How to Train for a Triathlon-Run

Transcripts

Leslie Williams: Hi, I am Leslie Williams, a triathlete and I am teaching you how to train for Triathlon. Now we are going to talk about the run. The first thing we want to talk about is gear. Gear for the run not as much as for swim and the bike but still very important. You want to make sure you have the right kind of shoe, if you are doing a trail run you want to make sure you have a trail running shoe, if you are doing a road race you want to make sure you have a nice good racing flat. A local shoe store will be able to help you pick out the kind of shoe that you need and if you need a cushioning shoe, a stability shoe, if you overpronate, if you supinate, a good, good running shop will be able to help you with all of those things. We also want to talk about the outfit. I am in a racing outfit right now, I would wear this for the swim and the bike and the run it is called the kit, just so you know. We also -- you can run in a dry sweatshirt. This kind of shirt is a quick dry shirt it will help you stay cool it will help you stay cool it is made out of a special material that wicks the sweat away. We also want to have a good pair of running shoes. These running shoes have no laces, they have something called Yankz on them. These are stretchies that you can just shove your foot in and run off, you dont have to tie them. They are great for quick transition. There is also a road ID, this has information in case for some reason you become incapacitated and you cannot help yourself, emergency responders will be able to find out your name and phone numbers of contact people who can come and help you in a medical emergency. You want a really good pair of running socks, something that will keep your feet dry so you dont blister and provide enough cushioning, so that your feet dont hurt during the run. You also probably want to wear a good pair of sun glasses, a nice running cap to protect you from the sun as well as sunscreen, always, always sunscreen and last but not least a heart rate monitor and a watch, so you can keep track of your time. Now let's talk a little bit about the training for the run. Depending on the length of the race that you choose, you will either want to do a lot of track work outs, interval training to get your heart rate up or you will want to do some long, long runs to work on your endurance. The track work outs are fairly quick, you can look in a training book or at your program or talk to your coach and find out what kinds of work outs do they want you to do here on the tracks. For the long weekend run you can go anywhere from 5, to 7, to 10, to 16, to 20 miles depending on where you are in your work out program and you just want to take it nice and slow.

Just so your know typically USAT bans MP3 players and iPods from races, so you can train with those, but you want to make sure that you will be able to get through the race without depending on the music. And of course you always want to run safely, run with a buddy, let people know where you are going and carry a cell phone and some cash on you in case you get stranded. Next we are going to talk about the all important transition.