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What is a Triathlon?
Triathlon is a sport placing swimming, cycling and running back to back, in that order, and the official finish time includes the 'transition' time taken switching kit and equipment between each leg of the race. There are three main racing distances:What does aerobic training mean?
Aerobic training means long in duration yet low in intensity. Anaerobic activity is short in duration and high in intensity.
Aerobic means with air or oxygen. You should be able to carry on a short conversation while doing aerobic exercise. If you are gasping for air while talking, you are probably working anaerobically. When you work anaerobically, you will tire faster and are more likely to experience sore muscles after exercise is over.
At least 90% of your triathlon training should be spent at aerobic heart rates, particularly if you are an amateur athlete.
Aerobic exercise uses both sugar and fat as its fuel sources, which is most effective for weight loss.
"I tried absolutely everything apart from attempting to enjoy the new lifestyle.."
On the 19th August 2007 at 5'7" and weighing 9 stone, I gave up smoking for good. This I did after about 25 'pack years' of soul-searching and failed attempts at converting myself to a non-smoker, including the times I stopped for all my pregnancies. It actually never felt right being a non-smoker - there seemed to be a massive gap, even up to a year after stopping. I tried absolutely everything apart from attempting to enjoy the new lifestyle without tobacco; and as soon as I put on weight (or gave birth) I would reach for the cigarettes.
I was in a constant state of indecision. On the one hand, I loved to exercise and was very afraid of the harm I was doing to my body by smoking. On the other hand, it was a large part of my identity which I was afraid to let go of.
Then, back in August I decided to give it another shot because I wanted to do a one mile open water charity swim with some friends the following year. At the time I could only just manage 2 lengths of crawl before collapsing with hypoxia and sputum overload.
Becoming a strong swimmer was enough incentive to staying stopped. However, I still felt like a smoker who had given up for a little while, rather than a true non-smoker. Something in my psyche would not accept that this was forever. I felt lost. I needed a complete lifestyle change.
I signed up for a triathlon taking place in four months time.
Why a Triathlon for heaven's sake - couldn't I just take up gentle jogging? I hear you ask
Well, yes, but gentle jogging won't:
Fit people are usually in high spirits after lengthy exercise, sometimes to the point of elation or joy. This feeling is associated with the presence of endorphins, which are released by the pituitary gland in the brain
The word "endorphin" is a combination of "endo" and "morphine" - meaning endogenously (self) produced morphine, or internally produced painkiller. It may be that the brain interprets exercise as a form of "pain" or it may be that the rise in fatty acids caused by long, gentle exercise acidifies the blood, which triggers the release of endorphins.
In any case, you can get from exercise a natural high, similar to a drug high, but with none of the bad side effects. People who do long, continuous, gentle exercise enjoy the most effective stress therapy known to man.
How long and how hard do you have to exercise to get the endorphin high?
Most researchers have found that moderate-intensity exercise lasting at least 20 to 30 minutes produces the greatest increase of blood endorphins. So the key is to exercise slowly and aerobically. The biological explanation why you don't get the endorphin rush from short, fast bursts of exercise is that during high stress situations (running fast from a dangerous situation for example) your body can't afford to have your brain tripping off into fantasy land.