Table of ContentsUsing this Guide...........................................................................................................................3Sources.........................................................................................................................................3

Welcome to Belpark!..........................................................................................................4Belpark History..........................................................................................................................4

Info for New Members.......................................................................................................5Joining Belpark...........................................................................................................................5Training......................................................................................................................................5

Swimming.....................................................................................................................................5Cycling...........................................................................................................................................6Running.........................................................................................................................................6Other sessions (these sessions are generally over the winter months)........................................6

Racing........................................................................................................................................7Club Gear...................................................................................................................................7

Ordering Gear from Belpark.........................................................................................................8Contact Details...........................................................................................................................8Club Communications................................................................................................................8

Website.........................................................................................................................................8Discussion Forum..........................................................................................................................8Twitter..........................................................................................................................................8Facebook.......................................................................................................................................8

Checklist for New Members.......................................................................................................9

Triathlon Beginner’s Guide...............................................................................................10

What is Triathlon..............................................................................................................10

Triathlon Distances...........................................................................................................10Short Course............................................................................................................................10Long Course..............................................................................................................................11

Buying Equipment............................................................................................................12General Purchasing Advice.......................................................................................................12A Quick Introduction to Gearing...............................................................................................12Bicycle Accessories...................................................................................................................13

Essential......................................................................................................................................13Optional......................................................................................................................................14

Other Gear...............................................................................................................................14

Training............................................................................................................................16Training Intensity.....................................................................................................................16

Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE)................................................................................................16RPE..............................................................................................................................................16Description..................................................................................................................................16Heart Rate Training (HRT)...........................................................................................................17HR Zone......................................................................................................................................17Description..................................................................................................................................17

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Maximum Heart-Rate.................................................................................................................17Lactic Threshold..........................................................................................................................17Heart Rate Zones........................................................................................................................18

Swim Training..........................................................................................................................19How to Improve Your Swimming Form.......................................................................................19Open Water Swims.....................................................................................................................20

Bike Training............................................................................................................................21Run Training.............................................................................................................................22

Triathlon Brick Workouts............................................................................................................22

Racing..............................................................................................................................23Pre-Race...................................................................................................................................23Race Day..................................................................................................................................23

Transitions..................................................................................................................................24Nutrition..................................................................................................................................25

Sample pre-race breakfast..........................................................................................................25

12 Week Triathlon Training Plan.......................................................................................27

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Using this Guide

This guide is just a basic starting point for learning about Triathlon. It is not by any means exhaustive, nor does it claim to be the optimum training companion for every athlete. Each one of us is different and requires a personalized approach to our training, so please use this guide as a general introduction to Triathlon and always be ready to ask more questions – there will be many!

There is also a wealth of information on training and racing, along with tons of new member information, on the Belpark Website http://www.belparktri.ie/

Sources

There are many guides to Triathlon already available online, so we have borrowed heavily from a few of the better ones to create this document. If you want to read the online versions in a bit more detail, please see below.

http://expertenough.com/1994/beginners-triathlon-guide

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/cms/article-detail.asp?articleid=2373#triathlondistances

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Welcome to Belpark!Belpark Triathlon Club is based in and around the Rathfarnham area of south Dublin but has members from all over the city. We always welcome new members and cater for men and women of all ages and abilities. The club will be celebrating our 30th anniversary in 2016, making it one of the oldest triathlon clubs in Ireland.As well as triathletes, Belpark has a significant number of duathletes, swimmers, adventure racers and people who just like to get out to train in a group every now and then.

Belpark HistoryIn 1986 a group from the Ranelagh based ‘Belgrave Square Harriers’ athletics club who trained in ‘Bushy Park’ set up BELPARK. They used the BEL from Belgrave and PARK from Bushy Park to give the name BELPARK. Over the years the sport of Triathlon has changed significantly, but we feel that the club’s founding ethos of inclusion and competition remain true.

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Info for New Members

Joining BelparkYou can attend up to 3 run or bike training sessions with Belpark before joining to see if you like triathlon and Belpark. To become a member of the club and Triathlon Ireland you simply sign up on the Triathlon Ireland membership page https://www.triathlonireland-newserver.com/become-a-member.htmlYou can become a member of both at the same time, when you get to the bottom of the page, you will see the option to join a club, you simply select Belpark from the drop down list. It is €20 to join Belpark for the year, this is one of the cheapest memberships on offer in Dublin! You can join the club at any time.

TrainingBelpark runs a variety of sessions throughout the year from open water swimming and brick sessions in the Phoenix park in summer to turbo sessions in Winter along with our regular training.The club has a wide mix of members from national series winners to complete beginners and we always welcome new members, whatever their experience level.

