THE WHY:
Well.. let's face it. If you are new to triathlon and you do what newbies nowadays do (google / watch tutorials on youtube) you usually get a couple of different takes on the matter: on the one hand, you'll surely come across videos and articles stating that with a swimsuit and goggles, a working bike and trainers, in 2 months you DEFINITELY can complete a triathlon. Start looking past those and you'll soon end up overwhelmed by kits, techs, gears, training sessions and numbers, coaches, protein shakes and vitamin shakes and people eating like they're living on a space station. At least, that's what happened to me.
To the extreme that people now train in the pool, on the exercise bike and on the treadmill, looking at numbers on their smartphones.
Is it really necessary to not just complete a sprint triathlon, but to compete at a decent level at longer distances? Can I become a decent amateur triathlete eating healthy REAL food, running around town and biking through the rolling hills while juggling work and study? I want to find out...
THE WHO:
My name is Paolo. I'm a 33 year old of Italian descent, currently living and working as an English teacher in Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia. My sport background is definitely NOT related to any of these sports, as I've only played competitively basketball, for more than 20 years. I Stopped a while ago though, due to the start of my wandering around the world and later on with my profession as teacher of English.
Swimming experience: took swimming course at the age of 8 for a few months. Since then I've only swam on holidays, occasionally. Situation at the start of the training: barely able to complete 25mt in the pool freestyle without being completely gassed.
Cycling experience: I've always liked cycling, but I've never done anything worthy till last year, when I decided to start bikepacking, and I did a 5000km, 2 months trip at a leisurely pace from my hometown of Bergamo to North Cape in Norway. Situation at the start of the training: I can cycle slowly for 130km a day.
Running experience: used to run at school, but never really trained for it. I guess I had the most natural talent for long distance running and that allowed me to win a few minor races at school when I was 14. Since then, again, nothing. Situation at the start of the training: able to run 10km at a decent pace (50min).
GEARS: road bicycle (2nd hand, I use it for touring) and the basics swim stuff (no wetsuit), trainers, cheap cycling kits from Decathlon stores.
TECH: nothing. I don't even own a smartphone. When I go cyclo-touring I bring a small laptop with a gps tracker.
Well.. let's face it. If you are new to triathlon and you do what newbies nowadays do (google / watch tutorials on youtube) you usually get a couple of different takes on the matter: on the one hand, you'll surely come across videos and articles stating that with a swimsuit and goggles, a working bike and trainers, in 2 months you DEFINITELY can complete a triathlon. Start looking past those and you'll soon end up overwhelmed by kits, techs, gears, training sessions and numbers, coaches, protein shakes and vitamin shakes and people eating like they're living on a space station. At least, that's what happened to me.
To the extreme that people now train in the pool, on the exercise bike and on the treadmill, looking at numbers on their smartphones.
Is it really necessary to not just complete a sprint triathlon, but to compete at a decent level at longer distances? Can I become a decent amateur triathlete eating healthy REAL food, running around town and biking through the rolling hills while juggling work and study? I want to find out...
THE WHO:
My name is Paolo. I'm a 33 year old of Italian descent, currently living and working as an English teacher in Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia. My sport background is definitely NOT related to any of these sports, as I've only played competitively basketball, for more than 20 years. I Stopped a while ago though, due to the start of my wandering around the world and later on with my profession as teacher of English.
Swimming experience: took swimming course at the age of 8 for a few months. Since then I've only swam on holidays, occasionally. Situation at the start of the training: barely able to complete 25mt in the pool freestyle without being completely gassed.
Cycling experience: I've always liked cycling, but I've never done anything worthy till last year, when I decided to start bikepacking, and I did a 5000km, 2 months trip at a leisurely pace from my hometown of Bergamo to North Cape in Norway. Situation at the start of the training: I can cycle slowly for 130km a day.
Running experience: used to run at school, but never really trained for it. I guess I had the most natural talent for long distance running and that allowed me to win a few minor races at school when I was 14. Since then, again, nothing. Situation at the start of the training: able to run 10km at a decent pace (50min).
GEARS: road bicycle (2nd hand, I use it for touring) and the basics swim stuff (no wetsuit), trainers, cheap cycling kits from Decathlon stores.
TECH: nothing. I don't even own a smartphone. When I go cyclo-touring I bring a small laptop with a gps tracker.
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