One of the great benefits of our sport is that it gives everybody who participates in it the chance to be a part of not just the one sporting community, but potentially three or four. Not everyone who trains for triathlon competes in triathlons all year round. You may be the type of person who likes to race with the local swim club, join the cycling club on their annual end of year ride, and participate in a fun run or two throughout the year.
Sometimes, if very rarely in their careers, triathlon’s pros also get to do the same sort of thing, albeit at a slightly elevated level. This year our Olympic Champ took time away from the sport to compete at the European Athletics Championships and break her 5k, 10k, Half and Full Marathon best times in the process. This was all done the back of triathlon training. Nicola has since returned to the ITU circuit and has taken out the last two World Cups she competed in Cozumel and Cartagena. The reason she has been able to adapt so well is because that the fundamental principles behind good triathlon training can be successfully applied across multiple aerobic sports.
With the video above I hope to provide some insight into the way we adapted Nicola’s triathlon training to prepare for the the European Athletics Championships. During the video I make mention of a brilliant ex-athlete of mine from the early 1990s, Jenny Lund. Jenny ended up running for 31:50 for 10k and took out the Australian Title. A great article from archives below.
