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Triathlon training sussed

You’ve totally got this, if not right this minute. ‘Of the three disciplines in a triathlon, swimming tends to present the biggest challenge for most people,’ says Lee Gardner, head coach at Trismarter Triathlon Coaching & Sports Nutrition. But you don’t need to be able to swim like Rebecca Adlington or Ellie Simmonds to do this. ‘You just need to swim fast enough to make the cut-off time – usually 30 minutes in a 750m race,’ explains Gardner. To achieve this, you’re going to have to put in the hours. ‘Head to your nearest pool and start by swimming your fastest 100m, then rest for as long as you need to and repeat until you’ve swum the distance you need to do on race day.’ To begin improving your time, start shaving a few seconds off your rest period until you only need 10 seconds to get your breath back. Do this once a week for three to six months – and try to do some training in a lake or ocean, too, since the swimming portion of 90% of triathlons is in open water. Aim for two more sessions a week in your training plan, but just swim laps in those and try to have fun with it.