In the third and final part of her series of articles on Swimming for the Triathlete, Sundial’s very own triathlete Amanda Goring, talks about avoiding pain and injury when competing.

Triathalon Injuries

The beauty of triathlon racing is that each discipline places different demands on the body and as such requires global training. It is not enough to simply train in one and expect that your increased cardiovascular fitness will carry you through to success in the others. It will not. Although swimming does not carry the risk of a sudden acute injury such as a calf strain from the bike or a hamstring injury from the run, it will place undue stresses throughout your postural muscles in general and in open water in particular carries a very real risk of muscle cramps which can be very dangerous and extremely painful. If persistant these can carry through to the bike and run, and speaking from personal experienc they can only get worse and may cause you to end your race early.

Triathalon Nutrition

Keeping on top of your nutrition is vital. As it is inadvised to drink or eat before the swim I will not mention sports nutrition supplement drinks etc in this article, but keeping a healthy, balanced diet with the correct amounts of carbohydrates, fats and proteins is so important long term. It is not enough to ‘be good’ a few days before a race. This is where a personal nutritionist can be useful. You can read every article under the sun but like they say, one size does not fit all. Your body may not metabolise food groups in the same way as another person’s and as your food is your fuel you need to take this seriously. After all, not all cars run on the same fuel so why should your engine?

Key points:

Practice for race day. Train in the same environment (pool vs open water based) in a similar size area (e.g. same size pool), and if you can around the same time of day.

Focus on core based exercises in the gym.

Warming up the whole body before the swim is of paramount importance.

Keep on top of your nutrition and be aware of the dangers of cramping.

Invest in a swimming  coach even if you are proficient at swimming, or even better sessions in an endless pool being filmed.

Next: the bike.