Summertime is the right time for setting goals and accomplishing things you may never have dreamed of. If you have ever considered trying out for a Triathlon, consider these helpful tips to increase your chance of success.    

1. Train in each event. You are going to swim, ride and run. Therefore, each week, you should swim on day 1, ride on day 2, run on day 3, swim on day 4, ride on day 5 and run on day 6. Day 7 is off. (If you do swimming and biking on the same day, you can do training for each of the three stages three times a week, but make sure you always take that 7th day off!)
2. Train in amounts that are proportionate to your distance races. Swimming often constitutes 10-20% of a race, biking often constitutes 40-50% of a race, and running often constitutes 20-30% of a race.
3. Start off with a 15 minute work out for swimming and running. So, for swimming it is 15 minutes of swimming — not 15minutes of being in the pool! For cycling, double this time, so start off with 30 minutes.
4. Increase the time to 30 minutes for running and swimming as your stamina improves. Increase the cycling time to 60 minutes or more.
5. Practice some ‘brick’ sessions about a month ahead of your event. A brick is where you do two disciplines back to back. The most important session is the 45-minute cycle ride followed by a 15- to 20-minute run. This gets you used to changing muscle groups.
6. Consider joining a Masters swim program to become more proficient in the water. These programs generally accept all levels of skill in the water.
7. Start with some sprint races (usually a ~700 meter swim, ~15 mile bike and a 5K run). You do not need to set a land-speed record, just use the races as a learning experience. You can use sprint races as a building block for longer races (international, half-ironman, and ironman), or you can choose to focus on sprint races. But you need to race to put all the training together.
8. Train over the winter using a bike trainer – in the off-season, you can do a lot of long steady distance work that will build a strong network of capillaries in your legs that will serve you well in the summer during race season.

Non-Surgical Orthopaedics, P.C. specializes in exercise and training programs for the amateur athlete.  call 770-421-1420 for an appointment today.