Missing Pieces to the Triathlon Training Puzzle

If you do an internet search for ‘Triathlon Training’, you’ll see every possible combination of training imaginable. It’s obvious there’s no shortage of opinions about structuring your workout schedule, which exercises are best and the latest performance gear to wear for race day.

In my clinical practice as a Physical Therapist, education is a huge component of what I do. Often my patients are surprised when we start diving into some factors other than exercise that may be playing a part in how their body is feeling with training.

It doesn’t necessarily matter if you are a one sport or three sport athlete, sleep and stress management are critical components of your training routine. Neglecting these two subtle but key pieces of the puzzle can make or break your ability to complete training and get to the starting line successfully.

Sleep

When you searched ‘Triathlon Training’ did you find anywhere that factored sleep into the plan? Probably not. Research tells us that consistently getting less than 7 hrs of sleep is associated with a greater risk for injury.[1,2,3] Sleep deprivation has a number of impacts including motivation, attention, reaction time and even immune function.[3] Essentially, sleep is your body’s time to heal and recover. When you are likely at a high frequency of workouts during training, your body needs this time even more to rest from the demands being placed on it.

Unfortunately, sleep is usually low on the priority list when it comes to managing triathlon training. It can be difficult accommodating workouts into our regular daily routine and often we end up having to wake up earlier or stay up later to get these done.

It may seem like a tall task, but do your body a favor and aim for 8-10 hours of sleep every night.

Stress Management

I celebrated a milestone birthday last year and my goal was to complete a triathlon to commemorate that. In the weeks leading up to the race, my training was derailed due to an unexpected health issue, and I didn’t know if I would be able to get back to exercise, let alone completing a triathlon. The uncertainty of my health and the disappointment of all my hard work fading away certainly threw my stress levels into overdrive.

Health issues, job demands, family life and those unexpected bumps in the road that interfere with your agenda are all psychosocial factors that contribute to stress. And yes, even sleep deprivation and exercise are types of stressors! Research has shown that elevated stress levels have been able to predict injury in university athletes![4]

There is an optimal balance between what is considered to be good and bad stressors, but we all ultimately have a threshold on the total level of stress we can handle. Managing life’s demands as well as triathlon training can be tricky. Listen to your body and, in times of high stress from regular life, understand that you may need to scale back on training.

Don’t be afraid to readjust your goals to accommodate the unexpected. Training is hard, and you must respect where your body is at. Instead of trying to push beyond what it is capable of at any given time, understand that training often requires a little more fluidity. Thankfully for me I was eventually cleared for activity and, despite missing race day, I was able to successfully complete my triathlon a few months later!

Remember, a triathlon is a huge accomplishment and is supposed to be fun! The key is to make it through training, get to the starting line and finish feeling good about what you’ve just completed.

References:

1. Johnston R, Cahalan R, Bonnett L, et al. General health complaints and sleep associated with new injury within an endurance sporting population: A prospective study. J Sci Med Sport. 2020;23(3):252-257. doi:10.1016/j.jsams.2019.10.013

2. Chennaoui M, Vanneau T, Trignol A, et al. How does sleep help recovery from exercise-induced muscle injuries?. J Sci Med Sport. 2021;24(10):982-987. doi:10.1016/j.jsams.2021.05.007

3. Huang K, Ihm J. Sleep and Injury Risk. Curr Sports Med Rep. 2021;20(6):286-290. doi:10.1249/JSR.0000000000000849

4. Hamlin MJ, Wilkes D, Elliot CA, Lizamore CA, Kathiravel Y. Monitoring Training Loads and Perceived Stress in Young Elite University Athletes. Front Physiol. 2019;10:34. Published 2019 Jan 29. doi:10.3389/fphys.2019.00034

Jen Vermost, PT, DPT is a Physical Therapist and a running and cycling enthusiast turned amateur triathlete. Her clinical practice is in outpatient orthopedics with an emphasis on running gait analysis. She is passionate about empowering individuals with the knowledge to help remain active throughout their lifetime.

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These are the five things we can’t stop talking about–no affiliate links, no commissions, just our top holiday picks to add to your list!

