Having a dream to do an Ironman or other long course triathlon is something that many of us have. This guide – written by @irontwiglet - is to help you turn that dream in to reality. There are lots of ways that you can spend you money in triathlon trying to go faster.

The Novice Triathlete’s Guide to Long Course Triathlon tells you bluntly that your body is your greatest weapon and that by focusing on it you will achieve that dream, faster, wiser and if not with a full wallet at least with one that still has some space on the credit card to treat the family and say thank you.

The Novice Triathlete’s Guide to Long Course Triathlon

Finishing is Always Amazing http://www.kevin-everett.com

You can see the finishing chute and the timing gantry ticking away those last few seconds, through sweat laden eyes, 70.3 or 140.6 miles after crossing the start line. You have achieved what you set out to do. But you’ll be asking yourself

“Could I have done it better?”

“What if…?”

Probably for days or weeks afterwards. This guide should help you to negate most of the ‘What if?’ scenarios and giving you the best possible chance of fulfilling your potential as a novice long course triathlete without giving up your job and family life and paying for a professional coach.

I decided to put into words the way that I became a long course triathlete. I can guide you through the myriad of back lanes, away from the techno babble City of Deep Section Carbon and get you onto the main trunk road to becoming an Ironman. Some of the mistakes I’ve made and most of them I’ve seen others make. I have always looked at things logically and calculated what I need to do to achieve my goal.

My approach into long course triathlon came from two seasons of short course racing where the race frequency was hectic to say the least. Never really being able to focus on training, because racing got in the way! This method has given me 6 Half Ironman finishes culminating in a Ford Ironman 70.3 World Championship slot in 2008 and the ITU Long Course AG World Championships in 2009 and 3 full Ironman finishes over 3 seasons.

With an Ironman personal best of 10hr 32m, with all 3 Ironman marathons around the 3hr:40m mark. As you can see I haven’t raced heavily in long course triathlon, that is one of the key factors which has allowed me to get consistently good results without burn out and injury.

This is a Good Starting Point

The Novice Triathlete’s Guide to Long Course Triathlon‘s objective is to give you an insight in to what it takes to complete a long course triathlon as a novice and enjoy it. It’s not an exhaustive reference of training sessions and prescribed heart rates but it should let you, if you wish to do so, build your own plan that you can use and adapt as you progress. Training doesn’t have to be rocket science.

It’s nice to have spangling new gear but don’t get over fussed with technology, some feedback and training logs can help but its basically something we do for fun and should remain so by keeping things simple. A good reliable time trial (TT) bike will help, but punctures can be repaired and running shoes are relatively inexpensive, you need to focus on your engine. Try to make your body and your equipment as efficient and reliable as aerospace technology.

The reason I use the term long course is because there isn’t a lot of difference between Half Ironman races and the full Ironman. That sounds crazy, as its twice the distance but trust me every time we step up the distance you just have to increase the volume of training and lower your intensity levels. It’s a balance between these two things; the frequency of the sessions should be the same.

You’ll need to be committed, flexible and mentally strong to get you through some tough experiences throughout your training. It’s not easy, but like most things in life the best things are worth the hard work. Talk to your family about your goals, ask for their support and make time to support them when you can. Your time will be at a premium.

The training is not to be taken lightly, as a novice you’ll get round any short course triathlon or even a stand alone marathon, but you’ll never blag it through an Ironman, you will be found out if you haven’t trained sufficiently or correctly. It will hurt, even if you succeed but you may not succeed at all without proper preparation.

You’ll Grow Your Mental Strength

Mental strength is everything in Ironman you will with no doubt question your physical ability, which is controlled by your bodies own safety valves. You will need to push through these boundaries and recognise when to hold back. We all have limitations of our physical ability dependant on age, gender and past sporting experience but we all have the potential mental strength in equal quantities. My opinion is that we can only improve our sporting performances by 15% physical adaptation but 85% through mental strength.

