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Beginner Triathlon

Johan J.
Johan J. Sendmail

How to build a good base for triathlons?

asked over 1 year ago | Report

I already run about 4 times a week, cycle at least one time a week and try to swim twice a week. The question is how do I start training more specifically for triathlons without reducing my running volume to much? All the triathlon beginner programs seems to have to little running for my taste at the moment. Any tips or hints would be appreciated.

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  • Eric T.
    Eric T. Sendmail

    Johan, I am also a runner that started doing triathlons two years ago. I try to get in a run (at least 3 miles) after every bike ride. I believe the bricks are the best way to train and still enjoy the training with my favorite...the run.

    answered over 1 year ago |Report

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  • Austin F.
    Austin F. Sendmail

    I like to start with what I am doing the most at the moment, which for me is the run, and then build from that. You can build the volume of exercise your doing first by adding 2 a days when you are least busy. Keep your 4 days a week run in and then get at least 2 days a week of biking and swimming in. Personally because of the technique required in swimming I would devote at least 3 days a week to it.

    answered over 1 year ago |Report

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  • Morey B.
    Morey B. Sendmail

    The cycle is the meat of your tri-sandwich. It takes the longest and therefore is the most important from a time perspective. Also- it takes years to build up the muscle adaptation for cycling. So- if you've got Tri's in your future, and you're already a strong runner and swimmer- you need to start cycling more than one day a week. If you want to maintain 4 day/wk running, which is totally fine, then expect that at least one of those days will be doubled up with a cycling workout.

    Also- since triathlons are totally endurance events, you might need to cut out some of your running speed work. Speed work takes longer to recover from and inhibits your ability to effectively train the additional hours needed for triathlons.

    There are many tri training plans out there, each with their own focus.

    answered over 1 year ago |Report

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  • Justin D.
    Justin D. Sendmail

    I'm a runner too and I recently started doing triathlons because marathon training got pretty monotonos. Like you, I still have a strong passion for running and I'm obviously better at it than triathlon so I break my season (year) into two parts. The first section I'll train for a 18min 5K or half marathon, then I'll transition and dedicate the second half of my season to traithlon. If you want to be competitive, though, you have to spend more time on your limiters than your strengths.

    answered over 1 year ago |Report

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