The Importance of Organization in Triathlon Training

Triathlon training is rife with so many details that you can become overwhelmed with the organization of workouts, data, and equipment. It is important to get a handle on the organization of your training so as to make it as smooth as possible. You can become overwhelmed by this aspect if you are not careful to sift through what is important and what is not important. Maximizing your performance on race day will take some strategic organization and planning.

Organizing Data

In the course of training for triathlons, you will have a lot of data. This data comes from any sports watch that you may have and includes heart rate, pace/speed, power, cadence, and stroke count. These data points can become a little overwhelming. Remembering that you want to see improvement over time will help you to keep organized. Getting a good data collection site is a must. Using Training Peaks or Garmin Connect among others will help to centralize your data and also assist in analyzing.

You do not have to look at this data every day, but it is important to look at it over time so as to see your improvement. Are you able to hold a certain running pace with a lower heart rate than a fitness test 6 weeks before? Can you improve on a 20 minute time trial on your bicycle trainer in terms of speed and power? These are the real issues for determining the proper use of data. Some sites will give you some analysis about your improvement over time.

Organizing Equipment

There is no shortage of equipment to maintain and organize in triathlon training. You have everything from your obvious choices such as run shoes, wetsuit, and bicycle. You also have some lesser known items like a running belt, heart rate monitor, and energy gels. Keeping all of this equipment organized can be an issue.

One of the items that seem to get in disarray is all of your training clothing. If you train consistently you will have a lot of training clothing. You will bicycle shorts, bicycle tops, running shorts, running tops, swimming shorts, jerseys, racing clothes, etc. I suggest making a specific place in your garage or closet to dry these items regularly and make sure they are maintained.

On race day, your organization will be pushed to the limit. Making good checklists in an app like Evernote will help you to always be prepared on race day. You do not want to get to a race and have left something at home. You don't want to have a sense of panic on race day that you don't have certain items. Make this accurate checklist and keep it handy for all your equipment.

Organizing Workouts

Your workouts will seem endless. You do not want to simply go out and swim, bike, and run without any plan. You will want to invest in or find free training plans and then keep them organized. Some sites such as Training Peaks will enable you to plan your workouts ahead of time. Your time is valuable and you will not always be able to do certain workouts because of constraints. If you are organized with a proper plan you can adjust and change your workout plan to another day.

Triathlon training is a long and arduous process, if you are not organized then you will struggle to make the most of your experience.