You’ve probably done some Sprint and Olympic distance races already. So you’re aware of the basics of triathlon. Before you start specific long course training you do need to have a good base fitness otherwise your body will hold you back and the probability of injury will increase. Six months of preparation is plenty for your first Half Ironman race, but you can do longer builds but the chance of burning out mentally and physically also increase. Ironman can be done with the same build period but I’d recommend a half distance first , it’s a great way to learn and hone in on your race skills, without risking a very long and painful day out if you’ve got it wrong.

There are many different opinions on long course triathlon training and this is mine, it may not be right for everyone but it works for me and you have to start somewhere, so give it a go. But this article comes with a guarantee, that you will make your first (or next) long-distance triathlon a momentous success, if you plan correctly, trust your training and believe in your own ability.

Check out this guide to mental strength

Chapters in the The Novice’s Guide to Long Course Triathlon

1. Goal setting

2. Preparation

3. The basic training week

4. Progression

5. Swim

6. Bike

7. Run

8. Transitions

9. Nutrition

11. Race specificity

12. Tapering

13. Race strategy

14. Injury

15. Top tips

1. Goal Setting

You need to have an objective for your race, even if it’s just to complete the event. Be honest about your goals and use shorter distance races to gauge your ability to achieve your goal. Times aren’t everything and courses will have differing profiles and obstacles that will effect your times. I’ve done Half Ironman races that vary from between 4:30hr and 5:30hrs and the latter was my best ever performance, qualifying for The Ford Ironman 70.3 AG World Championships.

Decide upon the race you want to do and adapt your training and goals to that course. For example, if it hilly ride plan some hilly rides, if it’s a sea swim plan a trip to the seaside and try it out (it’s a completely different experience to lake swimming) etc. Don’t expect to achieve a personal best on a tough course, adjust your goal finishing times. There are no ‘easy’ courses, but there are tough ones, so find out about how tough the course is, you can normally tell from the winning time if it’s a toughie or not.

Read this post on Goal Setting

2. Preparation

Sit down and prepare your training in advance rather than of just going into it on a random basis.

Work out the maximum amount of hours that you can commit to. This is going to be your maximum volume week of which there will probably be only three. You can then work backwards from about 3-4 weeks from your race date (this will allow for a taper period) and steadily reduce the volume to the beginning of your training. Again be realistic about these figures. Consistency is the key to progressive training, over estimate the hours and you’ll be 2 steps back 1 step forward throughout your training build and will seriously cut down the amount of quality training you do. Going into a race a few % under prepared is much better than going in over trained.

Plan how you’re going to log and assess your training. Find an online training log or software package that you can understand. Simplicity is the key here; too complex and you’ll fry your brains trying to work it out. Stick to this log all the way through your training and assessment will be easily readable. Simple bar graphs of time and mileage in each discipline can tell you a lot about your training.

The science and technology in triathlon is mesmerising, don’t get bogged down by it, it can lead technical frustration. Enjoy your training. Gadgets will be everywhere, some may have a use such as aero helmets and some will be just massaging your wallets! I’m ‘Old Skool’ and I concentrate on the simplicity of HR (heart rates) and perceived effort. Having a ‘feel’ for how hard you’re working is priceless.

You need to read about the race you have entered. Find out as much as you can and ask triathlete friends who may have already done it for tips. Get a plan, stick to it, get fit, get efficient and above all enjoy the training.

