Pounding the streets two or three times a week is good start to triathlon training but you need to plan your training more carefully if you want to reap better rewards.
Planning may sound easy until you try juggling work, home and social life round all three triathlon disciplines. The beauty of the running discipline is that you can do it anytime, anywhere -- so plan cycling and swimming first around quiet times at the pool or with a club, then slot your runs in where you can.
Plan at least one session in your schedule where you run immediately after a bike ride -- this doesn't count as a run session or a bike session, it is a seperate entity. Start simple with a 40 minute ride at close to race pace with a 10 minute run immediately afterwards. You could do this in the gym or with a turbo trainer. As you get nearer the race, set up a mini transition area at home with an imaginary dismount line so you can practice running with your bike and struggling into your shoes.
If you've been a runner, you might be used to running four or five times a week. But this is not possible while you are training for a triathlon. Running too much will leave you fatigued and prone to injury. You need a minimum of two run sessions a week. If you are training for middle distance or shorter, make them quality sessions. Third and fourth session can be for endurance only.
If your race is an Ironman distance race and you’re not a marathon runner, you will need to put in the hours. If you have time it's worth running a marathon a few months before. This will teach your body how to cope with running for long periods of time. Find a run programme that builds up to a marathon on three or four days running a week and just maintain your swim and bike training.
Fuelling your training properly is key to making all this preparation count. Sports nutrition, where you match nutrition to specific needs, will become your best friend during a triathlon. The sooner you start using sports nutrition and sports supplements the better. Running is the most energy-demanding of the three triathlon disciplines and one which makes digesting food difficult. Sports energy products are designed to make it easy for your body to digest and cope with extra calories for energy and protein for muscle building and recovery. Multipower Energy Charge is ideal to take during training as it has a special carb matrix designed to supply energy while providing optimum hydration.
In any run session lasting longer than an hour, aim for 30g carbohydrates per half-hour of exercise. This could be in the form of an energy drink, or a gel. Multipower’s Multi Carbo Boost is a concentrated energy gel, high in carbs and BCAAs. It contains caffeine to heighten alertness and can be used throughout exercise in a convenient re-sealable pack.
Even if you have taken up triathlon to lose weight don't cut back on these calories -- they will enable you to train harder and that will shift pounds faster than any diet. Don't forget that post exercise recovery is also important. Sports nutrition products containing high quality protein will help muscles to recover properly and enable you to maximise performance
If you have never done any sport, start gently with two 30 minute sessions of each discipline per week and include walk breaks at first. If you are a swimmer or cyclist but new to running, you will need a gentle introduction for four to six weeks before attempting fast runs. If you are a runner but new to triathlon, introduce at least two sessions each of cycling and swimming (keep sessions short and easy for the first month) and cut your running down to three or four sessions per week. Plan your running in four week blocks. Build up your training time in weeks one to three with the last week easy.
Don’t under estimate the importance of recovery either. After intensive exercise the body needs rest, re hydration and glycogen replacement. X-PLODE recovery shake drink provides many of the nutrients needed to do this including Vitargo one of the fastest digesting Carbs around.. It is available in an easy to mix drink format and is ideally taken post workout.
