220Triathlon Edição 334

WWW.220TRIATHLON.COM

FEBRUARY 2017

FEATURE

RESPECT BUT DON’T FEAR

The thought of taking on a middle-distance triathlon is

daunting to many athletes, especially those with minimal

multisport experience. While the distance should be

respected, it shouldn’t be feared. With organised planning

and a commitment to achieving the end goal, it’s

manageable for athletes of any ability as long as there’s

the desire to complete the challenge.

APPLY YOURSELF

Tens of thousands of people complete middle-distance

races in the UK each year, and you can be one of them;

they’ve applied themselves and so can you. Be prepared

to work hard but embrace how great it can make you feel.

DON’T DOUBLE UP

When the race distances are broken down and looked at

individually – the 1.9km swim aside – it’s effectively double

an Olympic-distance triathlon. But this doesn’t mean that

you must do double the amount of training hours that

you’d do for an Olympic. Of course, there’ll be some weeks

when the volume of training is significantly greater, but

not every single week.

LOG MILES BEFORE SPEED

The key sessions of each week will become the longer,

steadier workouts on the bike and run, and these are

commonly done at weekends. Once you begin to get close

to achieving the race distances in training then suddenly

the fear of not completing the event starts to reduce. Now

you can focus on how quickly you can complete.

INVOLVE YOUR FAMILY

In order to be successful it can be crucial to get your

family and friends on-board. Try to involve them with your

training or helping you with your nutrition and kit. As well

as having your family working with you, it’s incredibly

effective if you’re part of a training group that are building

towards similar goals.

MAKE MIDDLE MATES

Having training partners helps to motivate you and

encourages you to not miss sessions; the feeling of letting

your friends down by skipping a session will nag away at

you. You can learn new training routes and be inspired to

work harder. Training will be made more enjoyable and

productive as part of a group.

MOTIVATION

CONQUERING THE HALF IRON TAKES CAREFUL PLANNING AND COMMITMENT. BUT IT SHOULDN’T BE FEARED.

HERE’S OUR ESSENTIAL ADVICE TO START YOU ON THE ROAD TO MIDDLE-DISTANCE GLORY…

Middle