After teaching you how to prepare for a duathlon or how to prepare to practice trail running, now we are going to do the same with the triathlon. This sport is a great challenge for all those who decide to get involved in this type of event, in which swimming must be combined with cycling and running.
Being a triathlete is not easy and you must know a series of basic considerations in order to achieve the best goals. We will explain everything you need to know in order to achieve the best results.
Definition of objectives
If you are interested in knowing how to prepare for a triathlon, it will be important for you to be able to define your goals. In this way you will be able to evolve following these to try to reach the best result in the final test.
The first thing you should consider is that you should know how to be consistent in exercising, otherwise you will not achieve your goals. For the definition of objectives, you must take into account a series of key points, which are:
- Vision. You must visualize what you want to achieve, be it losing weight, reaching the finish line, achieving a particular time, reaching the podium, winning the competition…
- Set short, medium and long term goals. These can be general or very specific.
- Registration and measurement. Following a program will be important in order to improve attention, but also the quantity and quality of training.
- Adaptability. It is important that you are receptive to receiving the feedback you know about your technique and training plan; and try to adapt to your needs.
Equipment
If you are thinking of knowing how to prepare for a triathlon, you should know that, initially, you will not have to look for the best equipment or the one with the highest price. This is because it is possible that after a first participation you decide to throw in the towel and you could end up wasting money.
On the other hand, if you are sure that you are going to practice this sport because it is to your liking, it will be time to invest in better equipment that can provide you with greater durability, comfort and performance.
The necessary equipment to be able to practice triathlon is the following:
- neoprene
- Swimming goggles
- Hat
- Bike
- triathlon shoes
- Clothing
- Helmet
- running shoes
- Pulsometer
Training plan
In this case we are going to talk about the recommended training plan to be able to prepare for a triathlon in the most appropriate way. It is important that during your training you use a heart rate meter or heart rate monitor. This way you can check your pulse in all three zones to help you improve your performance and find your five heart rate zones.
The training plan can be divided into:
Block 1: Week 1 to 3
- First of all, you will have to calculate the number of minutes you can train daily.
- Once you know this time you will have to divide it into three swimming sessions; two or three bike sessions; and two to three running sessions, for a total of 7 to 9 sessions per week.
- In those cases, where your time is limited, you can choose to combine the workouts. An example is that you run to the pool to swim or that you go by bicycle.
- During this first block we will focus on carrying out physical exercise consistently.
- In this case, a “simple” session and two “constant” sessions must be carried out in each of the three disciplines that must be trained.
Block 2: Weeks 4 to 6
- Arriving at block two, it will be time to increase the minutes trained each day by 10%.
- Again you will have to divide that time, in this case into three swimming sessions, three running sessions and three cycling sessions. In total there will be nine sessions a week.
- If you have a limited time for training, as in the first block, it is recommended that you combine training to try to make the most of it and thus progress in your training.
- In this block we are focused on both the technique and the resistance and consistency of training.
- Again, you will need to do one easy session and two higher intensity sessions in each of the three disciplines.
Block 3: Weeks 7 to 9
- Once block 3 has been reached, it will be time to increase the daily training minutes by 10% over the previous block.
- You will need to divide that time again into three swimming sessions, three running sessions and three cycling sessions, for a total of 9 weekly sessions.
- If you don’t have a lot of time to train, it is recommended that you combine workouts to make the most of your training time.
- In this block we will focus on technique as well as consistency, endurance and reaching the strength threshold.
- In this case, the sessions must be: a basic one, a constant one and a difficult and very demanding one in each of the three disciplines to train.
