T. J. Murphy - Triathlete Magazines Guide to Finishing Your First Triathlon

It was in the early 1980s when I first became entranced by triathlon, having been one of the millions enthralled by images of the Hawaii Ironman. The race was broadcast on ABCs Wide World of Sports . The thought of an endurance race combining swimming, biking, and running was daunting and thrilling at the same time.

As triathlon grew over the next two decades, it developed an identity of being open to all. Triathlon became the place where limits were meant to be broken. No one was too old or untalented. The playing field wasnt restricted to elites. In fact, when you enter a triathlon, part of what makes the sport unique is that everyone, regardless of ability, rubs shoulders at the race venue. Triathlon has become a place that welcomes and encourages all. The physically challenged division in triathlon is symbolic of how the true heroes of the sport arent always the elites in the front, but can be found in the stories within the pack and in the back of the pack.

The door is open to all who wish to participate. Choosing triathlon as your athletic passion is rich with benefits: its fun, its healthy, and its a challenge that will revitalize your body and strengthen your mind.

The appeal of the swim-bike-run sport is broad. Here are a few of the reasons triathlon is an excellent pick for a lifelong sport:

1. Cross-training is built-in. Training for a triathlon requires a balanced exercise schedule. While swimming, biking, and running are all considered excellent activities to build up aerobic condition, they mix things up with regard to muscular conditioning. The muscles used across the three disciplines complement one another.
2. Triathlon builds a balanced physique. All the major muscle groups are put into play by the various activities in triathlon, resulting in a balanced musculature.
3. Triathlon strengthens the most important muscle: the heart. Studies clearly indicate that regular cardiovascular activity and a nutritious diet have numerous positive effects on heart health, longevity, and quality of life.
4. As compared to running-only exercise programs, you are less likely to sustain an overuse injury as a triathlete. Since swimming and cycling are nonimpact forms of training, a triathlete spreads out the stress of running with active recovery days. In fact, many have been introduced to multisport because running injuries kept them on the sidelines.
   
5. The opportunities to race are diverse and plentiful. If you want to be a triathlete, youll find ample races to choose from whether you live in California or Alabama. There are four primary race distances used in the American triathlon scene:
   1. Sprint-distance or Tri-for-fun. Sprints are typically composed of the following: quarter-mile swim, 12-mile bike ride, and 3.1-mile run.
   2. Olympic-distance triathlons. This is a race replicating the actual event format used in the Olympics. It starts with a 1500-meter swim, continues with a 40-kilometer bike ride (25 miles), and finishes with a 10-kilometer (or 6.2-mile) run.
   3. Half Ironman. The half Ironman has been around a long time, but in recent years its popularity has become enormous, thanks in part to the new 70.3 Ironman series (70.3 signifying the total distance of the race). Half Ironmans begin with a 1.2-mile swim, transition to a 56.2-mile bike, and finish with a 13.1-mile run.
   4. Ironman. The full Ironman is the classic ultradistance event that helped put triathlon on the map after its creation in 1978. A 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike, and 26.2-mile run constitute this tremendous test of endurance and skill.
   5. XTERRA. The XTERRA race series is growing in popularity around the globe and has a rabid following. Considered an all-terrain event, XTERRAs are triathlons with mountain biking and trail running instead of cycling and running on roads.
6. Triathlons have become family events. When you start hunting for your first triathlon, youll notice that many sprint races are part of triathlon festivals. If you want your kids to get in on it too, trifestivals typically have miniature triathlons for children. Also, if your spouse or partner is interested in running or walking a 5K, triathlon festivals often have these on the slate as well. The idea is to get everyone in on the action.
7. Parents wanting to set a good example of a fitness lifestyle for their kids cant do much better than triathlon. In todays culture, confronted by such a multitude of forces, from TV to video games to an automobilebased society, kids can easily get sucked into sedentary habits. Child obesity trends in the United States are startling, giving rise to a deadly increase in the number of childhood cases of diabetes. Parents who buck these trends are likely to inspire their children to follow suit.
   
   

To get you started, lets discuss the core principles of how to transform yourself into a competitive triathlete.

Okay, so you like the idea of being a triathlete. It may be nothing more profound than wanting to have a triathlete body. If you worry that this is a shallow desire, dont despair. While a handful of triathletes may have migrated into multisport to chase Olympic medals or glory on the Ironman racecourse, Im willing to bet that a Zogby Poll would show that more than 90 percent of the people participating in triathlon got into it because of what is produced when you expose the human body to consistent swimming, biking, running, and nutrition: a triathlete.

Whatever the initial impulse, other benefits await. For one thing, it feels good. If youve been stuck in a cycle of self-abuse governed by a desire for junk food and couch time, the feeling waiting for you after as little as a week of living like an athlete is too remarkable to be accurately described.

Triathlon is a competitive sport. For the most part, its a sport of competition with the self. For many, the goal is to finish. If youve ever watched a triathlon in person, you will likely have noticed a deep camaraderie existing within the field of triathletes. Theyre all in it together. They cheer each other on and help each other out. Its not uncommon to see friendships emerge between racers who have endured the long middle miles of the last leg of the event, the run.

Perhaps you consider yourself a noncompetitive person. If so, I want you to visit this notion and consider revising it. We respond naturally to challenge. Its invigorating. Setting a competitive goal (just finishing a first triathlon is a terrific initial goal) immediately gets the blood pumping. Youll choose a race several months off in the distance, fill out the application, and send in your money. Once youve committed yourself to a raceand Ill encourage you to tell others who will be supportive of your goalyou will receive an adrenaline-producing burst of urgency. We are goal-oriented creatures, and the commitment to a goal conducts an inner source of energy that will be exceptionally helpful in nudging the worst of couch potatoes out of a TV-induced rut.