*This is a spoof post and none of what I say should be taken as real training advice. If you want to know how a serious triathlete trains, and get real tips, check out Kristen at Glitter and Dust.*
Find a sprint triathlon happening in your neighborhood for that weekend. (Foothills Feat) Make sure the swim portion is being done in a pool because of your husband’s tendency to sink.
Go for two swims during the week at the local rec center, of which you have to pay $5.25 to use for the day. Be reminded of how hard swimming freestyle for 475 yards is. Become nervous that you will drown when put in a lane with 4 other competitors on race day. Worry about how much chlorine your husband has ingested due to previously mentioned tendency to sink.
Decide to bike the race distance (12 miles) as fast as you possibly can on the Monday before the race. Learn that biking is not the same as running and your knees don’t like it. Also, you’re bad at it.
Don’t run the full race distance (5k) all week, because you’re a runner and that’s the one part of the race you can handle. Lift instead.
Arrive on race day with entirely too much stuff and with a plan to swim in running shorts and sports bra, so as not to have to change in the transition. Be one of the only competitors without a triathlon suit and fancy road bikes.
Try to look tough.
Swim 475 yards, bike 12 miles, and run 5k in 1:26:19 without thinking anything else, but “go faster” and “this hurts” and “this is pretty fun”. Suffer chaffing.
Take 3rd place in your age group.
Know that you were having fun, will definitely do another, and conclude your morning experience with a 3 hour nap on the couch post-shower and chinese food feasting.
*I will post a real race recap once the official race pictures come in!*
RQ: How would you train for a triathlon?
I’m Brooke Selb, a Personal Trainer and Health Coach specializing in helping busy moms and moms to be to easily juggle mom life with family friendly recipes, and easy exercise routines to help you achieve your fitness goals that fit in with your already busy life with sound nutritional advice.
Best. Re-cap. Ever!!!! Congrats on the age group place! I would do exactly the same thing, I am sure.
Thank you!
Sounds like you have it down! I think I would probably skip the swim training since I was really good at it as a kid, but otherwise your training program looks spot on! haha
I have a hard time getting the breathing down for the freestyle stroke for more than 2-3 laps. I definitely need to practice it more.
haha I loved this. Congrats on the AG placement!
Thank you!
This is awesome, Brooke! I think your method seems a lot more relaxed and fun than mine. 😉 Reading this makes me want to go out and do a sprint for sure. How cool are you to place in your AG! Obviously you aren’t as “bad” as you thought. I think it’s time to move up to Olympic and half IM distance for sure! Looking forward to reading your next recap!
Yikes! An Olympic and IM distance might be too much for me right now. I’ll leave those to you.