The Life Of A Triathlete: Year-Round, Athletes Train Physically + Mentally

Triathlons aren’t just for young or uber-athletes; these days, people of all ages and levels are joining in for the fun, camaraderie and fitness aspects.

Patty Simpson completed her first triathlon in her early 40s and launched Moms Who Tri in 2014 during a church dinner in Grand Junction. 

“You don’t have to be the best at any part of it,” Simpson says. “You can just enjoy it. It’s such a great community. And, for women specifically, it’s really empowering, because you think you can’t do it — our club started with a woman who didn’t know how to swim — but it’s empowering when you finish.”

While just about every amateur triathlete works or goes to school at least part time, if not full-time, scheduling training when you’re a mom adds an extra challenge. To overcome these challenges, Moms Who Tri bring their kids to training sessions, creating an even greater sense of community, and most wake up early; Courtney Barella gets up at 6 a.m. to fit in her workouts, and Simpson gets up between 3 to 4 a.m. 

“Goals and having something to train for kind of keeps me sane,” Barella shares, “and it’s so good for your physical and mental health.”

Training

While training programs vary for each triathlete — depending on age, goals and available time — a typical conditioning cycle usually involves three swims, three bikes and three runs lasting an hour to 90 minutes (runs may go up to three hours) for three weeks, followed by a recovery week with less intense exercise or complete rest. But, as Carbondale-based triathlete and personal trainer David Clark points out, “It doesn’t work the same for everybody.”

As he approaches the upper end of his age group, 64, he focuses more on the quality of the workouts and less on quantity. Rather than spending six hours a week doing long, easier rides, he might spend four hours a week cycling at higher intensity. Brian Smith, who lives in Gunnison and is in his late 40s, does the same. Instead of the 50 to 60 miles a week he used to run, he’s cut it down to 20 to 30. On a big week, he packs in 15 to 20 training hours, and on a “cruisy” week, he clocks in about 10. 60-year-old Simpson is also careful not to overtrain, so she focuses on biking and swimming, then runs 10 to 12 miles a week.

“I check in with how my body feels and what I’m doing next for training,” she says.

Torin Lackmann. Photo courtesy of Aidan Lyons

Meanwhile, 19-year-old Torin Lackmann trains with Colorado Mesa University in Grand Junction, where they usually run three hours a week, bike over 1.5 hours three times a week and swim three days a week, along with two weight sessions. She adds two extra running sessions and spends a lot of time cross-country and alpine skiing in the winter.

“I like getting outside in the winter, and cross-county skiing is good for bike cross-training,” Lackmann says. “I downhill ski a lot, because I enjoy it, and it makes your quads stronger.” 

Smith also alpine skis in the winter and has competed in winter triathlons, which combine running, biking and cross-country skiing.

“You come off a season of that, and you’ve got a pretty high level of fitness,” he says. “It’s really important to have a sport that people can use for cross-training. It’s healthier than being in a single sport.”

In fact, he relies on a variety of activities, so if his knees don’t feel great, he can limit his runs and focus on swimming or biking. Because he’s busy with his family and a full-time job, he and his wife, Jennifer, train in the kitchen on a bike trainer. Jennifer earned fourth in 2006 in the XTERRA World Championship, and he placed third in 2007.

In winter months, 55-year-old Karla Araneda of Moms Who Tri uses her Peloton app but still runs and rides outside.

“Even if it’s really cold, you can bundle up pretty good,” she says.  

For indoor training, Clark recommends apps like TrainerRoad, which, in addition to tracking things like heart rate, cadence and power output, controls bike trainers, making it harder to pedal at times; Zwift, where gaming meets fitness by allowing participants to compete with others around the world through structured workouts and a social community; and JAZ, which offers videos of specific outdoor rides that become harder or easier based on the terrain.  

He says treadmills have also advanced, providing curved surfaces that more accurately simulate running on ground. 

“A lot of things have come to the market that have made it easy to train year-round,” he says.

Brian Smith and wife Jennifer and their daughter. Photo courtesy of Xterra

Recovery 

“Recovery is where you get the benefit from the workout you’ve been doing, because in a sense, you’re breaking down your body (when training), causing microtears in muscle fibers,” Clark says. “During recovery, the body adapts to the stress and comes back stronger.”

Younger athletes like Lackmann can push harder and take less recovery time than older athletes, he says. Since Lackmann doesn’t race in the winter, she emphasizes longer training sessions to increase her aerobic conditioning and adds more weights for strength. 

“You can break down your muscles more, because they don’t have to function at their prime (for triathlons),” she says.

Still, she uses yoga, rollers and sleep to recover.

“(Sleep is) where the real magic occurs, and we get stronger, fitter, faster and healthier from all of our workouts,” Clark believes. “Most people don’t focus on sleep as a recovery tool, but it is likely the most beneficial.”

He also employs Dynamic Neuromuscular Stabilization, created by Dr. Pavel Kolar at the Prague School of Rehabilitation and based on movement patterns like crawling, reaching and standing up, which are naturally ingrained in everyone as babies.  

“It was mainly designed as an injury rehab protocol, but I use it as a recovery protocol, and it really works well for me and my athletes,” Clark says, adding that he prefers active movement, like laying on the floor or on a fitness ball and moving the body in all different directions and planes to static stretching. “Walking is one of the most underrated and best forms of recovery.” 

Athletes use percussion massagers, compression boots, rollers, magnesium and other supplements to increase blood flow and promote recovery. Araneda adds physical therapy, hot tubs and bioidentical hormones. Smith relies on two cups of Epsom salts in a bath nearly every night. 

“My legs feel 50% better from just a 20-minute soak. If you’re doing any running or pounding, Epsom salt baths are essential,” he states. “Especially being an older athlete, you can’t do enough recovery. We pretty much hit recovery from every angle.” 

Mental Prep

Both competing in and training for triathlons is mentally challenging, so athletes like Lackmann visualize successfully going through each part of their race, especially when it’s about a week away. She also practices mantras comprised of a couple words “to remind myself that I’m capable,” she shares. Lately, it's been: “You are strong.” She anticipates how that feels in a race and visualizes herself floating like a butterfly while running.

“A triathlon, to me, is the mind, body and spirit,” Simpson says. “It’s the whole thing, because you can’t have just one goal — the physical.”

In fact, Clark says that, physically, most people are capable of more than they think, “but it becomes a mental challenge of getting yourself out the door every day to do the training.”

He coaches time-crunched athletes and also advocates mental recovery, where athletes regroup and review all the good work they’ve done. And, he encourages doing activities like hiking or biking just for sheer pleasure, without any time constraints, measurements or goals.

Then, when it comes to the event, he tells competitors to have confidence in the training they’ve done, let go of expectations and adopt a mindset, and behaviors, that allow them to have fun in the process, like egging on the spectators to cheer. He reminds them that,

“Removing yourself from the intense focus of what you’re doing and trying to have fun and engage with it brings joy and fulfillment while you’re doing the event, rather than just after it.”

 Originally published in the Winter 2022-23 issue of Spoke+Blossom.