It's now less than 12 months before I have a go at my first middle distance triathlon, the Half Ironman. That in itself is a worrying thought, but at least it's 11 months away, and not 11 weeks - now that would be a cause for concern. Who decided that a half ironman was middle distance? I bet it doesn't feel like middle distance when you're out there, half way through the run with 10 kilometres still to go. Yes, I know that a full ironman is considered long distance, but really - middle distance? It sounds as unglamorous as "middle age".
Anyway, there are no shortage of triathlon training books on the library shelves, should you need some guidance. I have to say I do dip into them occasionally, if only to discover the things I'm doing wrong with my own self-led training. I have tried to do the group exercise thing with swimming and running, just to see if it helped, but I found myself daunted by the prowess of the other group members, and so didn't continue with that idea. Training by yourself isn't for everyone, I agree, but it beats having to make friendly conversation - have you tried that when you're out of breath? It's all to do with the psychology, and if you wanted to work on your sports psychology, the library - naturally - has that covered.
If you would like a bit of help with your own running activities, you could try this book - 80/20 Running. The subtitle is "Run Stronger And Race Faster By Training Slower". Anything that involves running slowly would have to be right up my street. Can I also recommend the American edition of Runner's World magazine, not only because of the excellent content, but because of their endpiece article every month, written by John Bingham, aka 'the Penguin', who is an unrepentant advocate of slow running. For a comprehensive look at the whole subject of running and how to do it right, there's Running Science. Just don't take it too seriously - it's supposed to be fun, after all.
For more about Colin's triathlon endeavours and some reading suggestions, check out our other triathlon blog posts.
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