Goodbye

I Have had a lot of fun sharing all that I could with evryone about my knowledge of triathlons. I am sad to say that this is my last post, but I will still be training for triathlons and maybe I will compete against some of you. If any of you have any questions, I refer you to look at triathlon.blogspot.com. It is a great blog and they really know what they are talking about.

Have fun and happy training!

Conditioning

     If you are just beginning to train for a triathlon, then you should be conditioning about four days a week. With the running aspect of your conditioning, try to go out there and run for distance, not for speed. Do this about two days a week and on one of them, try to implicate a cycling workout to go along before it. Practice your transition speed one day of the week and make sure to be picky about it. Critique yourself!
     The swimming portion of it should be done about three days a week and should be for distance as well. Keep this up for about eight weeks and then Try to pick up the pace.

The Proper Way to Stretch

Importance of Water

Empty water bottle at 14,000 ft. By: domesticat
http://www.flickr.com/photos/domesticat/3104016535/

     As the days get hotter and hotter, our bodies need to replenished more often. Water helps our bodies to get the necessary amount of replenishment and allows our bodies to cool down. If their was ever a time to need a nice bottle of water, this would be it.
     Water balls come in many different shapes and sizes and I highly recommend a small 20 ounce bottle for anyone because it gives you quite a bit of water, yet is fairly easy to carry.

Open Water Swims

Water by the Docks By: Broken Haiku
http://www.flickr.com/photos/broken/5632733/

     I cannot stress enough how important it is to practice in open water. The difference of swimming in a pool and in a lake is astronomical. You need to practice "slicing" through the waves rather than having to swim over every wave that comes towards you (which will be a lot).
     Many of the best triathletes say that the secret to open water swimming is practice. They swim in open water year round and know what they need to do to "slice" through a wave in a short amount of time. If you do not live an a climate that allows you to swim in open water year round, I suggest that as soon as you can, go out and work your butt off to try and keep up with the people that do.
   

Running Partner

     A lot of people like to run by themselves, while others like to run with someone else. Recently I got a new dog and he loves to keep me company on my runs. It seems like running with a dog gives me a better work out because he pushes me to run a little faster than I would have wanted to. Some dogs really want to go for a run anyway, so you might as well the work out while taking your dog outside.

Warm Weather Runs



Crim Festival of Races 10 mile run 2010. By: I Run Flint
http://www.flickr.com/photos/irunflint/4937704178/in/photostream/

      As the weather warms up, more people start to run. As more people start to run, it gets a lot more difficult to find some moving space on bike paths or trails. One of the most important things to think about when running in warm weather is to always be hydrated. Drink water before, during and after your run in order to be well hydrated. Even if you know that the path will be full so you will have to run a little slower than usual, you should still keep a healthy mindset by being prepared for the heat.

Swim 2000

I recently purchased some swimming gear at swim2000.com. This site is amazing! All of their inventory is organized into easy to find places. One of the best things for me was that they had their own triathlon section on their website. Everything that is needed in the swimming portion of a triathlon and more is located there. This saved me a lot of time by making it so I didn't have to search their entire website just to find the things that I need. I strongly suggest that you check this website out and if you like it they know how to treat you well. my items came in less than four days and I just requested standard shipping.

-Happy Buying

     Many people have different reasons for wanting to do a triathlon. I found a woman's blog about her journey from "Couch potato to triathlete." Here is a little from her biography:
    

     My name is Carol Scheible. When I was 20, my cousin started doing triathlons. I remember thinking “That sounds really cool, but I could never do that – I’m not athletic enough”.

Twenty years later I was overweight and out of shape, and generally miserable. I decided to make a commitment to follow a healthy lifestyle for the rest of my life. I lost a bunch of weight without any exercise. Then I hit a plateau where I could not lose any more.

So…I decided to start running. While searching for run training programs online, I ran across this great plan called Couch to 5k at a website called Beginner Triathlete. That old thought about how cool triathloning sounded came back to me …it was tucked away in the back of my mind all those years. This time, instead of thinking “I can’t do it”; I thought “I will do it!”.

After finishing the Couch to 5k training plan, I added biking and swimming to my workouts, and completed my first triathlon in April 05. I am now hooked on the sport of triathlon and am fitter than I have ever been in my life.

My brother, Mark, has been doing triathlons for several years and he is a great help to me – giving me lots of advice and support and answering all my neophyte questions. Thanks, Mark!

My brother-in-law, Tom, is a runner and fitness enthusiast and has always been an inspiration to me.

I’ve recently met a guy on my master’s swim team named Jon. He’s a master’s elite triathlete and actually wins races. He’s very inspiring and is kind enough to share his wisdom with me. He says all it takes is persistence. I think he’s just being modest and is very talented. What they heck, tho, I’ll dream big and tell myself that maybe I can win someday too.

The site Beginner Triathlete is a wonderful resource for triathletes – both novice and veteran. Also, read my post on Getting Started in Triathlon.

Here is the link to her blog and I strongly suggest that you go and check it out for yourself!

http://www.triathlontrainingblog.com/