FORM Smart Goggles

These goggles will count your laps, offer a library of workouts to choose from, and they’ll even sync to your smartphone–seriously genius. A pair of smart goggles comes with a free one-year membership and then it’s just $15/mo after that.

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JOLYN Brandon Swim Onesie

JOLYN suits hold it all in so you can train without the drag, but they’re still cheeky enough to feel good in. Plus they come in tons of fun styles and prints–a big upgrade from the Speedo you grew up swimming in!

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Wyn Republic Two-Stripe Sock

We’re telling you, the sock makes the outfit. These retro classics will complete any look from head to toe.

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The Girlfriend Collective Set

For training or for racing, a minimal crop top paired with bike shorts is the answer to “what should I wear for my tri?” The Girlfriend Collective makes every basic you can imagine in tons of fun colors.

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Oliver Otto Special Edition Tribe Woman Pro Jersey

This Mexico City-headquartered brand has an eye for design when it comes to prints and we’re here for it. Made of premium fabric that fits like a glove, these jerseys perform as nice as they look.

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10 Reasons to Do a Triathlon

10. COMMUNITY. Anyone who has ever lived in LA can tell you that finding a solid friend group is challenging. Personally, I had a hard time finding cool, ambitious women to connect with until I went to a women’s ride one day 3 years into living in LA. I met a surgeon, a writer, an entrepreneur–all the types of people I’d been wanting to hang out with and hadn’t crossed paths with before.

9. MOTIVATION. Fitness alone is not enough to get me into the pool twice a week or to commit to get swim, bike, and run workouts in every week. I need a goal to think about while I’m training–ideally an event that I’m building up to.

8. TRAVEL. The last race I did was Escape from Alcatraz in San Francisco and as a lucky work-from-homer, I was able to spend the week leading up to the race in the city. I love the idea of picking a place I want to visit and exploring by bike/foot/arm stroke and there were a ton of people from all over the world who also came to race. My friend Jen joined me as my sherpa on race day and we hit a few restaurants and a museum before the weekend started.

7. CONFIDENCE. Anytime you find something that was previously deemed impossible and then you do it, it rewires the subconscious part of your mind that was programmed to “impossible”. That practice is an exercise that, in my experience, translates to other parts of my life as well.

Example: (me in 2014) I can barely run a mile, an Ironman is impossible.

(after doing an Ironman) I am not a public speaker, it’s terrifying.

(me after presenting at work) What else can I knock off this list?

My point is doing impossible things is a good practice for all parts of life. If you’re afraid to fail, start in a safe environment like a triathlon so that worst case scenario–you DNF–it’s still just a hobby and you can try again.

6. EQUALITY. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that the U.S. Women’s National team fought for years for equal pay as the men’s team, in spite of the fact that they’re way more successful (4 World Cup titles compared to the men who have never won a World Cup). Professional triathlon has always given equal coverage and equal pay to the male and female winners–a fact that people don’t talk about enough!

5. FANDOM. I only started following professional triathlon a few years ago, as someone who has played sports my whole life but never been a true sports fan. I wish someone would have told me sooner that training is more fun when you have a ‘hero’ in your sport. Now my favorite way to get pumped up for a weekend ride is to watch a pro race in the morning.

4. TYPE 2 FUN. I won’t bend the truth to say that doing a triathlon is always fun, but the entire experience of it is really truly fun. As an age-grouper, I can push the limits of my body without any pressure of winning–which, for a recovering perfectionist, is really fun.

3. SOMETHING NEW. I got into triathlon because I swam and ran cross-country in college, but I doubt I would have picked up cycling on my own. It took some time, but right now at least I would say that’s it’s my favorite of the three sports.

2. A BETTER VICE. If I had to put a number on it, I would guess that 95% of people use triathlon as a healthier vice to smoking, drinking, anxiety, overeating, being career-obsessed, or as an outlet to some sort of trauma in their life. Off all the addictions in the world, it’s not the worst.

1.HEALTH. The last couple of years have been a reminder to me more than ever before how valuable our health is. It’s up to every one of us to take care of our bodies for the aerobic benefits and to take care of our minds with the benefits of releasing endorphins. Truly, your health is your wealth.