Building The You Base Fitness – For Triathletes And Triathlons

Depending on your goal and training history, the length of your endurance sessions can vary. A runner turned triathlete can do a long run that a novice to endurance sports could not safely complete without fear of injury. Personalizing your sessions to your circumstances is vital to progress and injury prevention.
Specific stamina
Your bread and butter is endurance training – not weight training, back-to-back interval sessions or core stability sessions. You need to swim, bike and then run for around one hour minimum – up to 12 or more hours if you get the bug and enter an Ironman event. Your muscles need to learn to be efficient and cope with extended periods of effort. The so-called sprint distance triathlon (7,5K, 20k, 5k) is wrongly named as even the best athletes take 50-60 minutes. Know your goal distance, and over several months you can build up slowly to be able to do 100-150 per cent of race distance. This prevents a need for sudden jumps in training, and you feel in control of what you’re doing. If you have never done endurance training, even 10 minutes’ running is a strain on your body, while a 30-minute bike ride feels like a lifetime. So, despite the long sessions talked about by other athletes, start small.
Increments
Build up slowly rather than assuming that in every session or every week you must make progress. Any running mileage increases – both the longest and the total per week – should be very cautious. Swimming can place strains on the shoulders, especially if poor technique is combined with big hikes in swim volume. Cycling is easier on the body and coasting allows respites that swim and run do not possess. You can ‘float’ your legs around without actively pressing the pedals. Getting used to pressure and comfort in the feet, backside and hands is the most important feedback as to how far you can ride. Once this is mastered, one hour can become two with a small amount of extra drinking or eating.
Less is more
Not only beginners but also experienced athletes, rarely do swim, bike and run sessions each day. If extending your endurance one day in, say, running, the next day recover by focusing on technique at the pool. Don’t get hung up on hitting a set number of hours per week. If you’re tired, take an easy or rest day; if you feel good, you can train productively.
Did you know
The location or terrain of an endurance session can vary the training effect – from pool to lake, flat run to cross- country, indoor ride to hilly windswept cycle. They may be similar durations but the skill level and variety of muscle usage means the devil is in the detail. A training diary is very important to track these important factors.