 3. The Basic Training Week

The first month is the time to trial and work out your routine. Keep the sessions light, use it for conditioning your body ready for the harder work that will follow. You want three sessions for each discipline and you can add a strength session in once a week in the early weeks of your plan to help general conditioning. Gym sessions or core stability sessions such as Yoga or Pilates are excellent conditioners. So that adds up to 10 sessions a week. This is the optimum requirement but missing the odd session due to time restraints will not undo your fitness, you’ll just progress a little slower. Never try to catch up on a missed session, leave it and move on. Of the 3 sessions in a discipline focus should be on different aspects of fitness i.e. 1 easy/recovery, 1 steady/tempo or form skills and 1 endurance workout. Try and work out a timetable that leaves an easy/recovery session the day after a hard work out. For example:-

Where you have easy sessions you can always take this as a rest day as the training progresses if you feel fatigued. Also as the training progresses, add the easy run on to the end of the bike endurance session as a ‘brick session’. Keep the easy sessions the same volume for the duration of your plan add a little diversity and a touch of intensity to your tempo and turbo sessions. Gradually build up your endurance sessions by small increments each week, be in no hurry to get the full distances. You may want to add some short course races in the later months of the plan, it isn’t essential but it can help remind you race specific rituals, just don’t go too hard.

 4. Progression

Your training should progress from a base level that you are completely comfortable with after your trial month of the plan. The basic principles of training are simple. We overload our systems and our bodies repair and come back stronger. The rate that we can progress our bodies improvements varies greatly dependant on gender, age and sporting back ground. But the general rule is that we can progressively overload our training by no more than 10% in volume OR 10% in intensity per week without risking breakdown and injury, even then we need to allow a recovery period to allow the body to overcompensate for the overloading we put our bodies through.

On a day to day basis we need to allow a short recovery between each session unless it’s a specific brick session. This may be just a good night’s sleep and an easy day to follow. On a monthly basis we need to allow an easy week where we drop volume and a little intensity to allow for full over compensation to the loading. So 3 weeks on and 1 week easy is the general rule. As we get older we may need to allow a 2 to 1week recovery ratio. This will slow the progression down, but avoid injury and allow us to train consistently.

Keep a training log, this will help you plan and scrutinise your progress. Use a heart rate monitor if you like but learn how to use it properly.

Get your basic stroke assessed via http://swimmingandmore.blogspot.com

5. Swim Training

Unless you’re already an accomplished swimmer I recommend that you get swim coaching to get your basic stroke assessed and appropriate drill work to help correct any errors.

The pace you need to be racing at is going to feel comfortable hopefully, so to get a feel of what your goal pace should be , swim 400m at what feels comfortable and multiply it by 4.75 this should give your goal pace at that current time i.e. 400m in 7mins would give you a goal 1.9km of 33.15s. As you progress this may get slightly quicker so I would reassess this on a monthly basis, but remember its not a 400m time trial its what is ‘comfortable‘.

Early in the training I would limit your swim session to 30mins so that you focus on the technique and don’t swim with bad form because you’re tired. For the endurance session, once you can hold good form for the whole session you can build it up slowly to 60 minutes. For full Ironman endurance swims, you will need to stretch the session up to 90 minutes. The easy swim can be what ever you like, just use it as a recovery after the bike or run endurance session. A club session is ideal to use as your skill/form session.

Cycling fitness is the basis of your race http://www.outsideonline.com

6. Bike Training

Cycling fitness is the basis of your race, but the idea is to use your bike fitness to allow you to go slightly slower than your threshold pace which in turn allows you to run better off the bike. Many triathletes hit the bike hard and then really struggle on the run, this is the biggest and most repeated error made by long course triathletes. A slightly below par bike leg will NOT overly effect your overall race time by much, but if you walk too much in the run leg you WILL hemorrhage time. You may get away with it in short course racing but due to the fatigue you will experience on the run leg of long course it will slow you down to a walk if you over cook the bike leg.

Speed isn’t really the key to long course racing, to be blunt long course racing is actually quite slow for most age group (AG) triathletes and if you average above 20mph for the bike leg as a novice I would be surprised, unless of course you are an exceptional time trial rider. My fastest 112m bike split of 5:19 equates to 21mph which is way below a specialist time trial riders average speed, but that has allowed me to run 3:40 marathons off the bike. So forget about going fast, but concentrate on being efficient. This comes from aerodynamics and endurance rides at your goal pace. If you ride a TT setup you need to ride this once a week, to get used to it, maybe on the turbo sessions if the weather is poor, but as often as possible.

