Believe it and you can conceive it!

See it and you can be it!

Achieve it because you believed it!

s a multi-sport athlete with over a decade invested in triathlon (swim/bike/run), duathlon (run/bike/run), or aquathlon (swim/run but sometimes run/swim/run) competitions that have ranged from Sprint to Ironman distance, the one thing that I have learned - and that I have been firmly devoted to - in my thinking, training, preparation and performance, has been Blind Ambition.

To clarify, I believe that if you let the principle of “Blind Ambition” guide your heart over your head; let it be a primary mover and shaker in your actions, and let it allow you to find reward in taking on risk in training for a multi-sport competition, you will be on a new path to becoming a stronger, more confident, more well rounded athlete. And you will acquire a new perspective on belief in yourself and in your ability.

Let your own sense of adventure and discovery help you overcome any current lack of experience, or training finesse. Taxing your mind and body in a sequence of three different disciplines is a great way to prepare yourself for a greater level of fitness, achievement and self esteem. This can happen in much the same way as when you found success in running your first 5K or your first marathon.

So how do you get there?

Come race morning, I somehow managed to put on the wetsuit backwards - until somebody somehow kept a straight face and corrected me. Then upon successfully exiting the water after a slow, nerve wracking swim, I got on that very heavy mountain bike. Finally, after finishing the bike course, I breathed a huge sigh of relief and got on with what I (and quite possibly you) do best - running!

The training involved for your first triathlon does not need to be so much a matter of a time investment, as it does in setting a meaningful goal and a quality objective. I submit the following principles that I would implement in my workouts.

Work your limiters:

Swimming:

Start with 2-3 sessions a week based on your skills, with the emphasis being on time spent in the water as opposed to distance. Drills using pull buoys, hand paddles, flippers and kickboards are important and should be utilized with at least one of your weekly workouts.

Focus should also be on getting comfortable with learning how to pull in air while turning your head to breathe, and setting a comfortable fluid rhythm in the water.

In the beginning, it’s really more about getting acclimated and adapting to aquatic endurance - which can take longer than running endurance, especially for the novice triathlete.

Cycling:

Other primary objectives include building power by learning how to spin, or using a faster cadence, going up inclines in lighter gearing. Work with short intervals of 4-5 minutes on flatter sections of roads, and target one day per week to adjust to longer rides. As with swimming (especially if you are new to cycling), the priority is spending time in the saddle and on your bike.

I’ve also found that indoor spin classes can serve two great objectives as it relates to outdoor cycling. Spinning is a great way to get your legs and respiratory system adapted to outside rides by using the progressive resistance the flywheel offers, and if you are new to using “clipless” pedals (vs. straps), then using the spin bike to practice clipping in and out of your pedal can be helpful to in improving your transitions on and off your bike in outdoor rides.

Running:

Running is where you are most likely mentally tough and where you bring your best game and greatest degree of confidence. Your running skills can best be integrated in triathlon by working with a triathlete’s most standard transitional workout - the BRiX workout. These workouts involve 2 disciplines, usually bike and run.

In a typical BRiX, a bike workout would be immediately followed by a run. The benefits of these workouts include greater neural adaptation and greater endurance and focus, but the primary goal is to train your mind and body to run efficiently with both rhythm and power coming off the bike in the same way you want to feel and perform on race day. You are going to want to know how your body and mind will respond to switching or quickly “transitioning” from the non weight bearing aspect of cycling to the weight bearing dynamic of running, from swimming to cycling and from cycling to running. Try to incorporate one BRiX workout per week into your base building training over several weeks before either increasing the duration of the workout or adding a second.

So how do you know when you are there?

A future article will deal with a beginner training program – its sequence and progression. But to sum up this introduction, I would suggest that as runners interested in doing your first triathlon, you should select an event that won’t cut into your possible marathon training too deeply. Rather, I suggest you cut back your running mileage slightly to train for a Sprint or Olympic distance event that would allow for 2-3 days of training in the pool and 2-3 days on the bike in addition to your running on the roads or trails.

And for those runners who have a reasonable base in that discipline, selecting a Sprint event (that involves a quarter to a half mile swim, an 11-16 mile bike and a 5K- 5 mile run) and committing to a 4-5 day cross training schedule over 8-10 weeks, should be sufficient.

I wish you good luck as we approach a fresh new season here in the northeast. The potential and possibilities are enormous and we eagerly move our training outside full time after enduring a cold, snowy winter.

Lastly, as you begin a more serious training program, please try to remember

The ABCs of Triathlon:

Attitude

Belief

Confidence

Scott Cohen is the founder and director of the NYRR BRiX classes, the coach for both the Run for a Dream/Lend a Hand India charity program and the SLE Lupus Foundation triathlon Team Life Without Lupus for the Nautica NYC Triathlon in July.

Resources Here are some resources on good informative sites, local triathlon clubs and some first time racing choices. Triathlon websites Beginner Triathlete Slow Twitch I Am Tri Ironman First time triathlon choices Central Park Triathlon Event Power Beginner Triathlete NJ Races Lin-Mark Sports NY Series Some popular local races Central Park Triathlon Westchester Triathlon March Madness Triathlon Brooklyn Biathlon Long Island Gold Coast Triathlon Local triathlon/cycling/swim clubs New York Cycle Club Asphalt Green Terrier Tri SBR Shop Flyer Triathletes These Flyers have done local races in the past year (partial list): Jeanine Hartnett, Julie Cook, Heather Marcellis, Stephenie Trepess, Laurie Harris, Robert Cowin, Noel Cueto, Mark Brown, Robert Leyendecker, Yan Perepletchikov, John Towsen, Neal Levy, Neil Cook, Ed O'donnell, Tony Squire, Victoria Tiase, Kathy Soohoo, Ray Sales, Sigfredo Torres, Sherri Weinstein, Patrick Duffy, Richard Brounstein, Kenneth Hill, Deb Meyer, Anne Halpern and Robert Butler. And Lastly, the Flyers Multi-sport Forum Flyer Forum