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1. Cross-training and injury prevention
It’s a fact that specificity of training will drive your performance forward. If you want to be an Olympic runner, you need to run a lot. Probably at least once every day. However, if you want to run to anything less than international standard, then throwing in some more diverse training could well be the best thing to do. Running is hard on the body. Especially road running. Shin Splints, knee problems and calf niggles are occupational hazards for runners, so getting some of your weekly mileage in the pool or on the bike can be therapeutic in treating, and key to preventing, such problems
2. Learning new skills
As we get older it’s easy to move into autopilot, both mentally and physically. Focusing on learning new skills like swimming and cycling requires persistence and motivation. It’s also extremely rewarding. It engages the brain in a way that makes it more open to change, and stimulates muscles, organs and joints in new ways. Even if you don’t want to race triathlon, training for it may well help your running performances by giving the body and brain a bit of a wake up call.
3. Triathlon can be done on a budget
There’s no denying that triathlon can be expensive – if you want it to be. The cycling can certainly be pricey. However, on a recent peruse of eBay, I saw a three-year old racing bike going for 90pound. That and a helmet are the only totally essential items that you probably don’t already have. A lot of running equipment – leggings, jackets, thermals – makes perfectly good cycle gear. If you really get bitten by the bug (and be prepared to) padded shorts, clipless pedals and aerobars will help, but don’t think that they are needed from day one.
4. Diversity of races, places and events
Triathlon may have its roots in Ironman (3.8km swim, 180km bike, 42.2km run), but these days there are such a vast range of distances – from super sprint (400m swim, 10km bike, 2.5km run) upwards – that you don’t have to be ultra-endurance to find an event for you. There’s also Xterra (off-road triathlons with mountain biking and cross-country running) and, being a truly global sport, you can race almost anywhere in the world. The sport’s most famous races take place in Hawaii, Nice and Australia, so if you ever need an excuse to clock up some air miles…
5. What about the swim?
For a lot of runners, swimming can be a big challenge. It’s far more reliant on technique than fitness and, with us being a generally slim bunch, the lack of body fat doesn’t help with buoyancy in the water. Thankfully, many of the super-sprint races have a pool-based swim of 400m (16 lengths of a standard 25m pool) and you can just breaststroke your way through that if you need to. If you fancy venturing into the open water, a wetsuit is nigh-on essential [for British triathlons, the minimum temperature at which wetsuits are optional is 14o], though you’ll be pleased to know that it really helps with the buoyancy. Swimming is sometimes called the poor mans physiotherapy, so even if you start with an easy 20mins in the pool after one of your hard running sessions, you’ll see some immediate benefits and be able to work on your technique gradually.
6. Duathlon
Duathlon (run, bike, run) is a great step towards triathlon if, to begin with, you really don’t fancy getting wet. It’s also predominantly an autumn/winter pursuit in the UK, so won’t interfere with your summer racing program. As a runner you have two chances to show the triathletes how it’s done; in fact many top athletes have integrated duathlon into their winter training. Like triathlon, there’s a range of distances – from 5km, 20km, 2.5km upwards – and, in winter, off-road versions using cross-country running and mountain bikes are becoming ever popular.
7. Overall physique
As running is predominantly a lower body activity, it’s difficult to train upper body when you’re on a pure running program. Swimming fulfills that niche superbly, as well as offering the therapeutic advantages of increasing bloodflow to the whole body and easing out sore and tired muscles. Cycling works the quads (front of the thigh) and glutes (backside) in a way that running does not. This can, for instance, help to balance the muscles around the knee joint and, along with the swimming, lead to a much more rounded athlete physique.
8. Training volume
Running for more than two hours can be very strenuous, and even those in heavy marathon training won’t run for much longer than that, cycling, on the other hand, is less stressful on joints, and it’s more than possible to go out and ride all day long if you take enough food and drink (or money) to keep yourself fuelled up. If you’re aiming to build your aerobic endurance, adding some long bike rides to your program is a safe way of doing so. I’ve actually raced my best half and full ironman races (and set 10km and half marathon PBs) on a bulk of aerobic cycling topped up with short, but frequent and fast, running sessions to get the nervous system used to moving at the required pace.
9. Elitism
Triathlon used to be seen as a bit of an elitist sport; those who competed were once perceived to be totally focused and dedicated individuals with a screw loose somewhere. That’s all changing. Triathlon is now accessible to anyone. Tri clubs are based all over the world and are very easy to locate, in fact most cities around the world have a number to choose from
10. Relay triathlons
Many of the big races these days – and an increasing number of smaller ones – include relay categories to not only bring a team element to events, but to encourage people who feel they can’t do the whole race. These events offer a great opportunity for you as a runner. You could join a team to be competitive and do what you do best or, alternatively, if you’re nervous about the swim or bike sections, you can try one of them out in isolation while getting the feel for the sport in general.
So how about it? From injury prevention to international travel, triathlon has it all. Hope to see you at the races soon….
Tri2aspire
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