The easy /recovery rides are just leg looseners and can be social or club rides. Just be careful of club sessions as they often end up as being far too fast due to the chest beating males of the species! Training in a pair with similar goals or at least the same race date is ideal for keeping things sensible.

Turbo sessions are great for building up your threshold pace and getting used to aero positions before you go out for the longer endurance rides and when time is at a premium. As I stated earlier I don’t want to get bogged down in prescribing specific sets. You can use almost any type of session which you’ll find in books and on CDs. They all will give you better efficiency in your pedalling techniques. I’m not convinced about spin classes due to the unspecific riding position but they’re probably better than no training.

The duration of the longer endurance rides should start from a point at which you can manage without coming home on your knees! You’ll probably be training the following day. Remember this is a long term training plan. Don’t rush to get to 56m or 112m in your first session. For Half Ironman races its fine to go over distance in training maybe up to 80miles or maybe more for experienced cyclists. You will still gain fitness you can use in your race. But for Ironman I recommend you limit your rides to 112m as a novice and you may only get to this distance once but that’s enough. It’s just a confidence booster to have achieved the distance.

The run is where long course triathlon is won and lost via http://myfitnessdepot.com

7. Run Training

The run leg of long course triathlon is where races are won and lost. It’s the same for AG athletes. Completing the run leg with the minimum or no walking has to be the key to a good time and an enjoyable race. Get it wrong, and it is seriously going to hurt.

Running is also where you stand the highest risk of getting injured. Always err on the side of caution in your run training. Again the run isn’t going to be fast so don’t train fast. A 3:40 marathon/1:50 half marathon is still only 8:20minute per mile. That’s SLOW by marathoners’ standards. As a novice sub 4 hr marathons off the bike are unlikely and that’s over 9 minutes per mile. Concentrating on steady efficient running will greatly reduce your risk of injury. Build the endurance run up from your longest run in your current fitness regime. Progress to 13m for a half ironman but only 18m or 2hr 30 for full Ironman which ever comes soonest.

I have included threshold runs during the training week. These are runs that are slightly uncomfortable in intensity but not fast all out runs, be careful with these sessions .They will increase your run efficiency only if you can handle them without getting injured . Only do them if you have the mileage in your legs from previous seasons, just run them steady if you’re unsure. You could use a walk/ run strategy , this can be very efficient but you may end up doing run /walk in your race anyway on run only training when the going gets tough , if you train on a run/walk strategy and things get tough you’ve only got walk left ! Your easy/recovery runs can be a slow jog.

Triathletes often ask the question ‘should I run a marathon before Ironman?’ The general consensus says no, due to the risk of injury. Personally I have run a half marathon and a full marathon and a half Ironman in the spring build up before all 3 Ironman races I’ve done, admittedly the first one did cause me an injury, but once cleared up I ran my fastest Ironman run leg in 3:38. Maybe I was just lucky, and the consensus is right unless you again have good mileage in your legs. It’s the risk to reward ratio. I’d advise not to go to full marathon distance but a half marathon around goal pace is fine for most long course race build ups for novices.

Slow and Smooth through Transition is Fast and Stressless via http://www.mensfitness.co.uk

8. Transitions

The mechanics of a long course triathlon transitions can be exactly the same as short course transitions, but in Ironman branded races there is a different set up and it varies from race to race. I’ll go through the Ironman based race then advise on what to do in the transitions whichever type of set up it is. They reason for going into this is that it came as a bit of a shock on my first Ironman and it made logistics very important. Something I hadn’t prepared for!

In Ironman you’ll normally get 3 bags to put all your transition gear in. They will be labelled Street Wear, Bike and Run. When you register you will get your numbers and all the bags and stickers you need and a full set of instructions. READ THEM carefully. But the basics are that you have your all the swim gear you will need from arriving in transition to going to the start of the swim in the Street Wear bag. In the Bike bag you will have EVERYTHING you may need on the bike leg. And the Run bag everything you’ll need for the run leg.

