Gear Reviews

REVIEW: So you want to train for your first triathlon

After interviewing Rachel Cosgrove (click here to read part I and part II) about how she balances her training for two very physiologically diverse sports (powerlifting and triathlon), I became a fan of her methodology, philosophy and overall approach to multisports. She was gracious enough to send me a copy of the book she co-authored with Erika Lilley, “So you want to train for your first triathlon” to review.

Since the only thing I owe anybody in this world is the truth, I’ll confess that I did not have high expectations for Rachel’s book. While she has a solid background as a personal trainer and athlete, she is not a household name in the triathlon community. Plus, there are far too many triathlon books on the market that parrot each other and I’m automatically suspicious of the quality of any self-published e-books. There is a lot of crap floating around in the land of cyberpublishing.

Once I read through Rachel’s book, however, I was very impressed with her writing and the information she provided. If you had a tape recorder running while I was reading the book, you would have heard me mumble several times, “Wow…I wish I would have had this book when I started.”

As the title suggests, the book is geared toward the first-time, or neophyte triathlete. It is chock full of solid concepts and strategies that comprise the foundation of the sport and even seasoned age-groupers would benefit from going back and looking at this material from a fresh perspective.

Title: So you want to train for your first triathlon
Authors: Rachel Cosgrove and Erika Lilley
Pages: 119
Publisher: Results Fitness
Price: $39.99 (book); $29.99 (e-book)
Where to buy: www.rachelcosgrove.com

Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction
The authors introduce themselves and how they met each other through the sport of triathlon and later became training partners and coaches. They also provide a very brief section on the history of triathlon and talk a bit about who the book is geared toward.

Chapter 2: Setting goals and getting focused
This is the section that every triathlete needs to learn, and re-learn. Myself included. As someone who has a history of setting lofty goals and regularly getting his ass handed to him, I found this chapter quite insightful. The authors advocate using the S.M.A.R.T. tactic for goal setting: Specific, Measurable, Attainable (note to self: re-read this one!), Realistic, Timetable. They include some exercises and worksheets to help you think through the process to plan for your first race and your first season. After all, triathlon is a complex skills sport and unless you are coming into with a strong competitive background in swimming, running or cycling, you will need to plan on having your first few seasons, if not more, dedicated to spending a lot of time (and money) learning about your body, your abilities, your limits, and your strategies.

Chapter 3: Endurance training philosophies
Various key terms like maximum aerobic power, lactate threshold, exercise economy, and other tidbits of endurance lingo are introduced and put in their proper context. This is all done without trying to intimidate the reader with five-dollar words. Consider this the theory section that does a good job of explaining the overall philosophy of good program design without making your head spin with overly complex terminology. I was particularly thrilled to see the advocation for focusing training around an athlete’s weak spot. If you suck at the swim, guess what you’d better emphasize in training? The swim. Speaking of the swim, they also include a great section “6 for 3 Rules for Swimming” that addresses the one aspect of triathlon that scares more newcomers than anything else. They repeat this advice with “6 for 3 Rules for Cycling” and “6 for 3 Rules for Running.” In short, they boil down concepts into useful, take-away advice rather than go into the painful detail that Joe Friel usually takes a chapter to cover.

Chapter 4: Triathlon training program
Here, the authors get into the meat and potatoes of the book and start you with one of their semi-customized training programs for sprint or Olympic-distance races. They help you identify your training intensities with the help of a heart rate monitor and take you, week-by-week, through a 24-week training program. They provide an outstanding variety of effective, and time-tested workouts for the swim, bike and run. If you are new to the sport and can’t afford a coach, this section alone is worth the price of the book.

Chapter 5: Strength training for endurance athletes
Right out of the gate, Rachel and Erika tackle the aversion most multisport athletes have to picking up a barbell. They then dispel common myths about strength training and demonstrate just how important it is to incorporate the iron game into your training program. The program outlined in the book is excellent. It’s not the standard “do 30 reps with a 2-lb. pink dumbbell in each hand” type of routine. I can guarantee you won’t find any other triathlon book recommending Bulgarian squats, mobility drills, side planks, T push-ups or Romanian deadlifts. This is where the authors’ background with conditioning really shines. In addition, while small, the instructional photos are quite helpful.

Chapter 6: Flexibility for triathletes
Once again, the authors start out by explaining the importance of improving your flexibility as well as introduce several types of flexibility “philosophies.” They then move on to prescribe a flexibility routine with photos to show you the various movements.

Chapter 7: Getting the right gear
The reader is given two lists, “Need to Haves” and “Nice to Haves.” They’ve compiled a great list, with explanations for each item in each of the three sports and have sub-divided it even farther with gear recommendations for training and racing. The section covering wetsuits is particularly helpful if you’re considering making the investment in the second most expensive piece of gear (next to your bike).

Chapter 8: Nutrition and hydration
Nutrition is divided into “basic” and “performance” and covers a fairly broad topic with just the right amount of detail for the aspiring triathlete. This is not a diet book. Nor should it be. They do, however, get into a bit more detail on helping you develop a more specific nutrition strategy in the week leading up to your first race and tactics for nutrition and hydration for each of the three sports on race day.

Chapter 9: Injuries and prevention
If you stick with triathlon long enough, there’s a good chance you will encounter some type of setback due to injury. The authors cover the most common injuries in each of the three sports and provide recommendations on not only how to avoid the injury, but to how to fix it so you can get back in the game.

Chapter 10: Optimal recovery
The opening paragraph says it all: “You don’t get results from your actual training sessions. Your body actually gets broken down during your training and then rebuilds stronger after the workout is over. Your results come from your recovery. This is why recovery is so important to your success as a triathlete.”

Chapter 11: This is my first tri-what can I expect?
This is a great section for the first-time triathlete and is one I’m sure will be read over and over again. Heck, even those with a few seasons under their belt would find some great advice here. The authors cover the race from packet pick-up to post event planning. Who would ever think to plan for what happens after the race is over? Yet, with current trend of race directors turning the race into more of family-friendly festivity, you do have to start thinking about how you’re going to handle your gear, friends and family once your race has concluded.

Chapter 12: Wrap-up
It’s really not fair to even label this a chapter. It’s a one paragraph farewell from the authors.

What I Liked

• No extraneous details. The authors get right to what’s important and why it’s important to your success as a triathlete.
• The design is nice and simple and the photographs are well lit and well-done.
• Everything you need to know for your first triathlon is here. This book has it from A to Z.
• While I think there is plenty of information here, it is not enough to overwhelm the new triathlete. That’s a good thing.
• The strength training program appears to be well thought-out and I would predict an athlete would see some great mobility and strength (which equates to speed) gains if they incorporated it into their training.

What I Didn’t Like

• The pictures showcasing the various exercise and flexibility movements should have been at least twice as big.

Bottom Line
In spite of my initial apprehension about the quality of this book, I liked it. A lot. In fact, I highly recommend it as an addition to any triathlete’s library. I would even go as far as saying it should be mandatory reading (hint: a great gift) for anyone considering entering the sport of triathlon.

Share on Facebook

Popularity: 24% [?]

© 2008 The Outdoor Journey.