Swimming

We are lucky to have use of UCD's 50m pool for swimming training. For insurance reasons, you must be a member of both Belpark and Triathlon Ireland to attend these sessions. We have dedicated times for all levels, and you can check to find a suitable session on the website: http://www.belparktri.ie/block-booking/

Most of these slots are booked in 3 month blocks in advance but there are some pay-as-you-go slots available for each session and these will be posted in the Belpark forum page.

All UCD Swimming related info can be found on the website at:

http://www.belparktri.ie/swimming-faq/

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To book swim sessions (or indeed any session) that requires booking, please go to the Belpark Website, register as a member, and you can either book a block of sessions or try a few single sessions first. Once you join as a member, you can access the booking page here:

http://www.belparktri.ie/class-booking/

Cycling

If you're new to biking, our beginner spins on Saturdays are a good place to start. They normally cover 40-50km at a gentle pace with an experienced Belpark member leading them. There is a 'leave no man behind' policy for these spins so they will only be as fast as the slowest person. It is recommended that you have completed a 30km spin yourself before joining these spins.

If you've a bit more experience, you might prefer the improver spins which run on Sundays. These cover 50-70km and are slightly more challenging. If you're an experienced cyclist, our intermediate Sunday spins cover 60 – 100km at a faster pace. If you're a complete masochist, our advanced spins head out on Saturday mornings. All spins meet at Rathfarnham clubhouse at 9.00am. Details about these spins are posted on our forum – comment on the post if you're coming so we know to keep an eye out for you.

Have a look at http://www.belparktri.ie/cycling/ for more details.

Running

Our running sessions are run in conjunction with Rathfarnham running club and these take place on Tuesday evenings at 6.30pm in Nutgrove Park. These cater for all levels. One of our New Members Officers, Deirdre or Conal, are usually at these sessions so drop them a line if you think you'd like to come and they'll keep an eye out for you. If you would like to attend other Rathfarnham sessions, membership of Rathfarnham AC http://www.belparktri.ie/booking-rathfarnham/ is half price for Belpark members.

Other sessions (these sessions are generally over the winter months)

We also run turbo training sessions - from 6:45 - 8.15pm on Thursday evenings - in Rathfarnham educate together school. More details are available here:

http://www.belparktri.ie/cycling/

Also, we have a Pilates/injury prevention class on Monday evenings. More details are available here:

http://www.belparktri.ie/injury-prevention-and-strength/

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RacingThe Vodafone National Series is the most popular race series with Belpark members. We have listed the each of the races on the website, and the most popular ones have some descriptions and reports written about them:

http://www.belparktri.ie/vodafone-national-series-2016/?doing_wp_cron=1455032188.3417539596557617187500

Club GearOur triathlon gear is currently provided by Lucca Sports who provide two lines of Verge Clothing: Strike and Elite. All Gear can be ordered via the Gear Section of the Website:http://belparktri.ie/wp2/

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Ordering Gear from Belpark

There are no minimum requirements for new gear orders. However, as a club we generally place orders about 2 – 3 times a year. If you wish to order outside of this we can accommodate this, however you will be required to pay the delivery cost (€40) on top of the base unit prices. Lucca also can facilitate some non-standard requests and variation to their pieces if required.If you have any questions or queries about club gear, drop us an email. We can also arrange to bring along samples to any of our sessions for you to try.

Contact DetailsOur New Member’s Officers are Deirdre MacNally and Conal Markey. If you have any queries at all you can contact them at newmembers@belparktri.ie

Club Communications

WebsiteAll of the information in this document can be found on the Belpark Website: http://www.belparktri.ie/

Discussion Forumhttp://belparktri.proboards.com/

Twitter https://twitter.com/BelparkTri

Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/Belpark-Tri-Club-219908091119/?ref=hl

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Checklist for New Members1. Have you registered via TI website with Belpark?

2. Have you received your TI membership card?

3. Have you attended a new members event (or contacted our new members officer)?

4. Have you checked out our website at www.belparktri.ie?

5. Have you registered for the Members Zone on the website?

6. Have you registered for the discussion forum?

7. Have you followed us on Facebook & Twitter?

8. Have you downloaded the new to tri plan?

9. Have you picked a club training session to go to?

10. Have you registered for your first race?

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Triathlon Beginner’s Guide

What is Triathlon

The origins of triathlon are attributed to a race in France in 1920 called les trois sports, which consisted of a 3km run, a 12km bike ride and a crossing of the channel Marne. The modern triathlon as we know it was conceived by Americans Jack Johnstone and Don Shanahan, and was first held at San Diego's Mission Bay on September 25 1974. Four years later, the first Ironman triathlon was staged in Hawaii when representatives of the Mid-Pacific Road Runners and the Waikiki Swim Club, who had been arguing about which sport produced the fittest specimens, competed over a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile cycle and a 26.2-mile run.

