By BA: Travis Siehndel
Like many of the athletes that will participate in the 2012 Nation’s Triathlon, I didn’t grow up as a lifelong athlete. I came to endurance sports fairly late in life when I took up running after college as a method to stay fit. I didn’t initially think of myself as a runner and I certainly hadn’t embraced the ‘running lifestyle.’ I also quickly learned that I’m not the type of athlete that can log a lot of mileage running on the road. Even now, I have a hard time running more than 4 times a week while keeping the aches and pains away. But as a new runner, I was having a hard time running pain free more than three times a week. My daily runs were beginning to feel more like a chore than fun. After a couple of seasons running 10k, 10-mile and marathon events, I was in a rut and I needed a change to keep me active.
In one of those lucky events of life, a friend of mine suggested that I give a triathlon a shot. Once I got over those initial fears of trying something new that so many of us feel, I signed up for my first race, joined the DC Triathlon Club and the rest is history.
What quickly drew me to triathlon is the lifestyle feel of the sport. Suddenly I realized that I wasn’t limited to a few achy runs a week but I now had room for 3-4 bike rides and swims as well. This ability to add activity to my daily life was exactly what I had been looking for when I began running and I had finally found a home in the multisport lifestyle.
Now that I have been racing triathlon for a few years, I still have to work to keep things fresh to avoid getting back into that dreaded training rut. If you are feeling stuck, change can be as simple as trying a different distance in your triathlon events. You can try going longer and attempting a new distance. Or maybe even going shorter to try and quicken your speed and pace. Then again, if you are really looking to expand your boundaries, you can try a different sport altogether.
In another lucky occurrence, last year a great friend of mine talked me into getting a mountain bike. With the help of our friends at The Bike Rack, I picked out a new bike and began taking to the many great parks and trails that we have in the Washington DC area. This season, in addition to racing a few Olympic and 70.3 distance races, I’m also attempting some off-road challenges.
First up on the docket is an adventure race at the end of April. Training for this event has already introduced me to new methods of training including mountain biking at night and orienteering off-trail in the backcountry with the help of nothing but a map and compass. I’ve also challenged myself to race an off-road triathlon and the Shenandoah Mountain 100 mountain bike race this fall. So far, training for these events has added variety to my training and has already reaped great rewards with my regular triathlon performance. My baseline fitness has improved and my cycling is as strong as it has ever been.
Look for my race reports following these events to see how getting dirty on the trails has helped me keep my training fresh. In the meantime, leave us a comment and let us know what tricks you use to keep your training exciting!
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