My Introduction to Triathlons
I’ve always liked swimming since I was a child. But I wasn’t too consistent. In 2021, I got back to swimming again, and this time I felt I wanted to do it for a long time. So, I enrolled in a swimming team near my house, and started going to practice every day.
Then, I learned about swimming pool and open-water competitions, and of course, I got excited about it.
I remember that my first open-water competition was at night. That was pretty scary, and I just went to one training session on the beach before the competition.
It was a 1 km triangular track, two laps. I had a lot of intrusive thoughts while I was swimming, but it went pretty well at the end.
Since then, I’ve done several open-water and pool competitions, and I’ve been really enjoying it.
But this year (2025), I’ve been pretty interested in triathlon. For me, it is a new challenge, as I’ve never taken up running or cycling, so I’m starting from scratch in both sports.
A triathlon is a multi-sport endurance event that consists of three sequential disciplines: swimming, cycling, and running, completed back-to-back without a break.
These are the most usual formats for triathlons:
Sprint: often involving a 750 m swim, 20 km bike, and 5 km run. Distances may vary by event.
Olympic/Standard: Official Olympic distance: 1.5 km swim, 40 km bike, 10 km run. Widely used for international competition.
Half Ironman (70.3): 1.9 km swim, 90 km bike, 21.1 km run.
Ironman: 3.8 km swim, 180 km bike, 42.2 km run (full marathon).
In triathlons, there are many details to keep in mind. I want to do it well, so I have to take it seriously, not just in training, but also in nutrition, health, and recovery.
Additionally, there are several requirements you need to meet before you can start training seriously (such as owning a bike). Therefore, it takes time to prepare for proper training.
I started by conducting a footprint study to understand better which running shoe is best for me. From this study, I learned that I have overpronation, also known as flat feet. I kind of knew about it, but didn’t know to what extent. The good thing is that it is not that bad, and I was recommended the Asics Kayano running shoe as a primary option.
I’ve always been hesitant to run because my feet always hurt badly. But after using these new running shoes, it was a whole different experience. Before even starting to run, a good recommendation is to conduct a footprint study. Trust me, it will be better for your feet and running form.
The next step was to find a nutritionist specializing in high-performance athletes. They created a nutrition plan tailored to my needs, taking into account the amount of training I had to do.
I was previously supplementing myself with hydrolyzed protein and creatine monohydrate. But the nutritionist added some additional supplements:
Vitamin D
Vitamin C
Omega 3
Collagen
Brobiotics
Magnesium citrate (Before sleep)
Ashaghwanda (Before sleep)
Beta-alanine (Before training)
Electrolytes (while training)
hydrogel (while training)
And a lot of food.
On the cycling part, it took me a while to find a good bike for me, because it is way more complex than just buying a bike, so in later articles, I’ll explain what I’ve learned about it.
Later, I’ll explain my training routine and talk more about bikes.
If you like to spend time reading, “Your first triathlon” by Joe Friel is a very nice reference to get started.