The most common version is the "standard course" (1.5km swim, 40km cycle, 10km run). This is the distance over which the Olympic event has been held since it was first staged in Sydney in 2000, while other common distances range down from the Ultraman (10km, 421km, 84km) to the Super Sprint (300m, 7-10km, 2.5km). Different lengths are suited to different body types, with longer distances requiring greater aerobic conditioning, and shorter distances requiring a larger degree of explosive power and speed.

Triathlon Distances

Short CourseShort course races are the place where beginners first dip their toes in the triathlon waters. For the vast majority of people, these races are a personal challenge to just get over the line or to beat their time in the last race. While it's growing very quickly, Triathlon is still a small community and triathletes are a friendly bunch so there is no need to be nervous or intimidated.

There are 2 official short course distances:

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Sprint: 750m swim, 20km bike, 5km run. Olympic: 1.5km swim, 40km bike, 10km run

Some races also offer a Try-A-Tri distance especially for beginners which is generally a shortened version of the Sprint distance, often with the swim distance greatly reduced.Be assured if you sign up for any one of these races that you won’t be the only one taking on your first race!

Long CourseThe terms Ironman and Half Ironman, and the numbers 70.3 and 140.6 in a circle are trademarks of the World Triathlon Corporation (“WTC”). If your race is run by WTC it will include those names and symbols and cost more; if it is run by another organisation it will likely be called ‘half distance’ or ‘full distance’ or other terms along those lines.

Half: 1.9km swim, 90km bike, 21.1km run. Full: 3.8km swim, 180km bike, 42.2km run.

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Buying Equipment

General Purchasing AdviceFirst of all, feel free to show up for your first triathlon(s) on a mountain bike, old road bike, hybrid, whatever you have or can borrow. In a sprint triathlon this is pretty common. Once you’ve done some events, met some people, etc., ask around to get a good feel for which bicycle shops in your area are well thought of. The key is selecting a bike whose basic geometry fits you, and then getting it fit to you by a professional. Here’s how this would work in an ideal world: You get a ‘generic fit’ from a professional fitter where some completely unbiased guy measures you and recommends a few brands and models of bicycles based on your build, flexibility, and other factors. You then test them all and choose the one that feels best within your price range. Then you get a professional fitting where they make all your angles and lengths match the bike perfectly. The fitting should probably be free if you buy from a shop. In practice there may be a few compromises vs. this approach. You have a few decisions to make:

Road Bike vs. Tri-/ Bike: Everything else being equal, tri bikes are faster, but the recommendation would be a road bike as your first bike. This is subjective, but you can argue that road bikes are easier to learn on, more comfortable, and safer for beginners. Plus, you’ll be much more welcome to show up and join any group rides in your area with a road bike. Belpark, for example, does not allow tri bikes on its official group spins.

Bike Shop vs. internet etc.: You could possibly get a better deal on EBay or on alternative websites. If you’re a tinkerer or have an educated friend to help you, go for it, but be aware that a lot of fakes are sold online so you really need to know what you’re doing. Bike shops can be a great source of information as most employees are cyclists and/or triathletes and so are talking with some degree of experience.

A Quick Introduction to GearingChainring: These are the big rings beside your pedals. The number represents the # of teeth. More teeth = more ‘work’ per turn of the pedals = faster per turn of the pedals. There are three main types you’ll be concerned about:

Triple Chainring (ex: 50/40/30): These are usually for mountain bikes, hybrids, cyclists who ride some serious slopes, or people who are out of shape – that smallest ring is sometimes called the ‘granny ring.’

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Standard (ex: 53/39): These are for bikers. No granny gear. Only having two rings makes shifting easier and cleaner.

Compact Chainring (ex: 50/34): These have two rings but have more relaxed gearing for hills or beginners at the cost of top-end speed. Most bikers would be better off with Compact than Standard – if you’re not contending for age group or overall wins, you’ll probably be better off Compact.

Cassette: This is the Christmas tree sticking out the side of the rear wheel. The number represents the # of teeth. More teeth = less ‘work’ per turn of the chainring = slower per turn of the pedals.

The first thing to look at is the number of gears. 7-10 is the normal range, with 10 being the standard. If your bike comes with fewer than 10 gears in the cassette, it may be more difficult to upgrade components in the future should you wish to do so.

