Doing your first triathlon is a daunting prospect and what we have noticed from our collective experience and observations is that:
- A lot of triathletes did their first race by themselves and it was only after that they decided to join a club. It was thought too daunting to go and train with “proper” triathletes.
- Many had no idea how to structure training or even what training they needed to do to get through their first triathlon.
- A few people kept putting off their first Triathlon thinking they weren’t ready to do one – in some cases for many months.
- The biggest fear for most new triathletes is the swim.
- Nearly every triathlete we talked to experienced something in their first triathlon that they didn’t expect.
So we decided that we needed to create a group “New2Tri” to make the first triathlon less daunting. A group that:
- Experience their first triathlon together.
- Learn from each other’s experiences.
- Act as support for one other.
- Have a training plan they can follow and are provided with training sessions that they can attend – we provide weekly sessions, emailed directly to you.
- A way of making sure that you know you are ready to do your first triathlon – so we organise a training day where you get to complete all the parts of the training day.
- A triathlon with the easiest swim possible – pool based with a shallow end which means no need for a wetsuit and no fear of swimming in open water.
- Someone there to answer all your questions and make sure there were no unexpected surprises awaiting you – a mentor.
As well as the New2Tri coaches, the mentor will be someone who will be there to help you. Someone you can ask questions to that you might be embarrassed to ask anyone else, who will be at some of the training sessions you attend and will be checking in with you regularly to ask how training is going. They will also be around on race day to help with anything you might be unsure of.
The coaches have organised New2Tri groups before – on 4-5 occasions – so they have lots of experience from previous years which will help and assist you complete your first triathlon.
The race we are training for is TriLaois which takes place in Portlaoise on the 7th April 2018.
It’s a “sprint” triathlon which is the shortest of the standard triathlon distances (the others being Olympic, Half and Full).
A standard length Sprint triathlon generally consists of a 750m swim, a 20km cycle and a 5km run and the TriLaois event has all the distances at the standard length.
Swim: For this triathlon the 750m swim will take place in a pool – this is ideal as it means you don’t need to buy a wetsuit. It also has a shallow end to the pool so you can put your feet down if necessary.
Cycle: The 20km cycle is on undulating country roads that are well marshalled.
Run: The 5km run last year was an out and back from Portlaoise into the countryside.
If you have any questions or queries feel free to contact us at TritaniumTc@gmail.com or complete the contact us form on this website.