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Welcome to the first ever post ! I thought a brief one regarding a couple of key issues I faced after training programme. Like probably all serious triathletes on this planet, self-trained or not, I purchased Joe Friel’s ‘Triathletes’ Training Bible’ (2nd ed.). It’s a fantastic book and really does give you a solid background with regards to a training background, detailed training plans themselves, techniques for each sport, training session ideas and much more besides. Here are some key points from my own personal experiences which I didn’t find the solution to in the 2nd edition (which may well have been patched up in the 3rd):

NUTRITIONAL DEFICIT: Whilst there is a nutrition chapter, it isn’t obvious the calorie intake you should be matching to your training regime. Thus moving from a few non-organised training hours to a scheduled, full-time 25 hour-per-week training, I had little idea of what to do, simply leading me to chronically under eat. This led me to collapse twice, the second time because I didn’t diagnose the problem first time, putting it down to too little rest. I spent 4 days in bed the second time, and a full week without training properly – not the kind of start I hoped to get off to after just 3 weeks! The solution: I proposed to eat everything that came infront of my nose and more, and haven’t had a problem since! This of course isn’t the long-term solution; as Lance Armstrong says, he literally counted each calorie going in to his body. So I do plan to sit down in the near future with a nutritionist and organise my diet as a professional athlete, but the point is clear… significantly undereating is particularly perjudicial.

SWIMMING TECHNIQUE: The book again covers this briefly, but I feel, given it is the most technical of the 3 sports, it deserves more attention than it’s given by novice triathletes. The best self-coaching literature around is by Terry Laughlin – a series called Total Immersion. I’ll be totally honest; my technique pre this book was unsurpassably awful, but the book ‘triathlon swimming made easy’ has changed that. My balance in the pool is now much better, although still improving, and my economy as such has drastically increased. This is a MUST READ for any swimmer of any ability.

SLEEP DEFICIT: This is a topic briefly covered in the book, and perhaps I didn’t take this to heart as much as I should have, but sleep/rest is quintessential to the recovery process, the part of ‘training’ where you improve. I moved from sleeping 5/6 hours a night whilst working in the city to around 9/10 a night now. Key takeaway: Don’t underestimate the importance of sleep.