Then look at the range of gears. The big number is the ‘easiest’ gear for climbing, and the small number is the ‘hardest’ gear for descents.

The wider the range of gears, the more versatility you have, but the clunkier it will be every time you change gears and the less you can fine-tune your speed/comfort.

Translating into Speed: The formula is easy. Pedalling at a cadence (pedal rotations/minute) of 90, it’s (rounded off) “7.23 x (# Front Teeth) / (# Back Teeth).”

Applying this formula to the biggest and smallest chain/gear combinations gives you a ‘speed range.’

If a hill is steep enough that you can only maintain ~6 mph and your lowest gear is ~9mph, that just means your cadence would have to drop to 60 rotations, not that you would fall over and die. Not ideal, but it happens!

Bicycle AccessoriesEssential

Helmet: This is self-explanatory and also compulsory. If you are in the market for a helmet, purchase with safety and comfort in mind rather than street cred!

Track or Floor Pump / Frame Pump: You’ll need to inflate your tyres before each ride. A track pump is best but then you have to consider what you do when you get a puncture on the road. This is where a frame pump comes in if you are not using CO2 canisters.

Tyre Repair Kit: Ideally get this in a small saddle bag or other form you can attach to your bike. It should include a spare tube, CO2 canisters if you don’t carry a frame pump, tyre levers, and inflation connector.

Bottle Cages and Bottles: You’ll probably want at least one but preferably two bottle cages and water bottles to place in them. A standard setup would be one on each of the main vertical tubes on your bike but there are several options.

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Bike Shorts: Bike shorts have nice big pads to keep your undercarriage happy. Optional

Clip Shoes and Pedals: You will eventually want pedals and shoes that clip together. It might be scary the first time you clip in. You’ll get used to it quickly. Many beginners fall over once or twice at first. Consider it a rite of initiation. If you want official triathlon shoes, make sure that the tightening strap is a single strap that you pull away from the bike to tighten. Socks are optional; many triathletes go without in races as it speeds up transition times.

Computer: Most cyclists like to have a small computer on their bicycle to track their cadence, speed, and mileage. A small sensor is placed on your rear derailleur which simply counts how often a magnet on your wheel (speed) and pedal (cadence) go by. These come in wired and wireless, with most people preferring wireless at a reasonable incremental cost.

Turbo Trainer: A turbo trainer is a small machine into which you hook your rear wheel. It allows you to bicycle in the comfort of your own home while watching TV or otherwise occupied. Trainers can be boring, or at least monotonous, so some people like to get Spinervals or other bike DVDs to make the time go faster or feel like they’re cycling with a group. Not only do trainers allow you to train whenever you want, they also keep you honest in terms of keeping up your energy level – there are no stoplights, hills to cruise down, etc.

Aero Bars: You can clip aero bars onto your road bike to get some of the effect of having a tri bike. You still won’t have necessarily have the same geometry, seat position, bar-end shifters, etc., of a tri bike but studies suggest that for a professional, clipping aero bars on a road bike gives you approximately 40% of the benefit of moving up to a tri bike at a fraction of the cost.

Aero Helmet: These are the silly looking teardrop helmets. There is some debate about whether they’re actually faster for riders with poor form who don’t do a good job of holding their head steady and straight. In the wind tunnel, and worn properly in appropriate conditions, however, there seems to be little doubt that these reduce drag substantially.

Race Wheels: These are expensive, anything from €500 - €2,000 and more for a new set. There is widespread evidence online showing the benefits of race wheels but for beginners this is not an issue.

Front and Rear Lights: Essential for those hard enough to be out in the Irish winter!

Other Gear Running Shoes: Go to a reputable running shop and get them to carry out a Gait

analysis (1 minute on a treadmill). If they can’t carry out a Gait analysis for you well then you are in the wrong shop! The Gait analysis will determine your running style and hence determine the right running shoe for you.

Tri-Suit: A tri suit is a one-piece outfit that can be used through all three phases of the triathlon.

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Body Glide and/or Chamois Butter: Some people need to apply these frequently to avoid chafing from running and/or biking. Others find they can do just fine without as long as they have a good saddle. If you’re getting sore in the saddle area these are a great first thing to try.

Running Clothes: You’d probably do well to get a few pairs of running shorts, shirts, and socks. Wearing cotton is a bad idea if you plan on sweating while you work out. Chances are your running shorts will have a liner; if so, don’t wear underwear underneath. Many triathletes run sockless for sprint or even Olympic distance runs.

