Spank On… Tri a Threesome
Spank, is a Monkeroo* that lives with Shandra and Clint Chapman and will be sharing his observations in his column, Spank On…. (musings that will make your triathlon life easier)
Trying The Triathlon…
After just over a year in the sport, Spank is very confident that through his own triathlon experience he has amassed several golden nuggets of wisdom that, in all fairness, should be imparted to the rest of the world. In ALL fairness to the rest of the world, we should note here that, as yet, there is still no official coaching certification course offered for Monkeroos.
This article is written in the spirit of one Monkeroo (and his owner) giving friendly advice, from knowledge gained through experience.
The word “triathlon” is very daunting. Before I ever did triathlon, I produced them (as my job). When people asked, “so, do you actually do the triathlons?”, I looked at them from below mocking eyebrows and replied, “uh…no.” However, after loads of encouragement (and threats; my boss felt that an Assistant Race Director should actually DO a race), I finally did do a triathlon. I loved it, and have now sucked in my husband, my brother, my sister-in-law, a very good friend and Monkeroo.
In a group effort, we have now convinced my sister to do a 5K. The 5K, FYI, is a gateway race. We all started there. When you consider trying a triathlon, don’t think about swimming and biking and running and transitioning and fancy equipment and everything else that is scary.
Start from the beginning, with a simple plan.
- Set a goal. Find a triathlon, or a duathlon if you are uncomfortable in the water, and sign up. There is a great list of races at trifind.com, and you can find online calendars by doing a “triathlon” search. Spank Says… Set a reasonable goal. If you don’t run now, don’t expect to run 6 miles in a month. Find a race that gives you several months to work up to a few miles.
- Find a training plan. The simple rule of thumb is to do what you can do now, and alternate your bike and run days, keeping one day a week to simply rest. Each week, increase your total mileage by up to 10% (more can cause injury) until you can go the distances necessary. Spank Says… It’s better to get a plan formulated by an expert. You’ll find lots of (free) plans at Tri-Newbies.com.
- Get your gear. Running is easiest; shoes. Swimming is more difficult; suit, goggles AND a gym membership. Biking is a hardest. It’s not difficult to find a bike, but you may not want to spend $1,000+ to buy one. You can borrow any bike for your first race (my brother, editor of this site, did his first HILLY triathlon on my dad’s old bike with half as many gears as the rest of us have).
Spank Says… Take the time to have someone fit you for shoes (many stores will do this), as it really does make a big difference. Now get started…you CAN do it.
Get more info from ultramaxtri.com/training.php
* a Monkeroo is a monkey with a kangaroo pouch… if anyone hasn’t guessed, Spank is a stuffed monkey onto which Shandra pinned a pouch… not a living animal.
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POSTED IN: Cycling, How To, Misc., Running, Spank On..., Swim, Triathlon
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