Except for those predestined athletes or those who began at a very early age, what usually gets people to take part in their first triathlon race is the idea of taking on an impossible challenge, managing to overcome a really tough hurdle and feeling ready for anything.
Okay, but how can you tell you are ready for it? When can you make your Olympic triathlon debut (1.5 km – 40 km – 10 km), what level of fitness do you need to complete the event without doing your body any harm?
First and foremost you must be ready to handle an effort that lasts well over 2 hours and you can test this out on a bike.
Asking you to swim or run for 2 hours would be too much, but asking you to attempt it on a bike – obviously after a period of specific training – is the best way to test out your physical endurance.
You need to be sure you can complete 4 types of training session, one for swimming, one for the bike, one for running and a brick session. There are no precise, objective guidelines, but I am more than happy to give you mine:
SWIM SESSION
- 400m easy warm-up (50fs 25bst 25legs bks – 50fs 50bks 25legs bst)
- 12 x 50m easy with 15’’ recovery(1legs – 1 drills – 1max for 12.5 m – 1pull breathing every 5 arm strokes with slight acceleration)
- 8 x…
