3 Things: About Triathlon - Part 1

Welcome to "3 Things"

This recurring feature is intended to be fun but also informational, observational, in jest, and at times, maybe a plug for products we like. We hope you will enjoy our regular musings.

Today, it will be:

3 Things About Triathlon - Part 1

One --> Consistency is key. Yes, not exactly new, and you've likely heard and read it all before. Why? Achieve this in your training and overall habits and you will set the table for success. Doing 20 minutes of a scheduled 1 hour workout is better than nothing (provided you are healthy of course). And taking care of your body (nutrition, sleep, recovery, muscle maintenance) will allow you to stay healthy and not miss multiple training sessions due to injury or illness.

Two --> Take Your Rest Days and Enjoy Them. Intentionally piggybacking on the first point, you can fall into the trap of training every day in order to maintain that "consistency" and a lot of the smartwatches today promote completing at daily activity so that you can close your rings or earn whatever badges/achievements. But going down that road could lead you into trouble when you have a demanding training schedule. Rest days are needed to absorb your training or to simply have a mental reset. Plus, it‘s an opportunity to spend with your loved ones, who you are likely stealing time from to do your training. On days where you have a scheduled workouts but you feel overly tired or can feel an illness coming on, take a day off and rest. If the guilt of taking a rest day will eat at you, you can always go for a walk in a local park, or try a gentle stretch/yoga session.

Three --> Race Local and A Variety of Distances. No doubt that traveling to races in cool and exotic places is exciting, but when you can and as often as you can, support your local races. Your local race crew is not printing money, so every race entry is important to their survival. This is especially the case now during these Covid times. The existence of a robust local racing scene helps grow our sport, and provides us with a welcome summertime playground. A sprint race can be every bit as challenging as a longer one. Get in there, mix it up and reap the benefits of being a well rounded triathlete. For those training or an Ironman or 70.3 race, a Sprint or Olympic distance race can supplement that training nicely. And heck, it's just fun. We can't have enough of that.

Thanks for reading. Catch you soon for the next 3 Things.