Kelly the Culinarian: Training Tuesday: Triathlon Training is On

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Training Tuesday: Triathlon Training is On

Now that I'm 54 days away from my first triathlon (insert freak out here), I am officially in training. I love training plans and having something concrete to do each day. It's empowering to know if I follow the plan and give it 100 percent every day, I'll have all the tools I need to finish the race strong.

The Hal Higdon half marathon plan worked out really well for my first half marathon last fall, so I'm following his novice 2 triathlon training plan, which technically kicked off yesterday. I went for a swim instead of strength, but I'll be following his general guides for training during the next few weeks to get ready for the Niles Tower Tri.

I'm really excited about my first triathlon, mostly because this is a step towards my ultimate goal of becoming an Ironman. I feel like after my lesson yesterday, I have a better understanding of the swim, but it is my weakest sport. Putting it all together will be tough, but I'm looking forward to a new challenge and quality cross training.

My next question is what to wear for a sprint triathlon. Should I get a tri suit or separate tri shorts and a tri top? It actually works out cheaper to get the one piece, but I'm not sure of the brands (Garneau for the one-piece, Orca for the two pieces) and such. Any advice, Internet strangers?

4 comments:

Amanda - TooTallFritz said...

So exciting! You will do great! And as we have already discussed. I personally go with the seperates vs the one piece suit but that has to do with my height as much as anything else.

Erin said...

Wow, I didn't realize Hal Higdon had triathlon training plans! Pretty cool.

And I'm looking forward to reading about your training. Even if I don't get to do a tri this year I definitely want to do one in the future.

Rhona said...

One piece suit versus two piece, is really a matter of personal preference. If you are going to be racing in hot conditions, a 2 piece suit could be good as it would help with cooling – you would have more surface area of skin showing to help lose heat. However two piece tri suits are not as fast in water as a one piece.

A one piece is faster in the water and if the weather is cooler, it will keep you warm!

There's loads of brands out there - again personal preference, and cost. Also they all fit slightly differently, and having a good fit to make the suit fast in the water is important, so make sure you try on suits before buying!

Good luck and enjoy the training!

KellytheCulinarian said...

Thanks for all the info, Rhona!