A triathlon is simply three sports done one after the next, with no break in between. In most triathlons, first you swim, most often in open water; then bicycle; then run. You are timed for the whole thing, so learning how to move quickly from one sport to the next is part of the challenge. Not so easy, I discovered in my first triathlon, as my head spun and ears rang after emerging from the FRIGID Lake Sammamish swim. Pulling off my sticky wetsuit and gathering my wits and balance to hop on my bike took some focus.
There are several distances of triathlons, kinda like with running you've got your 5k, your 10k, your half marathon, and then the full marathon...and then for the crazies, the ultramarathon.
In triathlon, it usually goes:
Sprint Distance: .5 mile swim, 13 mile bike, 3 mile run
Olympic Distance: 1 mile swim, 26 mile bike, 6 mile run
Long Distance or Half Iron: 1.5 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13 mile run
IronMan: 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, 26 mile run (yes, you read that right: you polish off a day of racing with a marathon.
You can see the distances essentially double each time you get to the longer races.
They take a while to complete. My first triathlon, which was the Issaquah Triathlon in June 2010, I completed in 1: 32. And I was smack in the middle of the pack. Other women my age completed the race in anywhere from an hour to 2:30 hours. The Ironman closes the course after 17 hours, but the elite pros finish in amazing times of 8-9 hours. Simply amazing.
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