The old joke goes, why be good at one sport when you can be average at three! We’ve all been there. You find yourself working hard at training for triathlon but you neglect being a well rounded swimmer, cyclist, and runner. Swimming is always the first to go for me. It’s not that I don’t love the pool, I do. It’s just the least convenient for me. Also, where I live, running can be done pretty much year round outside. So to schedule a run workout, all I have to do is lace up the shoes and step out my front door. Cycling, well I solved that by purchasing a trainer. Not the most exciting way to get the miles in, but I signed up for Zwift and that (plus Netflix and YouTube) definitely helps with saddle boredom.
Photo approximation of my reaction when you suggest we go for a swim workout
photo credit: The Desert Rose In A Pool via photopin (license)
Another problem that seems to be Tri specific is that none of our races provide equal challenges across all three disciplines. Olympic distance races (1500m Swim, 40k Bike, 10k Run) probably comes the closest, but even then you are most likely spending at least half of your race on the bike. Which is true in almost any triathlon you sign up for. So really by design, triathlon racing requires us to train in unequal chunks of time for each swim, bike, and run discipline. All of this adds up to one thing………lots of hours. There is just no way around it. To get better you have to put time into all three. But in what percentages? Should you play to your strengths? Or work on minimizing your weaknesses?
I’d give anything to have this guy’s balance (except for the time it would take to practice)
photo credit: unprecedented via photopin (license)
Balance. Triathlon is a sport that can put tremendous strain on your time management skills. Sacrifices are abundant and compromises are frequent. It’s not that being a triathlete is some soul crushing endeavour. I think it’s actually very rewarding, but at what cost does that reward come? So this week we are talking about finding this balance. We want to hear your strategies, priorities, and life hacks. Also, feel free to share any stories, in the forum, about that one time you really messed up by putting your training schedule first. So vote in the poll and give us some tips, tricks, and funny stories in the forum! TRS Triathlon wants to know!
Featured Image photo credit: Sept 14 — Holding hands in paryer via photopin (license)
