If you have never done a sprint triathlon before, you will want to understand how to specifically train for this unique sporting event. A sprint triathlon differs from the usual triathlon in that the distances that the athletes have to race for each event are shorter. Often they are cut in half. On the one hand this makes the sprint triathlon more “do-able” for more people; but on the other hand, it gives it special training considerations for serious competitors, just as sprinters train differently than middle and long distance runners in track and field. Most importantly, however, is the fact that more people will get involved in the sprint triathlon and, hence, more of you out there might be new to serious athletic training.
If you are training for the sprint triathlon and want to improve as fast as possible before race day, first begin by training extra hard and longer in your weakest event. Don’t neglect the other two, but put more time into the weak one on each and every training day.
Make sure that you have all of the right equipment. An actual racing bike. High quality running shoes. And so on. But, don’t waste your money on equipment that you don’t need, such as special “triathlon wet suits”. Also, plan to use the equipment you are training with in the actual sprint triathlon.
When you are training, start slow and start small. Practice slowly and get stronger and faster quickly. In fact when you are first training for a sprint triathlon you may want to train only every other day for the first couple of weeks before moving up training five to seven days a week. Let yourself progress naturally and listen to your body. Soon enough you’ll be training hard and heavy yet feeling better than ever.
At the same time, be consistent. Write up a workout schedule at least one week in advance and stick to it. But never push yourself harder than you feel quite confident you can handle. If you do you could “overtrain”, so that you’re not peaked but burned out instead come race day, and you could also injure yourself.
To keep things interesting so that you stay motivated to train as hard as you can, vary your workouts from day to day (keeping in mind to focus more on whatever you are weakest at). Make Wednesdays “super cycling day” and go lighter on the run and swim that day, while Fridays can be your “mega miles of running” day, or something like that.
Add in “bricks” (two events trained for in one setting, where you have to transition between them). You’ll need to transition in the actual event, so you need to practice how to do it with the greatest skill. Never neglect your transition training.
Finally, make sure that you are totally committed to this sprint triathlon. Pay any entrance fee right way and type it into your calendar or write it into your daily planner. This seals the deal in your mind that you are going to do this, and that in turn subconsciously causes you to intensify your sprint triathlon training.
Tags: sport, sprint triathlon