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
How to Swim Sense Endurance Style
This guide emphasizes the importance of efficient swimming for triathletes, highlighting the Sense Endurance approach. It outlines key techniques, including maintaining a neutral head position, effective hand movements, and utilizing body mechanics to enhance stroke power and conserve energy. Regular use of tools like pull buoys and paddles builds strength and rhythm essential for racing.
Why Lab Testing is a Waste of Money for Triathletes
Endless lab tests make you feel “serious” about your triathlon, but most of the time they give you numbers you don’t really use and training advice you don’t really follow. This article explains why lab testing is usually a poor investment for age-group triathletes and where your time, money, and energy are far better spent if you actually want to race faster.
Why Triathletes Overcomplicate Their Training
Triathletes often overcomplicate their training with gadgets and conflicting advice, leading to confusion and insecurity. Sense Endurance advocates for simplicity, focusing on fundamental training, reducing cognitive load, and trusting the process. By setting clear goals and limiting metrics, athletes can improve performance and enjoyment while developing confidence in their capabilities.
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.
When Training Goes Wrong: Reading the Signal, Not the Noise
One bad session is noise. A week of sessions that all feel harder than they should is a signal. How to tell the difference and what to do about each.
Your Marathon Fitness Won't Save Your Triathlon Run
In triathlons, running requires a different approach than standard races due to pre-fatigued muscles from swimming and biking. Emphasizing muscular endurance over speed, training focuses on sustained efforts and managing fatigue. This involves workouts like build runs and hill training, essential for optimizing performance and maintaining pace throughout the race.
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.
Secure and Insecure Strivers
The post discusses the distinction between "secure" and "insecure strivers" in triathlons. Insecure strivers seek validation through accomplishments, risking burnout and injury. In contrast, secure strivers focus on long-term growth, handling setbacks with resilience and a balanced approach. Coaches should nurture secure strivers to promote sustained success and fulfillment in the sport.
Race Report: Full Distance Challenge Almere-Amsterdam
Challenge Almere-Amsterdam in this race report is anything but tidy. A solid pre-race plan collides with a rough, chaotic swim, a steady bike leg ridden through surrounding noise, and a brutal run complicated by stomach issues. The target time slips away, but what remains is quiet pride in problem-solving all the way to the line and a reminder that long-distance racing is built on stubborn resilience as much as perfect splits.
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.
Race report: Ironman 70.3 Vichy
A straight account of what happened on the day and what it taught me. Pacing choices, how the race felt across swim, bike, and run, and the small execution decisions that mattered more than any perfect plan. Useful if you like lessons you can steal.
Learning to Endure
Endurance isn’t just fitness. It’s the ability to stay organised when it starts to bite, keep making good decisions, and hold your basics when your legs stop cooperating. This article is about building that capacity in training and carrying it into race day.
Don’t Let Perceived Perfection Be The Enemy Of Good
When working out, athletes may feel inclined to push themselves to the limit in every session. However, focusing on max effort can hinder long-term progress. It's crucial to recognise the significance of pacing, aerobic training, and listening to the body's needs. The real goal is consistent progress, not perfection in each workout.
Effective Swimming: Keep it simple and leave the circus at home
Fewer drills, more strength. Why paddles and pull buoys beat a bag of gadgets, and how to build a stroke that holds together at kilometre three of the race swim.
The Digital Delusion: Reclaiming Physiological Agency from Data Dependency
Triathletes are urged to reconsider their reliance on data devices such as watches, bike computers, and smart trainers. Sense advocates for a more enjoyable and performance-driven approach to training, emphasizing freedom and variety to improve overall athleticism. The use of ERG mode and excessive focus on data is discouraged, with emphasis placed on listening to one's body for optimal results.
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.