Ringing in the New Year is often accompanied by a flurry of resolutions, a chance to reflect on our personal goals and challenges to take on in the coming year. Even though its a few days into January, its still the perfect time to commit to an exciting new challenge. Looking for something new to try, an activity that provides diversity in activities, will get you in great physical shape and leave you feeling confident and empowered? Sign up for UBC REC’s Triathlon/Duathlon, to be held March 11th! With 5 different distances including a short distance, sprint distance and a relay, there is something for everyone at this event, which is celebrating 30 years. Still a little intimidated by the word triathlon? To help you overcome your initial hesitations, coach Vincent Lavallee will be writing an 8 week column on the Point, designed to help the complete novice train for their very first triathlon.

Hello aspiring triathletes!

My name is Vince, and I’m going to write an 8-week triathlon training program for you to follow that I guarantee will get you not only to the starting line, but also the finish at the UBC Tri/Du on March 11th.

But first a little bit about myself. I started triathlons a little over 9 years ago, coming from a running background. All I had was a pair of running shoes, my dad’s old bike and a brand spankin’ new speedo! Since then I’ve competed in over 60 races ranging from sprint to half ironman distance triathlons. Additionally, I was the UBC Triathlon club president a few years ago as well as the coach of the team for a few seasons, and am still part of the club acting as resident old man on the executive.

All this to say I’ve been approached by beginner triathletes numerous times before and I always get the same few statements: I don’t have a bike, I can’t swim, I’ve never run a 5k let alone during a triathlon, which lead to the inevitable questions…Can I do a triathlon? The answer, ABSOLUTELY!

All it takes is a little effort and dedication and I’m confident anyone can do a triathlon.

To start everything off, the first requirements, the bare essentials that are needed before undertaking this adventure are a good pair of shoes, a bathing suit, goggles, a helmet and a bike. The bike is the tricky part but really any bike can be used, mountain, hybrid, road. Provided its got two inflated tires and functioning brakes, I’ve seen someone complete a race on it.

This 8-week training plan is going to be fairly simple, with the goal of getting you to the starting line confident in your potential to complete a sprint distance triathlon (500m swim/20km bike/5km run). Each week, the program will have one swim, one bike, and one run workout laid out, aimed to help guide your training and set you on the right path. Sometimes the workouts will be fairly broad simply to improve fitness, and other weeks they will be focused on a specific aspect of triathlon training.

As this is the first week, the workouts are very simple and straightforward. We’ll start with a little shaking out of cobwebs from the winter holiday and get your system started in training mode.

The Workouts: 30-30-30

Swim: For many beginner triathletes the swim is the most daunting part and is what prevents people from even toeing the line. To get over this fear, the first workout will be all about just putting in the time. 30 minutes of swimming. Get yourself into the 25 meter pool during free swim and try and swim for 30 minutes. Take breaks when needed. If that means swim one length, stop for a minute, then repeat 15 times, then that’s a start. This workout is just focused on getting used to the water.

Bike: Most people are more comfortable on a bike, however, I’m guessing being the beginning of January a lot of the cycling training is going to be done on stationary bikes at a gym. Since there is no fear of drowning on a stationary bike, your goal will be to keep pedaling for 30 minutes. If this sounds too easy, simply turn up the resistance, but under no circumstances stop before the 30 minutes is up.

Run: When starting to run, most novice runners have the most difficulty with pacing. The result being they start running too quickly and burn out after only a few minutes. Again, we are going to try to run for 30 minutes, but similar to the swim, you are going to run and when needed, walk when needed, and when recovered try and pick back up to a jog again. The goal is to be in motion for 30 minutes. Whether this be run 30 seconds walk 1 minute or continuously running.

One of the hardest parts of triathlons is people are not accustomed to extended bouts of exercise. Most sports involve more explosive motion requiring short burst of speed rather than extended efforts. This first week will try and get you accustomed to the longer stuff. And believe me. Going long isn’t always a bad thing.

If you have any questions or concerns about your first triathlon, feel free to leave a question in the comments section and we’ll be sure to answer to the best of our ability.

To learn more about the UBC Triathlon, visit the UBC REC website. Register by January 30th and save with Early Bird pricing!