Race Belt: This is a small elastic belt with a pair of attachments for race numbers. Many races require you to keep your number visible during the run. Grabbing a race belt with number pre-attached can be much easier than trying to pin a race number on to your shirt.

Wetsuit: Most, if not all, triathlon races in Ireland are wetsuit compulsory. It is prudent to seek expert advice in a triathlon shop or equivalent when purchasing a wetsuit.

GPS / Heart Rate Monitor: Many triathletes wear a watch that also functions as a heart rate monitor and/or GPS device. Polar and Garmin are popular brands. However, there are many apps available for IPhone etc. that do a similar job.

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TrainingMost triathlon training programs assume you can do six or more workouts a week of 30+ minutes each. If you haven’t worked out in years or are otherwise too out of shape for this, it may be a good idea to start with a “couch to…” program.

If you can already handle 30+ minute workouts most days, then pick a race that you want to build toward, ideally one 12 or more weeks in the future. If it’s your first triathlon event, you should probably choose a Sprint distance race or look at a “Try-a-Tri” event. A Tri-a-Tri event is generally shorter in distance than sprint events, especially on the swim leg, yet still combines all three disciplines.

Don’t be in too much of a hurry to ramp up your training. You don’t have to do a half-iron distance race this year if it’s your first year of training. Do sprints this year, maybe an Olympic, and see how that goes – you have plenty of time to build up to longer-distance races. That said, follow your dreams – but you don’t have to do everything all at once. The key is to establish good habits and build fitness for the long term without getting hurt.

Training IntensityMany training plans will use some guideline to indicate how vigorous the workout should be. For instance, the fast portion of a tempo run should be at a higher effort level than a long weekend run. For people new to endurance training, the more common problem is training too hard. These methods can be a good way of making sure you don’t overstrain and increase your chance of injury.

Below is a brief introduction to some of the most common ways of guiding and quantifying those effort levels.

Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE)The least technical common measure of training intensity is Rate of Perceived Exertion, or RPE. It is most commonly expressed as a 10-point scale to measure effort level.

RPE Description0 Sitting on your couch2 Casual stroll around the neighbourhood4 Putting forth effort but able to carry on conversation, could sustain for long period6 Noticeable effort, can still speak but sentences require some effort, could sustain

for an hour8 Working hard, talking only possible in gasps, could sustain for 30 minutes

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10 Full effort, breath gasping in and out, could sustain for 1-2 minutesFor beginners, most workouts should probably be in the 4-6 RPE range, especially running. Biking you probably want to spend at least some time in the 6-8 range. Only move up in the 8-10 range once you’ve been working out awhile and (ideally) have a plan that calls for it.

Heart Rate Training (HRT)This is a seemingly innocuous topic about which many people feel strongly. In principle, you establish a range of heart beat rate zones and attempt to target specific zones for certain workouts to guide your effort level.

HR Zone Description

1 Easy effort, rarely used except for recovery days

2 Sustainable effort level, many triathletes do the bulk of their training in this zone

3 This is a ‘tweener’ zone and beginners are often instructed to avoid spending much time at this level

4 High effort level, many triathletes use this for ‘threshold’ workouts to increase sustainable speed

5 Sprint, sustainable for only short periods of time, this level usually for intervals and short races

The controversial aspect of HRT is the method by which you assign heart rate ranges to those zones. Two variables are involved – some ‘high’ heart rate level, and a series of %s applied to that level. Many variations exist, including Karvonen, Zoladz, Maffetone, and others – use Google if you want more detail on those.The most commonly discussed methods of determining the ‘high’ heart rate level on BT are discussed below.

Maximum Heart-Rate

You can establish training zones based on your maximum heart rate. Age-Based Max HR: Maximum heart rate based your age, i.e., 220-age. So if you’re

40 it would be 180. Observed Max HR: Train really hard a few times and check the maximum HR your

watch observes.

Lactic Threshold

This is based on the results of a lactic threshold test. It takes approximately 50 minutes to do for each sport, usually running and cycling. Assuming you have a heart rate monitor with lap functionality, here’s the test:

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Setup: Try to do this on a trainer for bike or treadmill for run if possible. You want flat, controllable, and by yourself.

Warmup: Run or bike at a comfortable pace for 10 minutes. Main Set I: Choose a pace you think you can sustain for 30 minutes. Go hard for 10

minutes. Main Set II: Hit your lap button and continue going hard for another 20 minutes. Cool down: Hit your lap button and cool down for 10 minutes. Check Watch: Measure your average HR over the Main Set II and that’s your lactic

threshold.

