A common mistake is to consider the triathlon as the sum of three different disciplines.
In fact, it is a multiple-stage competition where, through transitions, are blended together three sports, which, individually speaking, have very different tactical, technical and metabolic characteristics than the result of their union.
Let’s take a look at these sports, starting from swimming:
1. Start: here is the first obvious difference because instead of diving off the starting block, you may happen to start directly in the water (sea-lake), from the beach or floating pontoon.
2. Tactics: while swimming in the pool starts at the maximum speed that you can maintain throughout the race, in triathlon you will need to swim fast from the start in order to get into a good group with which to swim all the distance and only after that find your right race-pace.
Slightly increase the leg work only in the last 200m to prepare them for the cycling leg of the race.
3. Buoys: the course is delimited by buoys that most of the time mark a 90 ° turn; passing them as a group requires high energy and specific preparation, very different from that needed for turning in the pool.
4. Getting out: some courses require getting out of water after 750m, a short stretch of…
