During my days of high school athletics, my coaches—field-hockey, basketball, softball, track and field—always encouraged our team to watch more experienced athletes play our sport. Whether it was going to a Syracuse University women’s basketball game or viewing the WNBA finals on TV, we could learn a lot about the game by studying what others do. I’ve always been a sports junkie—most likely the cause of my unrelenting Olympic fever—so it wasn’t too out of character when I watched both the women’s and men’s Olympic triathlons live. (Why yes, I did wake up at 4 a.m. and 6 a.m. to see both in real-time.) By observing the pros and listening to the NBC commentators, I learned a lot about the swim-bike-run endurance test. A lot of these takeaways are little things that might seem like no-brainers to veterans, but it’s good to review the basics.
Swim
1. If at all possible, draft off other swimmers. Staying in their wake serves two purposes: First, you don’t have to exert as much energy because you experience less drag and coast in their wake; two, if you’re following another swimmer, you don’t need to sight—you just follow them and the bubbles they make—which helps you conserve energy.
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2. Roll onto your back when circling buoys. Switching to the backstroke gives you a quick breather, and it also lets you survey the field; you can easily see your lead and how many triathletes remain behind you. Based on this information, you can adjust your pace.
3. As you near the swim exit, begin to kick harder. This breaks up lactic acid and preps your legs for the jog to transition.
Transitions
4. It’s important to spend as little time in transition as possible, but don’t sacrifice efficiency for quickness. During the men’s triathlon, Great Britain’s Jonathan Brownlee was slammed with a 15 second penalty for an illegal transition. Sure, he went on to take the bronze medal, but he might’ve had a shot at first or second place if he waited to mount his bike. Likewise, Team USA’s Hunter Kemper had a good swim and bike, but he stumbled through T2, which he said affected his run.
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Bike
5. Although we non-Olympians aren’t allowed to draft while riding, you do want to stay close to other cyclists. Having another rider nearby helps in terms of pacing; at the very least, you can play a continuous cat-and-mouse game where you take turns passing one another.
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6. If it’s raining, avoid the painted lines on roads. There were a ton of crashes during the women’s triathlon, most of which occurred because of slippery road conditions.
7. Make sure you hydrate and take nutrition (if necessary). Not only is it easier to do so on the bike, but it also gives your body time to absorb the calories, so they’ll kick in during the run.
8. If you’re pacing off other cyclists, make your final move to the front as you near transition. This ensures you’ll have a clear path to your area and won’t have to maneuver around others. Also, increase your cadence, which gets your legs ready to run. If you can, stretch out a bit, too.
Run
9. Just like drafting while swimming, try running with a pack. Maintaining contact with other triathletes will make this final leg easier; the last thing you want to do is complete the run in “no-man’s” land.
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10. Keep your composure. Loops/out-and-back runs constitute most courses, which gives you an opportunity to see the competition. Look at it this way: If you maintain a straight face, other triathletes can’t guess your emotions or assess your pain threshold. However, if a competitor sees you grimacing, they’ll know you’re on the ropes and might surge to catch you; likewise, if you see someone who’s looking worn out, you should push yourself to pass them.
11. Leave it all on the course. Nicola Spirig of Switzerland and Lisa Norden of Sweden sprinted to the end in a dramatic photo finish.
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What have you learned from watching triathletes compete?
This is a really great post! Thank you for sharing.
I really admire this kind of athletes..very flexible enough! Great post.. I enjoyed reading it.
love this post! i truly look up to every single one of them!Do you mind checking out my website, its extremely new and your feedback would mean the world to me
Thanks!!
Great Article! Truly Inspirational!
It is always pleasure to read a fantastic post about any Olympic event.Regards
Although I admit I’m not too athletic, I admire people who are. I learned a lot from your post, and I found it well written and interesting. Congrats on being Freshly Pressed!
lol…i learnt I probably need to work out more…the things our bodies are capable of..wowza! great post
Love this post, really its my pleasure to read such awesome post about Olympic. Thanks for sharing and congrats on being Freshly Pressed!
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Love this! Triathlons is one the best event to watch in Olympic. Great info.
Great post! Congratulations on being Freshly Pressed! My son is a tri-athelete and will appreciate this.
I’m glad you enjoyed it! I’m actually completing my first triathlon tomorrow–we’ll see how well I can apply these lessons from the pros.
Good for you! I hope you are successful. It is a lot of work.
Thanks for this post and do well in the triathlon tomorrow
Each time I watch the Olympics, I always learn something NEW! Such as your point #1! But I didn’t know about #6 – the painted lines are more slippery than the road?
Man, I have a whole new appreciation for triathletes. I certainly learned a lot. Thank you for educating me
Reblogged this on Petrichor and commented:
Interseting post
Thanks for the reblog!