From there you repeat the test every month or two to recalibrate your training zones. This allows your improving fitness to be reflected in your training intensity. Though you will only want to do this test when you have been training for consistently for months.

Heart Rate Zones

If you are going to use HRT, you should use the lactic threshold method. If you’re a beginner, too out of shape to do the lactic threshold test, or just aren’t going to do it, then some people think that the observed max HR method works just fine. The age-based max HR is sketchier just because individuals can vary so widely from the population norm. Frankly though, if you’re a beginner, any method that convinces you to keep your effort level down is probably beneficial. Once you’ve established your method and the key heart rate, here are common percentile ranges and a rounded-off example:

HR Zone Max HR Ex: Max HR 185 Threshold Ex: Threshold 1701 60-70% 110-130 65-80% 110-1402 70-80% 130-150 80-90% 140-1503 80-90% 150-165 90-95% 150-1604 90-95% 165-175 95-100% 160-1705 95-100% 175-185 100%+ 170+

Note that the lactic threshold will be lower than your maximum heart rate, so the %s used will be correspondingly higher.

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Swim TrainingThe swim leg of triathlon is simultaneously the shortest and most universally feared part of the race. The key to the swim is to stay relaxed and calm. The worst thing you can do is to try and go too fast. You’ll probably end up going faster than you should, tiring out and possibly panicking.

If you have a specific event length in mind, then absolutely you’ll want a few practices where you swim that length straight through. Otherwise, however, you’ll be better off getting lessons, then spending more of your practice time doing drills and shorter 100- or 200-yard intervals with 5-20 second rest periods that allow you to maintain good form and pace.

Instead of trying to go fast, focus on smooth movements and moving effortlessly through the water rather than moving at a frenetic pace. If you start to get worried, slow down, tread water, breath and keep going. Remember, go at your own pace – just because there are a lot of people around you splashing everywhere, doesn’t mean that everyone is going much faster than you – it just seems like it. Swim your race at your pace and resist the urge to try and go as fast as possible.

How to Improve Your Swimming Form

If you need help with your swimming form, here’s a few things to keep in mind:

Balance: Do your best to keep your body balanced in the water. Particularly don’t let your feet hang down, that creates a ton of drag

Swim on your sides: Try standing against a wall with your arms over you head – they should be the same height. Now rotate your hip and reach up with your right arm. See how your body just got longer? You want to do that in the water. Make yourself long on each side and focus on smooth strokes as you rotate from one side to the other. Use your momentum as you swim from side to side to propel you forward. Don’t lift your head out of the water to breathe. When you reach forward with your lead arm, rotate on your side a little and use that motion to clear your mouth breathe. If you lift your head, your feet or arm will immediately drop and create drag to compensate.

Focus on each stroke being efficient. You might think you’re going faster, but a few strokes with proper form will take you much, much farther than several rapid strokes that don’t propel you forward at all.

Look straight ahead (or down) while swimming. You should be looking slightly forward and to the bottom of the pool or lake. If you’re in the pool, your lane will

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have a line in it. Look at that – when you see the “T” coming up, it means you’re coming up on the wall.

Breathe Slowly: If you find yourself dying for breath, try kicking easier. Only kick enough to keep your feet up, don’t try to push yourself forward with kicks.

Bilateral Breathing: Most beginners have a side on which they find it easier to breathe. Try to learn to breathe on either side, ideally working up to bilateral breathing, a ‘left-right-left-breathe, right-left-right-breathe’ pattern. If you can’t do that yet, try to breathe to one side going down and the other side coming back. The longer you practice breathing only on one side the harder it will be to break the habit later. In races, many swimmers only breathe to one side because that’s most efficient for them, but being able to choose which side based on conditions can be a big help.

Open Water Swims

Your first time swimming in open water you may feel a little nervous. Many do. Try to get some open water lake/sea/etc. practice before your first triathlon with an open water swim, but never do that by yourself. It really helps to acclimatise to the Irish water temperatures. Many people start acclimatising a few weeks before their first race- try to get in at least 2-3 times, with at least one other person or when there are organised group swims. It also helps to get used to swimming in a wetsuit which can feel very different to swimming in the pool. When you do practice open water swims practice ‘sighting.’ Sighting means you look up every 6-12 strokes to make sure you’re still going in the right direction. If open water swims scare you greatly, consider starting off with a pool sprint or two where the swim is much shorter and done in a pool. In ‘pool sprints,’ swimmers usually volunteer their expected speed then begin one at a time rather than en-masse and swim a certain number of laps in the pool.

