I recently gave a talk for the Pikes Peak Triathlon Club and wanted to share with everyone else. Since the start of triathlon season will be here soon, I thought now would be a great time to go over common mistakes every triathlete should avoid in order to save time and headaches later in the season.
Avoiding these mistakes will help both triathletes and runners to race better and become better athletes. And who doesn’t want that?
Treating Every Race as an “A” Race
An A race is the most important race of the season that you plan your training around in order to peak and taper for the best results possible. These are the races that you hope to PR in.
For athletes who do a lot of races throughout the season, it’s important to prioritize all of your planned races. Some races will be A races, while others will be lower priority B or C races that you might train through or not taper for. It’s expected that you will race the best you possibly can at the time, but you cannot plan for every single race to be an A race. Approaching your races this way will lead to mediocrity because you cannot peak for every single one of those races.
Not Training Your Weaknesses
We all have a favorite sport or workout, but we can’t train only by doing our favorites. Weaknesses can only be improved if we work on them. Making these improvements are what makes us better athletes and helps us to race faster. With more practice and better technique, we become more comfortable doing a tasks or skills, which means we will be able to carry them out quickly and with more easy.
Ignoring Rest & Recovery
It’s easy to think that every problem we come across could be solved with more training and harder work. But if we ignore rest and recovery as part of our training, it could lead to overtraining. Incorporating recovery techniques into your training leads to both long term and short term success. It’s where improvements are made as a result of all the training you’ve done.
Not Tapering for Important Races
Some lower priority races may have you either training through them without a taper or using just a short taper. But high priority races require a proper taper so that you can race to your full potential. The length of your taper will vary, depending on variables such as training age, fitness, and type of race.
Not Working on Mental Training
The physical training you have been doing is important, but mental training for endurance athletes is just as important. The mind and body are connected. You could be a well-trained athlete, but if you lack confidence or are anxious, then your training and racing will not reach the potential you are capable of reaching.
Not Strength Training
As triathletes, we love to swim, bike, and run. In order to continue this for a lifetime and to become better athletes, we need to make sure our bodies are strong enough and balanced enough to handle all the training and racing we do by including strength training into our routines.
Strength and corrective exercises benefit endurance athletes not only by improving fatigue resistance, but also by helping you to swim, bike, and run more efficiently, increasing your strength and power, and decreasing risk of injury. Strength training doesn’t have to take up all your time, so be sure to follow these time effective strength training tips.
Ignoring Running & Swimming Technique
Running and swimming form improvement increases your efficiency, which means you use less energy at a given speed. Why make your body work harder than it needs to? Good form results in more efficiency, less fatigue, more speed, and lower risk of injury.
Not Caring What You Eat
There’s truth to that old saying “you are what you eat”. In order to be healthy, feel good, and perform at your best, athletes should be eating a nutritious, quality food that will support their health, lifestyle, and sport.
There’s more to the outdated thinking of “calories in, calories out”. Just because you can run 10 miles, doesn’t mean you can refuel with donuts and ice cream. The quality of the food you put into your body affects your health, weight, and sports performance.
Need help understanding what’s hype and what’s right in nutrition? Explore our Nutrition Coaching options.
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