Joe Friel - The Triathletes Training Bible

The Triathletes Training Bible, Third Edition

Copyright 2009 by Joe Friel

All rights reserved. Published in the United States of America by VeloPress, a division of Competitor Group, Inc.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic or photocopy or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations within critical articles and reviews.

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The Library of Congress has cataloged the printed edition as follows:

Friel, Joe.

The triathletes training bible / Joe Friel.3rd ed.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-934030-19-6 (pbk.: alk. paper); ISBN 978-1-937716-07-3 (e-book)

1. TriathlonTraining. I. Title.

GV1060.73.F74 2009

796.4257dc22

2009000097

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Cover design by Erin Johnson

Cover photo Tim De Frisco

Interior design by Erin Johnson

Illustrations by Charlie Layton, chapters

Composition by Eclipse Publishing Services

v. 3.0

To Team Friel
Joyce, Kim, and Dirk

FOREWORD

I have been racing triathlons for more than half of my life. One would think that after so many years of training and racing, I would have learned how to train and race and would understand all of the elements it takes to be consistently at my peak in the sport. But the trials and tribulations of triathlon continue for me to this day.

Joe Friels The Triathletes Training Bible contains all of the information a triathlete needs, whether he or she is a novice, a budding junior, at the top of his or her age group, or competing at the elite level. Unlike the single disciplines of swimming, biking, and running, the combination of all three strengthens almost all of the muscles in your body. Feeling healthy and fit enhances all aspects of your life.

The Triathletes Training Bible is the most comprehensive triathlon book I have read. It is formatted in such a way that you can find detailed information on any question of immediate concern. What should you do the week before the race? Find the answer in on training intensity and fighting fatigue. Joe leaves no rock unturned. More than twenty-five years of racing, coaching, and analyzing every tidbit of pertinent information on fitness are compacted into this one book.

Only a handful of people can claim to swim, bike, and run, whether it is a one-hour sprint-distance triathlon or a twelve-hour Ironman. Training for three sports is more time consuming than just preparing for a 10-kilometer running race. Because we must juggle work, family, and numerous other affairs in our busy lives, triathletes need to use their time to train wisely. The Triathletes Training Bible is your coach. It will maximize the limited training time you have in order to prepare you to race at an optimal level.

For those of you who are constantly striving to improve your performance, this book will lead you in the right direction. Keep tri-ing!

Wesley Hobson

19971998 USA Triathlon national team member, 1992 U.S. Olympic Center male triathlete of the year, 1997 U.S. national sprint champion, and 19921993 world championship bronze medalist

PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION

Its been over ten years since I wrote the first edition of The Triathletes Training Bible. During that decade a lot has changed, prompting me to revisit the book. Most of the changes are additions, and so it has grown considerably larger, just as the sport has grown in the past ten years. When I sat down to write The Triathletes Training Bible in 1997, the USA Triathlon Federation had 16,212 licensed members. The sport was still in its infancy. In 2007, as I started this revision, USAT had more than 100,000 members.

The sport has grown in a way that none of us who were there in the early days could ever have imagined. It is now mainstream. When I wrote The Triathletes Training Bible, I knew of only five other books on the topic. Now major book stores have a section of their shelves just for triathlon. There are several other indications that triathlon has gone mainstream. Fictional characters on television shows are triathletes. Celebrities do triathlons. When you tell someone you ride a bike, the first thing theyll ask is if youre a triathlete. When your neighbors see you heading out for your daily bike and run, they no longer think youre a wacko; they know youre a triathlete. Websites devoted to triathlon were practically nonexistent ten years ago. Now there are thousands. What a remarkable change weve experienced in such a short time.

This growth has caused the sport of triathlon to change in other ways as well. Ten years ago, the average triathlete was more knowledgeable when it came to training, nutrition, equipment, and racing. Of course there was a lot less information to be aware of back then. In the past ten years there has been an explosion not only of training information but also of training technology. Power meters were pretty much unheard of in 1997, and GPS devices for training and accelerometers existed only in our imaginations.

Our knowledge of every aspect of training has grown. Physiology and nutrition have led the way, with sports psychology lagging just a bit behind. As a result, how we should train and eat is much better defined than it was in 1997. But Im afraid a result of this explosion of information and technology is that triathletes are more confused now than ever. Thats why I felt a need to revise The Triathletes Training Bible.

Ive grown as a coach in the past ten years. In the early days, I could keep up with almost every new development that came down the pikewheels, running shoes, sports-nutritional products, goggles, wetsuits, bike frames, skill techniques, races, websites, books, and on and on. Now I find that its impossible. I have to focus my attention on just a few things at at time, the ones I find are most important. As a result, I now know more about fewer things. Ive tried to describe these things in the latest edition of this book.

While every chapter has new material added, the greatest number of additions have been made in the chapters devoted to the intensity of training (for ongoing updates to many of the concepts found here.

As always, I hope that my book proves helpful to your pursuit of the triathlon lifestyle. If it does (or even if it doesnt), feel free to send me an e-mail at and tell me about it. I attend many races throughout the season and would enjoy talking with you about your triathlon experience. Hearing from those who benefit from my books is always a great pleasure and gives meaning to what is otherwise a solitary and tedious activity.

I wish you all the best for your training and racing!

Joe Friel
Boulder, Colorado

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I am indebted, as always, to the triathletes who have read The Triathletes Training Bible and given me their suggestions for making it a more useful tool. Much of what you will find amended and added here came from questions asked by those who had read previous editions.

I also want to thank the staff at VeloPress, my publisher, who have continued to support my ideas for books and create products that get better every year. Special thanks go to Renee Jardine, associate publisher, for championing my idea for this format and for continuing to support my writing projects. Thanks also to Dave Trendler, marketing manager, for getting the word out whenever I give a training bible-based talk.