Structuring your training
One of the most common asked questions among new triathletes is whether you have to be made of something special to compete in iron-distance triathlon. The answer to the question is pretty straightforward with one loud NO! In spite of the extreme character of the distance you do not have to be Superman, have a VO2 max as Lance Armstrong, or born with special abilities. The most important ingredient is the excitement and will to give yourself a challenge beyond compare.
In the last couple of years the sport has undergone a major development. Less than ten years ago the sport was dominated by a small group of eccentric people. To day it is a natural step after the marathon and long distance bike races. More has to happen - and iron-distance triathlon has what it takes for those wanting more. Around the world races are sold out in a matter of days and more and more people has major success in the challenges of the legendary distance.
Because triathlon has undergone a development from being an underground sport to be a mass event with bigger and bigger interest, the sport also becomes available for the large public. Iron-distance triathlon embrace both the top professional athletes who swim bike and run the distance in a speed most single discipline athletes needs to be focused to keep up with. The majority of the participants are ordinary people. Some swim breast stroke most of the way, some ride the 180 km on their old race bike and run / walk the marathon in a decent speed. This makes iron-distance triathlon unique because it is one of the only sports where the world elite competes at the same time as regular amateurs.
Family, friends and training
Beside the excitement and will then what does it take to compete in an Iron-distance event you may ask? As everything else in this world there is as many answers to that questions as there is individuals. A search on the Internet will show training schedules of 25 hours+ of training, Watt-numbers, pulse-figures and stories of 7 - 8 hour bike rides. In spite of this, these are not facts on how to become and iron-distance athletes. There is other and better ways to become ready for an iron-distance triathlon - especially when the daily life has to be in harmony with family, work and friends.
The code words for successful training are continuity and compliance with daily life. No doubt training will take up a large part of your time and in periods it will be your main priority. Therefore it is essential for your training to be in compliance with your acquaintances and their expectations to you. The continuity should be seen in the training. In order for the body to best absorb the training it is important to have continuity in the weekly workload. At any time it is better to train regularly 10 - 12 hours a week, than have weeks with a low work load and then suddenly rise to a lot of training hours because you can fit four long workouts in that week.
The next question is how far in advance you should start training. Again this is a matter of the single individual's prerequisites. If you are used do weekly spinning classes, biking and running, not much has to be done in order to add swim to your weekly schedule and to put some structure on your training. If you start from scratch it will off course take a longer time. All in all triathlon is a pretty honest sport. The better you train, the better you will be - and good training is not necessarily about miles or hours. Good training is about having all elements of abilities, family, friends, motivation and so on to fit together on race day.
