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2011 Results

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Trimes Review

Click here for a glowing review of the 2011 Cornwall Triathlon.

TRIATHLON TRAINING FOR KIDS

For kids, a triathlon is like a typical summer day sandwiched between a start time and a finish line: a little swimming, a little biking and a little running around. The typical youth triathlon is very short and in fact contains less swimming, bicycling and running around than your child might do on a typical summer day. Training for a triathlon is therefore not primarily about getting in shape, as it is for most first-time adult triathletes. Rather, it's about preparing to have a fun and successful experience that will lead to a lifelong love affair with healthy activity. Here are a few useful tips.

1. Put safety first. As it is for any activity, the highest priority for your child's training is his or her safety. Be sure that your child is always properly supervised when swimming and that he or she bicycles and runs with safety in mind.

2. If your child is not yet a strong swimmer, this activity should be prioritized in training. The objective is to gradually build your child's swimming endurance to the point where he or she can comfortable cover the distance of the triathlon swim leg. You can make a fun game of it by challenging your child to swim just a little further with each visit to the pool. Stroke type is not important. While front crawl is fastest and more efficient, it takes time to learn. Also, if possible your child should practice swimming in a group as he or she will have to do on race day.

3. Work on pacing. If you've ever watched a children's one-mile fun run you know that every child in his or her first race starts at a full sprint, bonks almost immediately and ends up slogging the rest of the way. Explain the importance of even pacing to your child and have him or her work on it in practice. For example, you might run a mile together on the track, starting very slowly on the first lap, picking up the pace a little on each of the next two laps and running the last lap at a brisk tempo.

4. Work on transitions. The most unfamiliar aspect of your child's first triathlon will be the experience of transitioning straight from swimming to bicycling and from bicycling to running. Practising each of these two transitions beforehand is fun and will improve the chances that it will all go smoothly on race day.

5. Keep it fun! Kids often resist structure and associate it with chores, school and other "boring" activities. But games are structured too, and kids are always suckers for a good game. Proper triathlon training must be structured, but there's no reason it can't be structured as a game, and therefore fun. Each workout should have a clear objective and a format that allows your child to enjoy a "winning" experience.