On the road to race

Useful tips for each event

The 1.9km Swim.
Swimming is something that will only improve with constant repetition. The top swimmers will swim many tens of thousands of metres each week; the good news is you don’t need to.
 
No-one has ever won a triathlon on the swim alone. Swimming is almost a means of getting to the transition for the bike without killing yourself and being fit for the following two events. 

Remember at best you are going to lose a matter of minutes rather than hours.  A Pro will do the swim in less than 25 minutes; a good time would be under 35 minutes and an average time between 35 and 45 minutes.  45 minutes is the equivalent of 2 minutes 22 seconds per 100m. Try a 100m in a pool and see how you do. That said, the professionals are lapping at under 1:10 per 100m!

It is really hard to push yourself in training on your own so where possible find others to train with.  Surprisingly, it is really hard to find a pool here all year round to train in. Most are not heated / chilled so for part of the year they are either too hot or you need a wetsuit. 

Mix up your training with pool and open water swims (when it is safe to do so). Pool wise the 50m National Pool at Sh Khalifa Sports City is open most evenings for public swimming or use one of the clubs.  Surprisingly, there is no adult swimming club on the island (yet!). Open water is easy to come across but make sure it is safe to do so.  Most popular areas are Amwaj and off Zallaq Beach. 

Equipment for Swimming. Apart from your swim suit you don’t have to have anything else. That said, consider the following:
• Triathlon Wetsuit – not only will it keep you warm during the winter months but it provides an incredible amount of additional buoyancy.
• Pull Boy - Placed between your thighs and used to improve your body position and allows you to rest your legs.
• Kick Float – Used during swim-kick training.
• Hand Paddles – Used to increase resistance when swimming and aid in developing a strong catch, pull and push phase.

Bike 90 KM.
The bike is where you can make up or lose the most amount of time. A professional would expect at Bahrain Challenge to come in under 2 hours 20 minutes and the best professionals under 2 hours.  A good time would be under 2 hours 50 minutes.  A strong bike leg can save you 30 – 40 minutes in a race. Again, you can’t win the event on the bike but you can make yourself competitive for the run.

Sounds obvious but you will need a bike.  There are many different types and advice can be found from specialist shops on the island. The two main ones I use are:
• TriLife  www.gotrilife.com
• Endura  www.endura-sc.com

But before you buy, check out Boardman Bikes at www.boardmanbikes-me.com
It is currently providing a great discount and will hand deliver your bike to you on the island and provide a really good follow-up service. Ask for Jason Bryan and tell him Andy in Bahrain recommended his shop.

Costs range from a few hundred dinars to thousands.  Take your time when looking but if you are serious about the sport then spending more early on will pay off in the long run. Make sure you buy a good helmet and get used to wearing it whenever you get on your bike. NEVER cycle without one, in a race it’s an immediate disqualification.
Cycling on the island can be dangerous. Think very carefully where you are going to cycle from. 

The south of the island is a good place with various loops available around the Zallaq and Al Jazir areas. Around the Oil and gas fields is also good but the roads are of varying quality.

There is even a good long route down to Durrat from Zallaq but take care on the highways. Cycle as part of a group but don’t get used to drafting as it is not permitted in most competitions. 

Try and avoid cycling late at night and in the dark. Early mornings from 5am is normally the best time.

Running.
Probably the simplest sport in that you only need a good pair of running shoes and the right attitude. Like the other sports you need to get the miles in if you hope to complete the full 40KM.

There will be three main types of runs. The standard road run which can be conducted almost anywhere and will be split up into interval or Fartlex (mixing up pace with recovery runs) sessions, brick runs (Bike to Run, where we train your legs to operate after a hard bike session) and track sessions. Don’t worry if you don’t have access to a track, although the one at Sh Khalifa Sports City is open in the evenings, just find an area of ground or road that is about 400m.