What is a triathlon?
In the Stomp the Pedal Triathlon for Beginners Series, the aim is to keep the posts short, to the point, and educational.
Some of these posts may even appear too simple, but they have been written as there is a need to educate on all aspects of the sport.
What is a triathlon?
A triathlon is a sport that consists of 3 disciplines:
SWIM → T1 → BIKE → T2 → RUN
T1 and T2 are known as transition. The process and time in which you finish a section to move through to the next section.
SWIM
I will cover in greater detail each of the disciplines but for cohesiveness of this post, the swim can be done in either a pool, lake or open water. The distance in which you swim will vary depending on the distance of triathlon you choose to do. (I will cover the various distances in the next post)
T1 - also known as Transition 1
Transition 1 refers to the athlete finishing the swim and making their way into transition to dry off, change if they want depending on their own personal and also distance of race chosen, and preparing themselves for the next leg of the race. The bike. (I will cover transition in greater detail further into the series)
BIKE
The bike is exactly that. You will grab your bike from the transition area, run/walk it out just past the mount line and of you go. The distance of the bike leg, will vary depending on the distance race you have chosen. (This will be covered in greater detail in future posts)
T2 - also known as Transition 2
Transition 2 is fairly the same as T1, however in this case you will be riding your bike up to the dismount line, getting off your bike and running it back to the racks where you picked your bike up from at the beginning of the bike leg. Here you will place your bike on the rack and depending on the type of race chosen you will switch you bike shoes for run shoes and remove your helmet and replace it with a cap, if that is how you like to run. You will then proceed to run out of transition to begin your run leg!
RUN
The run is fairly standard, exit T2 onto the run and run the distance, or if you are anything like me, I run/walk the distance. However, again this will be all based on the distance you have chosen.
Depending on your experience, preference and athletic ability, you may find that you are either good at all 3 disciplines or like many lean towards a strength.
I hope you found this helpful. I want to ensure that this posts are short, sharp and educational. I would love it if you have any feedback or comments on how this may have helped you, to write it in the comments section below.