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Bike TrainingYou can spend hundreds on bike fit systems in search of a perfect bike for your first race, but if you’re using the bike out of your garage or borrowing one from a friend you can give yourself a quick DIY bike fitting by keeping these things in mind.

Wear the gear you plan on biking in. There’s no use getting fit in one outfit, with one set of shoes, when you’ll be racing in a completely different one.

Stand over the bike. There should be about a 2 cm clearance between your body and the top bar.

Extend your leg all the way to the bottom of a pedal stroke. Your leg should be 80-90% extended. If it’s not, you won’t get the full power out of each stroke. If it’s extended too much, you’ll lose all your power at the bottom of each pedal stroke.

Adjust your seat so that your knee is above your foot. When your leg’s extended, you should be able to drop a plumb line from your knee to the ball of your foot.

When leaning forward, your body should be at a 45 degree angle, which your back arched and your arms slightly bent in order to absorb the vibrations from the road.

No matter what bike you’re on, if you have poor cycling form, it can be uncomfortable. Make sure you don’t end up with a weird kink in your back or neck after a few miles by following these tips on the bike:

1. Your back should be arched and your head should be focused on the road in front of you.

2. Your elbows should be slightly bent, but not locked. This lets your arms serve as sort of “shock absorbers” for the bumps in the road that you’ll be riding over.

3. Your shoulders should be forward so that your chest can help carry your upper body weight.

Use smooth strokes while pedalling and be sure to not only push downward on each pedal stroke, but pull upward. This will help you pedal more efficiently, not to mention make you go faster.

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Run TrainingRunning is such a basic skill, but so many people do it poorly and end up injured.

Here are 5 simple steps to better running form:

1. Run using a mid-foot strike if you can. Avoid over- striding, which will cause you to strike with your heel and waste energy.

2. Keep your shoulders back, and your head up.3. Look ahead. Focus on the ground about 20-30 feet in front of you.4. Let your arms swing naturally at your side. Let your arms swing forward and back

(not side-to-side). Keep your arms bent at the elbow about 90° and keep your hands unclenched.

5. Skim the ground. If your feet hit the ground too hard, you may be putting yourself at risk of injury and losing your momentum throughout the run. Run like you’re a stealthy ninja, not a thundering giant who needs his footsteps heard. Land softly and quickly and use the spring of your foot to take the next stride.

If you find yourself running more and more, you’ll want to go visit a running store and have your gait analysed in order to get more personalized advice and find shoes based on your running style.

Triathlon Brick Workouts

You’ll want to practice brick workouts a few times before your first race. A brick workout is a workout where you incorporate two disciplines and transition from one to the other in the middle of the workout as you would in a race. The most common brick workout is the bike to run transition, although swim to bike transition can also be done. The first time you do a bike to run brick workout, you’ll be inexplicably sore.

While your legs will be warmed up from the bike ride, they’ll also be quite tired and the first couple times you transition from biking to running, you might feel like your legs are asleep. Get used to that feeling – it will go away after the first 1/4-1/2 mile – but the first few times, it will feel like forever. At that point, you want to keep an eye on your watch. The fatigue in your legs may make you run faster or slower than you’re accustomed to so make sure you continue at a pace that’s sustainable for you for the rest of the race. If you practice these a couple times while practicing, you’ll be much more prepared for it when race day comes.

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Racing

Pre-RaceFor your “A” race, the race toward which your training plan has been geared, your plan probably calls for you to taper your training the last week. If you’re tapering and start feeling lethargic, generally disappointed, a touch irritable, maybe even mildly sick, don’t worry, that’s normal.

If it’s your first triathlon, try to go to the information session the night before if there is one. Make sure you drink plenty of water the days leading up to the race – although you should be doing that anyway. Don’t do anything crazy with your diet before the race. Have a healthy/normal dinner, light breakfast.

If it’s a sprint, don’t worry about nutrition during the event. Put some Electrolyte drink on your bike if you really want to but gels are almost certainly overkill.

One of the golden rules is:

Never try anything new in a race!

Sometimes it’s unavoidable…but avoid it if you can.

Race DayThere is quite a lot of gear to remember to bring along for a triathlon. Pack you bag then night before each race. Here is a useful race checklist :

http://www.belparktri.ie/race-checklist-2/

On race morning, get there early, at least 90 minutes or more before the start. Register and do your bag pickup if you haven’t already. Attach any numbers they give you as instructed to your helmet, bicycle, and/or race belt. Rack your bike on the appropriate rack – look for the area designated to your race number and put your bike there. Observe how others triathletes rack their bikes. Make sure your tyres are inflated properly and do a visual inspection of your bike. If you discover any small problem with your bike, there are probably some bike shop mechanics around with a tent set up to help out.

