Triathlon Training Articles
Long-form articles on training, race execution, and the decisions that move the needle for age-group athletes. No supplement reviews. No marginal gains theatre. Just the stuff that actually matters when you're training on limited hours with a real race on the calendar.
New here? Start with these guides:
• The Time-Crunched Triathlete: Maximising Limited Training Hours
• Why You’re Not Getting Faster: The Forgotten Role of Technical Skills in Triathlon
• Full Distance Race Strategy: Calm Execution Beats Chaos
• Strength Training for Triathletes: Build Strength and Crush Races
The Noise in the Kitchen: A Practical Guide to Training Nutrition
Most age-groupers eat the same thing on a rest day as they do on a threshold day, skip meals before early sessions, and spend money on supplements that replace nothing a fridge full of real food cannot do better. Here is what training nutrition actually looks like when you strip the noise away.
Beyond the Numbers: The 3 Durability Benchmarks That Build Real Performance
We have more sensors than sense. The modern triathlete is drowning in data yet becoming more fragile. Why? Because we are optimising for vanity metrics like FTP and VO2 Max, numbers that only matter when you are fresh. But the race doesn't happen in the first hour; it happens in the fourth. This manifesto challenges the "ceiling" mindset and introduces three benchmarks to measure your true Durability. Stop chasing the peak. Build the floor.
Structuring Your Season: The Science of A, B, and C Races
Racing without a strategic structure is biological trauma without a plan. How to use A, B, and C races to organise your season and peak when it matters.
Coming Back After Time Off: Why You Don’t Need to Start From Zero
Time off is part of real life as an age group triathlete. You don’t restart from zero, but you also don’t get to pretend nothing changed. This piece gives you a simple way to return to training without panic volume, hero sessions, or chasing old numbers too soon.
Mental Fatigue, Life Stress, And Why Your “Fresh” Legs Still Feel Heavy
Most age-groupers blame tired legs on fitness, but the real limiter is often a tired brain and a life that never lets up. This article unpacks central fatigue, life stress and poor sleep, and shows you how to use honest self-monitoring, better communication and smarter training structure to actually feel ready to perform.
Keeping Joy and Longevity in Triathlon: Why Athletes Burn Out Young, and How Age-Groupers Can Stay in the Sport for Decades
Athletes are retiring younger, not because they are weak but because sport can swallow everything. This article unpacks burnout, identity and joy in triathlon, and shows how age-groupers can protect their love of the sport and stay in it for decades, not just seasons.
Training with Rhythm: Female Physiology and Triathlon Performance (Part 2)
A practical guide to training with rhythm. Pacing, strength work, fuelling and recovery choices that fit real weeks, plus how to adjust when your body is not playing along. Useful if you’re tired of guessing.
Training with Rhythm: Female Physiology and Triathlon Performance (Part 1)
I discuss women's triathlon training, addressing common misconceptions and the significance of tailored approaches. Even though women have unique physiological characteristics, effective training principles like consistency and adaptation remain constant.
After the Finish Line: A Coach’s Guide to Navigating the Post-Race Period
Finishing a triathlon is a significant accomplishment, but the post-race phase demands attention. Athletes often face emotional lows, physical fatigue, and uncertainty about future goals. Effective recovery involves acknowledging feelings, reframing perspectives, avoiding common mistakes, and planning wisely for upcoming training cycles. Prioritizing recovery leads to long-term athletic success.
Triathlon Training in Your 40s, 50s, and Beyond
Triathlon is not exclusive to the young; athletes aged 40 and above can excel by understanding age-related changes in endurance performance. This article explores how to adapt training strategies, emphasizing continued fitness through strength training, managing intensity, prioritizing recovery, and maintaining proper technique. Embracing a growth mindset and redefining success can enhance performance at any age.
The Time-Crunched Triathlete: Maximising Limited Training Hours
You can train well on limited hours, but only if the week has a point. This piece shows how to prioritise sessions, build strength and skills, and stop wasting time on filler.
You’re Not “Overtrained”: You’re Underprepared or Misaligned
Many endurance athletes often mislabel their fatigue as Overtraining Syndrome (OTS), a rare condition. In reality, issues like inadequate nutrition, poor sleep, high life stress, and misaligned training plans frequently cause fatigue. Understanding these factors can lead to actionable solutions, allowing athletes to correct their approach and improve performance.
Coaching the Committed vs the Curious Athlete
Two athletes can train the same hours and get very different results. This piece breaks down the committed and the curious mindset, what each does well, and what tends to trip them up.
Triathlon Coaching That Gets You Faster & Stronger, Without Wasted Effort
Sense Endurance Coaching offers a results-oriented triathlon coaching approach focused on efficiency and performance. Head Coach Tom emphasizes smart training to enhance athletes' strength, technique, and race execution. The process includes initial consultations, personalized training plans, and continuous communication. Athletes are guided through all phases of preparation, ensuring tailored support and optimal race strategies.
What working with Brett Sutton taught me
With 15 years in triathlon, I founded Sense Endurance Coaching to simplify training, focusing on aerobic development and biomechanics. Using the Trisutto method, I emphasize manageable techniques under fatigue, low RPM cycling for strength, efficient running form, and mental resilience to build adaptable athletes. Results improve with a focus on fundamentals over metrics.
Effective Communication for Athletes and Coaches
Honest reporting, psychological safety, and why the athlete who manages their coach's response gets worse training. What the relationship actually needs to work.
The Long-Term Perspective
As the athletic season concludes, a focus on long-term development emerges, emphasizing consistency in training over years for peak performance. Endurance athletes must embrace gradual physiological and mental growth, recognize the significance of rest and reflection during off-seasons, and find joy in the process to sustain motivation and commitment towards their goals.
The Long Game: My Journey to Founding Sense Endurance
What Sense Endurance Coaching is, why it exists, and how I coach. Straight talk for time-crunched triathletes who want to train with purpose, get stronger where it matters, and race with calm execution. Expect clarity, not noise.