You’ll check in your racing bike and the bike and run bags normally the day before the race. The bike is left on the racks and you hang your bags in a specific place in the changing area which is separate to the racking area. You keep your Street wear/ swim bag with you so you have it for the morning of the race. You will be allowed access to the racking area on race morning to pump up your tyres and add your nutrition to the bike but may not be allowed access to your bike and run bags, so make sure you have everything you need packed in them.

On race morning you’ll go to your bike with your Street wear bag (full of your swim gear), do the bike check, pump up your tyres, put nutrition on bike etc and change into your swim gear and put your clothes into the Street wear bag. This is then dropped at the Street wear bag drop and will be handed to you at the end of your race. Then it’s off to the swim start and the race begins. Have water and maybe a gel in your bag so you can keep hydrated down at the swim start .You’ll then come in from your swim and go to the changing area/tent. Pick up your Bike bag and go to the changing tent. Change into your bike gear, deposit your swim gear bag in the Bike bag and drop into the bag drop on the way out to your bike. Coming in from the bike leg you’ll head straight in to transition where (dependant on the race) your bike will be taken from you and they rack it or you run to your rack and rack it yourself. You then jog to the changing area/tent pick up your Run bag and change into your running gear and put your bike gear into the empty Run bag and drop in the bag drop area on your exit onto the run course. It sounds complicated but if you read your race instructions it will become apparent.

You may just encounter a normal transition where you just have all your kit around you bike in the racking area. Ironman Switzerland uses this type of transition, but Ironman France and Austria use the first method. Just check on your race’s website to see which method they use.

Here’s an example of what you should need in each bag:

Street Wear bag

Goggles

Wet suit

Body lube

Trisuit

Swim hat

Water

Energy gel

Pump

Bike shoes (if not in the Bike bag)

Nutrition for the bike leg (bottles /gels and solids)

Sunscreen

Bike bag

Helmet

Shoes (if not on the bike)

Socks

Number belt

Glasses

Sunscreen

Run bag

Running shoes

Visor or Cap

Sunscreen

There is no need to rush in transition, make sure you have everything you need before you leave transition, it’s a long swim, ride and run so it’s important you are comfortable for the duration of each discipline.

Put sunscreen on before and during the race 10 to 16 hrs of sunlight will frazzle you if you don’t. There are specialist sport sunscreens that will give you maximum protection, check them out. Even the pro’s stop to screen up and wear a visor or cap for protection on the run. I prefer a sweat banded visor, it keeps the salt and sun out of your eyes. But it allows your head to cool.

Fuelling Ironman Racing: Issues Of Nutrition And Pacing via trainstravels.co.uk

9. Nutrition

Nutrition is known as the 4th discipline in Ironman.

You need to eat well during the whole of the training plan. Plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, lots of slow release energy carbohydrates, some quality protein and the weekly treat of course. A few beers or glass of wine and the odd donut won’t hurt, but don’t make it your staple diet. As far as supplements go I personally only use energy gels and drinks everything else come out of the fridge or cooker. I believe that too much processed food and supplements restrict your body’s ability to process the natural rate of nutritional absorption. I also don’t use caffeine other than in a cup or at the end of the race, that way it’s more of a boost than a craving.

Race nutrition is very specific. This is where you need to get it right, you will burn up more calories than your body can store, so you’ll need to take onboard around 250 calories an hour. Even this amount will leave you in a calorie deficit at some point during a full Ironman race. I’m 60kg and 250 calories an hour suits me, find out what you can take on board by trial and error in training.

Everyone is different and you’ll need to try everything in training first. Find a brand of nutrition that you find palatable and make sure you take your own supply to the race unless you happen to be using the official branded nutrition of the event. You need to try it out at your race pace, this is very important, to get your body used to absorbing the calories at race pace. Otherwise you’ll be shocking your system come race day which will lead to a lot of intestinal discomfort.