Put a very small towel beside your bike, ideally a hand towel or normal towel folded into quarters. On that towel put your helmet, bike shoes, socks (if any) and bike glasses in one

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small pile. Some people put bike helmet and glasses on the bike. Put your run shoes and run belt in another small pile. Keep this all compact if you don’t want to annoy your neighbours. Look around at how other people set up their transition areas. Notice that a few people have probably taken up a lot of room or have sloppy transition areas and pat yourself on the back for making an effort to be considerate.

Half an hour before start, get all your swim gear on and get to the swim start area. If it’s an open water swim (OWS) you probably have the chance to hop in and warm up for 15 minutes. It’s a great idea to do so, particularly if you’re still somewhat new to OWS and/or wetsuits, and you can pat yourself on the back for having practiced this while you watch other new people start to freak out.

If you do get nervous during an OWS, don’t worry, you’re not the first. Tread water if you have to and control your breathing. If necessary, wave for a kayak or whatever support they have in the water. You can get a breather, calm down, and continue; they won’t disqualify you.

Transitions

Practice your transitions before race day. A beginner going through the motions can easily lose three minutes with slow transitions. Do you have any idea how hard those three minutes would be to make up in the 5k? The weekend before your race, take your gear outside and just do the transitions three times to get a feel for how efficiently you can do it. There is no exact science to this and experienced people probably have a more systematic/efficient approach to these steps, but your transitions will look something like the following:

T1: Run to your bike, remove wetsuit (if wearing one), goggles, and swim cap. Put on bike shoes, helmet, and glasses. Never take your bike off the rack without having your helmet on! Run with your bike to the mount line. Cross the mount line, get on your bike, and go.

T2: Hop off your bike at the dismount line, run to your transition area. Rack your bike, remove bike gear, put on running shoes and belt, and go.

Advanced Methods: The items above are just the basics. As you become faster you will start to learn more about advanced transition methods like flying mounts and dismounts. As a beginner, keep it simple for now.

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NutritionNutrition is often referred to as the fourth element of training because it can have such an effect on the outcome of a race. This is especially true when it comes to longer distance races, such as a half or full Ironman. Nutrition is an area that can get really complicated really quickly. The easiest way to avoid that is to keep things simple:

Stop eating junk food. Stop drinking fizzy drinks, juice and other beverages besides water, tea and recovery

drinks (after workouts).

Eat lots of fruits, nuts, eggs, meats and vegetables. Before and after races, focus on starchy fruits and vegetables (bananas, sweat potatoes or squash) in moderation. These will break down into glucose quickly while replenishing your quick-use energy stores. If you need energy supplements throughout the race, use them as necessary.

Sample pre-race breakfast

You want to eat something 2-3 hours before your race. A good rule of thumb is 200-300 calories/hour before a race. For example, if you’re eating 2 hours before a race, you’d try to eat 400-600 calories (200-300 calories x 2 hours)

Breakfast:

3-4 Eggs Scrambled Banana Coffee

It’s not only effective, but you can eat it anywhere. If you’re on the road for a race, you can hard boil the eggs beforehand and eat them wherever you want or microwave them, if you don’t have a stove nearby. The eggs provide the protein your muscles will need. The banana is the most portable food in the world and is a great starchy fruit to make sure your body’s energy stores are topped off right before your race.

There is tons of information on race nutrition online so search for what works best for you!

To Carbo-Load or Not to Carbo-Load? That is The Question

Actually, it’s not much of a question at all. For your first race you don’t need to carbo-load. If you eat properly, your body will store enough energy for 90-120 minutes which is more than enough time for you to finish your first sprint distance race. The truth is for the shorter races in triathlon (right now a sprint triathlon might not seem very “short”, but in the context of endurance racing it is) the only thing carbo-loading will really do is

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upset your stomach if you’re not used to it so don’t worry about it until you’re on to much longer distance races. If you find yourself running out of energy during practices, you can easily handle your energy levels through a variety of gels or other nutritional supplements – so carry them with you and take them about 40 minutes into your race (while you’re still on the bike) and you should be good.

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12 Week Triathlon Training PlanTriathlon Ireland have created a great training plan for beginners. The version below is only readable at a large magnification. If you want to view the online version, please visit:

http://www.triathlonireland.com/Participation/Training-Plans/12-Week-Beginner-Triathlon-Training-Plan1.pdf

Belpark also has a couple of training plans of our own. Please see the link below:

http://www.belparktri.ie/new-to-tri-training-plan-2/

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