involved if you don’t get to try on before you buy. Luckily, most retailers will offer a risk-free trial period so you can still lace up your shoes and head out for a test run, like you would at the store. (Just double check the return policy, and always keep the box in case you do need to send them back or swap sizes.)

• Best All-Around: Brooks Ghost 14
• Best Trail Shoe: Saucony Peregrine 12
• Best Women’s Specific Shoe: Lululemon Blissfeel
• Best Lightweight Trainer: Hoka Mach 4
• Best Stability Shoe: Asics Gel-Kayano 28

Whether you shop online or in-store, we’re here to help. Read on for a breakdown of shoe anatomy, common shoe-buying mistakes, and a list of our favorite shoes right now in your favorite category.