What makes us love Triathlon?

What makes us love Triathlon?

by Emma Carney (AUS) -
Number of replies: 0

Dear Athletes,

As it is towards the end of the year, I thought today I would take a look at what makes being a triathlete so special - why do we swim, bike and run?

Between seasons, when training takes a slight back seat and races are not in the near future, we can reflect and truly appreciate what being a triathlete is. We all know it is not always fun and games.

I think you know you are a triathlete when you find yourself doing most of the following –

  • You have trouble spending money to buy a new tyre for your car, but you have no problem with paying twice as much for a tyre on your bike.
  • You often struggle to walk downstairs normally, because your quads are so tired from training so you have to walk down backwards.
  • You go to bed earlier than most young children in your street, because you are so cooked from training.
  • You do more km’s on your bike than in your car.
  • You never stay in a hotel that doesn’t have a pool.
  • Where you live you have an ‘official’ 5km, 10km and 15km running loop which you consider to be official run courses.
  • You have 3 showers a day and do 4 loads of washing because of all the training sessions.

I could go on forever…..!

Despite our odd habits, Triathletes are highly respected. We are perfectionists who seek the best of our equipment, ourselves and our training techniques – after all it is very difficult to excel in three disciplines of swim, bike and run…

I think what really attracts us to the sport of triathlon is not just what we can get out of it. There are great things in our sport that are greater than us.

Some of these include –

  • Triathlon, under the guidance of World Triathlon has always maintained equality for athletes – men and women. Our sport has never allowed much of the inequalities that have remained in other sports. This is something to be proud of.
  • Triathlon is a sport which can take you to the Olympic Games, and can allow you to race against the best most of the year.
  • Triathlon is a sport that provides you with perhaps the healthiest lifestyle in the world given our commitment to exercise.

But, given all the positives we get out of triathlon, probably the most asked question is ‘how can I go faster’…

I thought I would provide some foolproof rules for going faster –

  • Pay attention to your nutrition and learn how to read food labels.
  • Going out and socialising, having late nights...etc with your mates should be a ‘sometimes activity’ not a ‘weekly activity’ if you truly want to be the world’s best triathlete.
  • One hundred years from now, who is going to remember you didn’t train consistently through the Covid-19 Pandemic.
  • Drink water until you pee clear twice a week.
  • Everything in moderation except for your diligence to doing everything in moderation.
  • Interval sessions are important and pushing your body to its limits, but so too are sleeping habits and recovery sessions.
  • Training every day is a good habit, tripling this does not make it three times better for you.
  • Don’t believe every professional training video – most of it is embellished storytelling.
  • Believe in yourself.
  • Surround yourself with positive people.
  • Put everything you have into this great sport to see how far you can get, you will probably surprise yourself.

I hope this email has reinforced what a great sport you are a part of. You will probably notice that if anyone asks what you do and you replay with ‘I race triathlons’ they will most likely say they wished they did the same.

Enjoy the journey, because it will be extraordinary!

Emma