You’re welcome!
thank you
I have done sprint triathlons and it was quite rigorous training for a mere amateur. I never was able to be in the draft of other swimmers. They kicked so bad that I felt like I was drowning. I do agree about the backstroke to break it up and re-evaluate the swimming course. All I remember from the transition part of each leg was that you had to cross the timing pad in and out? What was the fault on the other Brownlee twin who got the bronze?
Nice post and congrats on FP
You’re right–the training is tough, but I had a lot of fun. I never became bored with my workouts because there are three disciplines, which creates variety. I believe Jonathan Brownlee received a penalty because he mounted his bike too early.
Thanks for the tips. My husband is competing in his first half Ironman in October and full Ironman next July, so I’ll be sharing your post with him. The tips about the swim will certainly help him as that’s his weakest of the 3 events.
Wow, that’s incredible! I volunteered at the Syracuse Ironman 70.3, and those triathletes epitomized inspiration. (I actually wrote two posts about my experience; I had a lot to say!) The swim is my “Achilles’ heel,” too, and a lot of triathletes I know say it’s their weakest event.
Great read. I did some smaller tri-training a few years ago, and this was insightful, and true!
I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Great info. Triathlon is such a test of endurance, skill and mental ability. I didn’t know about flipping over to your back when swimming around buoys,
but now it makes sense.
Cheers,
iRuinBreathe
We really can learn. You just find out the great thing that we know but can’t realize before..
As someone who is just starting to train to do a sprint tri next year, I find this info really helpful, and am bookmarking this post to refer to in future! Thank you!
I’m glad you found it helpful, Meg. I’m actually doing my first sprint tri tomorrow, so it will be interesting to see how much of this info I can apply. Good luck with your training–I can’t wait to read all about it!
I don’t normally like sport but I’m loving the Olympics and found your post really interesting. Thought you might like to know that on UK news it said that one of the Brownlee bros trained during injury by having a special treadmill fitted into the bottom of a hot tub pool! Clever.
I heard the Brownlee brothers trained in all kinds of weather (rain, wind, etc.), but I didn’t hear about the treadmill–that’s pretty neat! Thanks for sharing!
One thing to keep in mind is not to do Everything the Olympians, Pros, and Elite Athletes do! They have been training and competing for years and if you are new to a sport trying to follow their training/racing programs can lead to overuse injuries and other problems. So while watching the top athletes is inspiring you should not try to emulate everything they do! Experience is a great teacher! Get out and do it and have fun! The old saying is “Start low and go slow”. You will gradually improve!
Of course–observe and apply what you can. For me, I know I’m not ready to let go of both handlebars and stretch out while biking; maybe in the future, but not today. The Olympic triathletes set good examples of dedication, technique, and hard work–they’re very inspiring.
It’s been an exciting week watching the olympians….ALL of them. I find myself cheering for athletes from many different countries. What have I learned? That to succeed you have to WORK HARD for it….and NEVER give up. So many of them that didn’t medal spoke about trying again and being in Rio in 2016. They inspire me to fight for my goals…and fight I will…because I’m choosing to LIVE. Congrats on your pressing…ha ha.
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Great post!! Never done a triathlon, but definitely on my bucket list
It’s SO much fun–you will love it!
Nice post. I am a sports/Olympics junkie as well…taped both triathlons and marathons to see ALL of them not just USA:) I am a tri/du dabbler and picked up tips watching too. I like your tip on the painted lines…watching all the crashes was just heartbreaking to me…after all the training and hopes that go into competing in the Olympics!!
The crashes make me so nervous! Even though she didn’t crash, I felt really bad for Gwen Jorgensen; she encountered some mechanical problems on the bike, and just like that, she was out of a medal.
There is very little to be learned from triathletes when it comes to cycling. As noted in the transition, no one should be in that big a hurry to jump on a bike (unless remounting during a cyclocross race), and you should definitely not have your shoes already attached to your pedals. And wear socks and learn some bike handling as evidenced by the crashes on painted lines and speed bumps. Nice insight otherwise.
Interesting perspective. Most of the pros I’ve watched–both during the Olympics and at the Syracuse Ironman 70.3–use tri shoes (instead of normal cycling shoes) on the bike, and the footwear is always attached to the pedals.
Apologies, I was a little off base with my comment. You are correct in triathlons it is advantageous to pre-attach your shoes to pedals as long as you are proficient in mounting the bike and slipping into your shoes efficiently.I have seen numerous athletes struggle with mounting the bike and veering all over the road or struggle slipping into shoes while on the road, even at the world class level. It was heartbreaking to see Simon Whitfield take a fall during the Olympic race while dealing with his feet out of the pedals. I question whether the time saving is worth it and when it comes to cycling as a discipline, triathletes are not the model riders to be watching.
this was a cool read, but unfortunately i’m not that intense! not an athlete, i just like the olympics.
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