1. Put loads of talcum powder in your cycle and running shoes. This will help you to get wet or sweaty feet into your shoes.
2. Use the cuffs of your wetsuit to cover your watch and timing chip. This will help you get off your wetsuit easily.
3. There are many special products on the market to lubricate your wetsuit and to stop chafing. You can use lots of body butter on your skin before you put on your wetsuit. It is very cheap, and it is water based. So, it will not harm your wetsuit. It will help your wetsuit move into the best position for swimming and will make it easier to remove in transition.
4. Tuck your zip cord into your swim hat. This will make it’s very easy to find the cord. Also, it makes it much harder for someone to accidentally pull it down at the start.
5. Get in the water early enough to warm up properly.
6. Don’t be at the very front of the wave before the start. Better to be in the middle where you can catch and draft another competitor for a while and the overtake. Think catch up, draft, overtake.
7. When you have put your wetsuit on, ask someone to pull up your wetsuit at the back towards your neck. This will give your shoulders more room to move easily.
8. In the last 100 metres of your swim think about where your bike is in transition.
9. As you exit the water put your goggles on your hat and unzip your wetsuit. As you run, take your arms out.
10. Put your bike into an easy gear as you rack your bike. It will be easier to pedal as you exit transition.
11. Use elastic bands to hold the pedals in a horizontal position. It will be easier to get your feet on the pedals and the pedals will not be flapping around as you run with your bike out of transition. This is especially useful if you already have your cycle shoes clipped to the pedals.
12. Put your helmet on the handlebars of your bike and put your glasses if you use them inside your helmet. This will ensure that you put your helmet on before you touch your bike. Don’t forget to fasten the helmet strap.
13. When you mount your bike on the racking, have the bike pointing in the direction of the exit.
14. At home, practise running with and mounting and dismounting your bike.
15. This might sound counter-intuitive but take your time in transition. Yes, you are in a race, but you need to do everything right first time. You do not want to be called back because you haven’t fastened your helmet for example.
16. If you wear socks, then use old stretched out socks that will be very easy to put on.
17. Use a brightly coloured or distinctive towel in transition to put your kit on. Layout your kit in the order that you will use it.
18. Similarly, some triathletes use distinctive bar tape on their bikes so that they are easy to find.
19. Have your bike serviced before a big event. That will be worth a couple of minutes.
20. Have a large plastic box at the far end of your towel to throw things like your wetsuit in.
21. As you are coming in to T2 on your bike select a lower gear to spin your legs and hopefully move some lactate. This will help prepare your legs for the run.
22. Put some ice cubes in your drink bottles. This will help keep your drinks fresh.
23. On the run, at a drinks station, take two cups of water, one to drink and the other to pour over yourself to cool down.
24. Some triathletes have a spare tube, levers and pump on their bikes or have some foam.
25. Take a spare tyre and tube with a pump and tyre levers with you to the event.
26. And above all ENJOY IT!

The post Tips for New Triathletes appeared first on Farnham Triathlon Club.

By David Pinkney

Why do we do endurance sports like triathlons?

Basically, it is in our genes. Up until 12,000 years ago humans were endurance athletes, we were
hunters. Some stopped at home to raise children, but others went out to catch food. We used our
endurance to tire out animals before we killed them for food. It is called ‘persistence-hunting’.
Nowadays many people do endurance sport because it feels good. Pushing the body hard changes
the chemical makeup in our brains. Opioids and endocannabinoids are released making the athlete
feel euphoric and feeling great. We feel less anxious and more relaxed. In most cases we are much
less sensitive to pain. In most people endorphins are also released producing a feeling of well-being.
In the 1970s this was called the ‘runner’s high’. (Source Strava)

The release of these chemicals allowed the hunter gatherers to run faster for longer. This meant that
the success of a hunt was increased. This gave humans an evolutionary advantage. Also, our body
shape changed, and we developed the ability to sweat. As well as short term gains, endurance training, such as triathlon, has long term benefits. It has been shown that endurance training alleviates long term depression. Long exercise periods can reduce anxiety.

Long term exercise results in more brain cells, larger blood vessels and better connections between
the neurons in the brain. It also helps athletes with ADHD as it regulates the level of dopamine in the
brain, it improves impulse control and reduces compulsive behaviour. (Source The ADHD Centre).
Many endurance athletes use training to deal with life. So, if you’ve had a hard day at work or the
family is getting on your nerves the best thing to do is to go out training either on the bike or go for a
run. Most significantly, we all know people who have turned to sports such as triathlon to deal with
the breakdown of a relationship or the death of someone close or to stop an addiction. They
normally call it starting over again or turning a new page. That is a very good reason for doing it.
Recent studies have shown that spending time in green spaces improves mood and reduces stress.
(Source Mind) Exercising in the open air is better than exercising indoors, and running or cycling in
the countryside is better than pounding the streets in cities. Many athletes enjoy swimming in open
water in the summer when the water is warm enough. Swimming in open water can be used to clear
the chatter in your head and your mind is calmer and quieter as you exit the water. This, of course,
has to be tempered by the weather and the daylight hours, although exercise indoors is a lot better
than no exercise.

Long term training gives us a focus for good health. People with poor mental health often focus on
negative things such as lack of achievement and excessive consumption of food and alcohol.
Endurance athletes, as a group, are very much focused on their health and well-being.
Endurance sport gives us mental as well as physical resilience. It is that ability to keep going at a race
pace when our bodies want us to stop. The reward is the feeling of euphoria when we cross the
finish line, and we can stop. We have a massive feeling of achievement.
Long training periods allows us to concentrate on mindfulness. Focusing on breathing on a long run
or staying present in the mind on a long bike climb, allows us to be fully immersed in the moment.

Belonging to a club such as Farnham Triathlon Club provides a social network. Members and
especially coaches are there to provide support and help to overcome problems and difficulties.
This is all fine, of course, but there have been some cases where ultra endurance athletes have
suffered from mental health issues. I think it's the old thing that some exercise is fine but
overindulgence or extreme training is not always good.
25% of the population will have a mental health problem every year. So Mental Health is a very
significant issue. British Triathlon has signed up to the Mental Health Charter for Sport and
Recreation. (Source BTP). Triathlon training requires the athlete to be positive about themselves and to listen to their body. Over time a great relationship develops.

This blog has just skimmed the surface, there so much information available, all at the click of a mouse.

So, if you see a triathlete with a spear or a club, it’s OK, it is all in their genes.

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