The first leg of every triathlon is going to be the wettest, but it really also should be the most relaxed and the most enjoyable leg of the race. If you experience a good swim, then the rest of your race is going to be good as well regardless of your ability. Some triathlons are short while others are long, but any way you look at it, you are going to have to do some swimming. The swimming aspect of your triathlon needs to feel like you put forth a good effort, but it should also be relatively relaxed, and you should be moving through the water while expending as little energy as possible. The swim needs to be fast, but you should not overwhelm yourself because you still have two more legs to get through, and they tend to be significantly more complicated.
Swimming efficiently as well as swimming within your own personal limits is going to allow you to accomplish all of the goals mentioned above and more. You need to be able to design a personal training plan for your triathlon swimming that is going to allow you to complete between three and four swimming workouts every single week. Here are some things that you should consider when putting such a training plan together:
- Your workout should always have a warm up period and a cool down period.
- Your workout should always include some technique work for swimming.
- One or two of your workouts should offer primarily easy requirements for swimming with low rest, base endurance at approximately 60 % to 70 % of your max heart rate.
- One workout per week needs to include a sustained swim at a fast-as-you-can-go pace for the entire length of the swim.
- One workout should include shorter, faster work but it should offer more rest in between repeats.
- You should do plenty of open water sessions, as often as you can, so that you can practice your techniques with navigation.
- You should determine whether or not kicking technique will be necessary. If you are going to be swimming using a wet suit, then you are not going to need kicking very much if at all.
- Even if you do not plan on using a wet suit for your swim, some of your swims should be done with a wet suit for practice, just in case you end up changing your mind and using a wetsuit after all.
Make sure to change up your workouts as much as you can, because the more practice that you get, the better prepared you will be to handle anything that happens during the swimming portion of the triathlon. Keep this in mind when you are practicing, and spend at least several weeks before the triathlon event practicing your swimming for the best possible results.
Photo Credits: regeniabrabham
Originally posted 2009-08-04 05:52:21. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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Here are some tips for any triathlete when it comes to training and then racing in the swimming leg for any triathlon competition. The first leg for any triathlon is going to be the wettest one, and yet it should be the one that is the most relaxed and the most enjoyable as well. The swim does not have to be the hardest portion of this event, and yet it is critical that you perform well in order to correctly set yourself up for a productive bike and run.
