When I thought about doing my first triathlon, many thoughts went through my head. Most were things like – will i make it around the course? Am I going to be last? Am I going to be so far at the back that they will be packing up the course waiting for me to finish? This led me to thinking I should train to be fast, so I don’t come last! While that is not a bad idea when you are doing a tinman event it is probably not the best place to start when you have never done a triathlon before!
I also made the mistake of comparing my training schedule to that of Andrew’s at the time. I was doing 30 minute runs and he was doing 2 hour runs, which led me to think I was never doing enough! Of course I was wrong but it is a common thing when starting out to compare yourself to the more experienced triathletes.
So how should beginners train for their first triathlon? How much endurance do they need to develop for their first race? How much speed do they need? How do you get the balance right?
Good luck to anyone thinking about completing their first race this season.