I’ll give you an example of the race nutrition that works for me and is pretty much text book. This should work for both half and full Ironman races; it’s just the hourly consumption of calories that count.

 Race Week Diet

In the week leading to the race you’ll want to eat well, cut back a little on the protein as this will fill you up and stop you from consuming enough carbohydrates. Don’t go mad but don’t go hungry. Eat some salty snacks to make sure your sodium levels are topped up and hydrate with water or electrolyte drink. Don’t overdo the hydration; I’m sure we’re all aware about the dangers of hypernatraemia. If not read up on it, it can have dire consequences.

I like to eat a BIG meal on the Saturday lunchtime and a snack on the evening before the race, if it’s on a Sunday; this allows time for the stomach to empty sufficiently for the early start on Sunday.

 Pre Race Breakfast

This should be filling but not too stodgy.

Porridge, toast, tea, coffee and orange juice.

2 Powerbar gels.

Pre swim I sip away at water then take another gel 10 minutes before race start.

 Bike Nutrition

Soon after starting the bike leg I’ll sip away at around 400ml of water only that’s in my aero bottle between the tri bars. This is to allow your heart rate and stomach to settle after the swim leg. Now it’s time to start feeding up, ready for the bike and run leg to come.

I prefer Powerbar Energize (whatever you use you need something with electrolytes in it) so I’ll mix up a 500ml bottle (marked in 100ml graduations) at 5 x the recommended strength (10 scoops) which would have been placed in my bottle cage before the swim start and I top up 100ml an hour into my aero bottle and take water from the feed stations to make it up to 500ml (normal strength). This method reduces the weight of fluids you carry on the bike, it always seems crazy to purchase the latest all carbon racing machine and then go and put up to 2kg of water on it when 1kg will do, feed stations come thick and fast so you’re never far from a feed. All this can be done on the move with practice. Try and sip away every 10 minutes and at least 500ml an hour dependant on temperature. At half way in an Ironman bike leg I expect to need a pee, if I don’t pee I know I’m not drinking enough . Your choice whether you stop to pee or not. Me, I stop, honest! It is an automatic disqualification if you get caught peeing on course by the roaming referees. They do provide porta loos which are dotted around the course near the penalty boxes of which you will read about in your race manual. Also at half way I like to treat my self to a Mars bar which is in my bento box (the small pouch attached to the top tube). I also keep a few gels in there to make sure I don’t run out of energy, avoid ‘the bonk’ at all costs. If you take solid foods on the bike you’ll need to stop taking them around an hour before the run, to avoid gastro intestinal discomfort. Take fluids only for the last hour.

 Run Nutrition

This is where it gets difficult. You may struggle to feed properly on the run. Most stomach issues come from racing at too high an intensity which stops your body from being able to absorb your calories properly and you begin to bloat (hence the importance of training and feeding at race pace).

I usually alternate water and energy drink at each feed station for the first half, then I’ll start pecking away at an energy gel if I can stomach it, I may use 2 or 3 gels for the second half. In the very late stages of the run I’ll switch to Coke at every feed station (the simple sugars are easy to digest at this stage and it has a caffeine boost). Walking through the feed stations is a good idea as it resets your neuro muscular system and allows you to feed properly.

This is a good post on Ironman Nutrition from Coach Russ Cox

 11. Race Specificity

It’s important to be specific in your training. Swim as much as you can in open water. Ride your TT bike as much as you can and run at race pace for the majority of your training. Test out your nutrition at race pace. Add some brick sessions during the later stage of your training plan, swim to bike, and bike to run sessions. Maybe do a long weekend of completing the distance in all 3 disciplines with a good few hours between swim and bike and a night’s sleep before the run, all at an easy pace. Doing some long solo sessions will also help you mentally prepare for the race. There maybe around 2,500 competitors in the race but you’ll all be in your own little world at some point in the race.

