Why would I even think about this

It’s easy to get complacent sticking with what you know you can do but it’s much more fulfilling to take yourself far outside of your comfort zone and overcome unfamiliar obstacles. For me that meant taking myself away from the comfort of a heavy barbell and into the world of endurance sports.

Taking on challenges like these quickly accelerates your learning of yourself and exposes you to weaknesses and strengths that you don’t know you have. My first venture into the endurance world was a sprint triathlon held at South west rocks earlier this year. My time wasn’t spectacular but, for nearly 2 hours of time spent outside of my comfort zone I’m happy with my efforts. Here are a few things I learnt from the experience.

Having a strong base is key

I definitely wouldn’t be able to get through many of the challenges I set for myself had it not been for my foundation of training. Strength and general fitness definitely make a huge difference in shortcutting the road to improved performance. I went from the first day swimming where I couldn’t make 75m without stopping to in less than 5 sessions being able to easily make the 500m distance without completely wrecking myself. Would I have been able to make this sort of progress starting from scratch. Definitely not! Having said that general training will help you get through it but if you are planning on being competitive than you will need a little more than just that.

You need to practice the sport you are competing in

I went in very unprepared and relied on mental toughness and solid base of general fitness to get me through it, rather than training in the specifics of the sport. No transition work between the bike and the run or longer sessions working over 45 minutes in any of the legs. I completely neglected road bike training and suffered for it on the day.

I don’t believe that all your training efforts need to be dedicated directly towards it but, you should do sufficient to be prepared for the challenges you face.

What should you do to train for it?

Invest in a coach to guide you

If I decide to compete again in another triathlon the first thing I will be doing is investing in a coach to direct my training and make me accountable to them. I found when I planned my own training although I knew what I needed to do, I chose to direct my efforts on what I was better at being the run and strength training. However, my client who I was assisting through her preparation for the same race followed the program and performed very well on the day.

Another benefit of a coach is that they know what you are going through and can help manage the nerves and prepare you for the curveballs that might be thrown at you which in my case were my legs seizing up half way through the run (I definitely didn’t expect this to come). If the financial investment of hiring a coach isn’t viable for you, then you definitely need to be accountable to somebody else which leads to my next point.

Create or join a group of people with the same goals

Most of my preparation was completed by myself however, once a week I ran in a group where two of the other people were preparing for the same event. This was both my favourite session for the week and the one that I was the most consistent in completing. It gave me some accountability and also built a feeling of belonging come race day where we all spent time together and helped each other get prepared.

This in itself made the whole day a much more positive experience and I’m sure if I had completed more training in group than it would have translated to a much better performance on the day.

Overall, it was a fun experience and it definitely had me well outside my comfort zone. I’m not sure how quick I’ll sign up to another event but, I already have the I can do better attitude. Who knows where that will lead me!