Tri School: Training for Triathlon

Last night my friend and I attended Tri School. Yep, that's a thing! One of our local triathlon stores, Tri Shop, puts on weekly triathlon based clinics to help you learn more about triathlon, and to compete in a more efficient manner. This was my first time attending, and I was highly impressed with it. In fact, this was my first time at the Tri Shop - and I liked this store a lot. They seemed friendly and the store was set-up in a way that made it easy to shop for a specific discipline (I hate digging through racks to find what I want!).

The session last night was titled, "Training for Triathlon" and was taught by Triple Threat Tough triathlon team co-owner Kristen Codfish. Even though I'm taking on a Half-Ironman in September, I am still relatively new to the sport of triathlon. I mean, honestly I've only done two sprint triathlons and one indoor triathlon! So, basically, I need all the help I can get so that I can cross that finish line come September.

I was a little hesitant about attending a session taught by an owner of a triathlon team. I didn't want to sit and listen to an hour long session on how awesome and amazing her team was and why we should fork over the money to train with them. I was pleasantly surprised when Kristen didn't even really bring up her team at all (she had their logo on the TV screen behind her, but didn't really mention them during the clinic until at the very, very end when someone asked her about it). After meeting her and hearing her talk though, I really want to join this tri group. Now I just need the $159 annual membership fee to join! My birthday is at the end of this month, so I'm hopeful that I'll be able to join after that.

The topics that were covered included: triathlon gear, an overview of a typical training program, and some swim advice. Here is what I learned:

Triathlon Gear

• For your first tri, wearing a swim suit and throwing on some bike shorts is perfectly acceptable, but if you continue, you might want to invest in a tri kit (can be either a one piece or a separate, two piece outfit). Just FYI - this is what I did! I bought a two piece tri kit after my first (the one piece tri kit made me look like a giant sausage....plus getting it off/on to use the bathroom on race morning would be a pain!).
• Bike clothing and tri clothing was meant for no underwear. So go commando. And now you are probably thinking of all the bikers you have seen and imagining them sans underwear. you're welcome  Going without underwear will keep everything "breathing" down there and will cut down on yeast infection risk. Avoid a yeast infection? Count me in!!
• The big differences between a tri bike and a road bike is that a tri bike has a naturally raised saddle (or seat) and aero bars. This makes you lean down lower to the bike and, therefore, more aerodynamic. It also aides in keeping your legs fresher so that you can go off the bike and into your run easier (in other words, your legs won't feel as dead as they would off a road bike). 
• You don't *need* a tri bike if you are planning to do some sprint, olympic, or even Half-Ironman distance races. When you leap into the full Ironman distance, though, you might want to splurge and invest in the bike. A basic tri bike can cost anywhere from $1500 - $2000. You can always start with a basic bike and add on new wheels, gears, saddles, etc after you made the initial purchase. Tri bikes can be super expensive - like $10,000 - $15,000 expensive. Yikes! That being said, tri bikes are absolutely gorgeous.
• Getting a good fit on your bike is imperative. This means going into a shop and having them adjust your seat and other components so that you have proper body mechanics. A poor fit can equate to injury, so this is a biggie. 

A Typical Training Program

• Six days on, one day completely off. Your body needs time to rest and recover on your off day, so make sure you are allowing yourself a rest day so that your muscles can grow and you can advance in your training. 
• I know, you are thinking, "SIX days on? Only ONE day off?? That sounds like a lot!" Yes, it does sound like a lot - and it can be. The key to this is doing specific exercises each day. Not just randomly doing speed work or distance; pick a day for each exercise goal and stick with it throughout your training cycle. For example, Tuesday is always your speed workout in the pool, Wednesday is a technique swim, Thursday endurance, and Friday a time based swim.
• What does a typical week look like? For a sprint triathlon, she recommended 4 days of swimming, 2 days of biking, and 2 days of running. You would need to bike about 20 - 25 miles for your long distance ride, and only really need to build up to a 3 mile run for your distance run. For the swim, you would need to be comfortable swimming about 200 - 375 meters, depending on your race. For a Half-Ironman, you need to up your training a little and add in some brick work. The most you need to ride for a Half-Ironman is about 70 miles and the most you need to run is 10 miles. For the swim, she recommended feeling confident and comfortable with a 1 mile swim. In open water, of course. 
• The time commitment for each distance varies depending on the speed of the athlete. Typically for a sprint, you need about 6 - 9 hours a week for about 6 weeks; a Half-Ironman you need about 14 - 16 hours for approximately 18 weeks; a full Ironman is pretty much a part time job: 20 - 15 hours a week for 18 - 24 weeks. 

The Swim

• Goggles: when you buy them, go to a store that lets you take them out of the packaging to try them on. Put them up to your eyes and press firmly. They should be able to stick to your face without the back strap on. If they can do this, then they are the right size and shape for your eyes. 
• Some goggles can show a reflection of your eyes. So, be prepared for a super creepy I'm looking at my own freaking eye moment. Not all goggles do this, so this is another good reason to try on goggles. Because ain't nobody got time to look at their own eyeball during a race. 
• Practice sighting. And then practice some more. Sighting (actively looking up to see where you are going during a swim) is very important, particularly for open water swims. This allows you to see where you are going, know how far away your destination is, and keeps you working towards the right destination. She said that this can cause some neck/back ache at first, so be prepared for that. Another reason for a massage? I'm good with that!
• Technique is ridiculously important. Ridiculously important. Swimming is the one discipline in triathlon where if your technique is bad, your whole swim can be bad. Takeaway from this: if you are not 100% about your swim technique, hire a coach. Or you can even have a tri buddy take some video of you swimming, review it, and compare your swim technique to that of Michael Phelps. After you are blown away by Phelps' performance, you can go back to critiquing your own swim style and figure out what you are doing wrong (or right! Glass half full people!)
• They make swim shorts to go over your swim suit. If you are like me, I don't like to go to the pool without shorts. This made my night! 
• Buy a polyester swimsuit and not Lycra or Spandex. The polyester holds up to the chlorine longer and keeps your suit from deteriorating as quickly.

These are just some of the things I learned from Tri School. If you are in the Dallas area and are new to triathlon or just want to learn a little more about the sport, I would highly recommend attending these. They occur weekly on Monday nights at 7:00 p.m. at the Tri Shop in Plano, TX. I know I'll be back for more!