 12. Tapering

Tapering is when we reduce our training and allow our bodies to suck up the fitness, rest and recover.

The process allows us to go into the race with optimal conditioning, fully recovered from the six months of hard labour.

There aren’t any set rules to tapering; again it’s a very personal thing. Try and remember how you’ve tapered for short course racing and try and adapt this.

I prefer a 3 week taper. I’ll look at my previous weeks training which will have been my maximum volume and cut back volume each week by 60%, 40% and 20% respectively. I do this by cutting bag the length of the sessions and cut a few sessions out all together. I will keep the intensity at race pace or below. Race week will have 3 or 4 days of no training at all to allow for travel and race preparation.

Getting a short swim at the race venue 1 or 2 days before is a bit of a ritual for most Ironman triathletes, a very easy, short bike ride to check the bikes ok and a brief jog at some point. All done by mid morning and then total rest.

Follow Your Plan No Matter How Much it Hurtshttp://www.racelab.com

13. Race Strategy

You need to have a race strategy. You’ve planned and trained hard, don’t go into the race blindly. Be careful of ‘goal creep’ as you near the race. Stick to achievable targets.

Get to the race venue at least an hour and a half before the start; believe me the time will fly by.

Swim conservatively to start with it could be mayhem if it’s a mass start, once you’re in your rhythm get into your comfortable race pace. As you exit the water, think about your transition sequence.

Briefly check you’ve got everything you need before you leave transition. Then remember to ride within yourself for the first quarter of the bike leg, the effort level should feel easy, then as you progress into the bike leg get into the race pace you’ve trained at and stick to it. This is where most long course athletes get it wrong and go out way too fast. People may fly by you, don’t bite. You will see them later in the day, either walking the marathon or on the podium because they really are that good!

On the run you will need to be aware of your fatigue, run steady. If at any point in the first half of the run you feel good then save it for the second half. IT’S ALL ABOUT THE SECOND HALF OF THE RUN. It will get very tough at some point, but keep moving forward, the finish will come eventually.

Physiotherapists and Chiropractors are your Friends. Go and See them!http://nickgrantham.com

14. Injury

If you are lucky you won’t need to read this. But if you do get injured there are some things that you can do to limit your time out of training. If it’s just a niggle then take a few days off training, it may clear up with rest and an ice pack. If it doesn’t or it’s more serious strain then seek professional advice as soon as you can.

If you can’t train through injury put all your focus into recovery rather than just trying to train through it. Or use the down time to read up on the race and do some planning. Keep positive. A few days or even a week off is better than months of under par training. Remember consistency is the key to your progression.

Donate to the British Heart Foundation

 15. Top Tips

1. Talk to your family about your goals. Get their support. If all goes well proceed to Tip No2!

2. Set some rules of life balance with family and work commitments.

3. Set your goal, be realistic.

4. Enter the race on the day registration opens. Some races are very difficult to get in to.

5. Plan, plan and plan some more.

6. Get kitted out with reliable gear; don’t worry if it’s not the latest bit of ‘plastic’.

7. Start training.

8. Reassess regularly. Is it going to plan? Be flexible

9. Be as consistent as you can.

10. Eat quality nutrition.

11. Be specific in your training, anything else is junk miles.

12. Focus on developing weak areas, but don’t neglect your strengths.

13. Listen to your body.

14. Have a race strategy and stick to it as best you can, but be ready for a plan B if necessary.

15. Enjoy the whole experience; you will learn something new about yourself. Guaranteed.

So there you have it everything you need to know whether Long Course Triathlon is for you and how to go about it, without losing your house and family along the way!

Enjoy the experience like thousands of others do.

If you found this guide helpful please spare a moment to contribute to the British Heart Foundation which David supports

Finally a big thanks to Run and Ride Events who sponsor David Hollyoak.