Posted: April 1, 2005

Sports Psychology: Why Triathlons Can be Frightening for Beginners

By Michelle Cleere, Sports Psychology Consultant

As a triathlon coach and a sports psychology consultant having worked with numerous first time triathletes there are two main things challenges that really get in the way for participants. The swim is almost always scary for first timers because many people who decide to join the ranks of triathloning have never swum before. And the time commitment in training for three sports is generally very daunting for beginners with busy schedules.

Many triathletes start out their athletic careers as runners and decide to move into doing triathlons because they want more of a challenge. Generally the thinking is as follows: cycling is no big deal but swimming, is a big deal and although swimming might draw them into the sport because it's a challenge it's also the biggest factor in scaring people from doing triathlons. The ocean is huge, big and scary and it's seemingly more of an unknown than cycling. The time commitment is another concern for many beginning triathletes. How do I find enough time to train for three individual sports? What ends up happening for many beginners is that instead of triathlon training being a nice relief/change from what they are currently participating in it becomes overwhelming and they grow resentful of it because they've emeshed themselves into something they were unprepared for.

Let's begin by talking about the swim from this perspective: you know you can do the bike and the run because although the bike might be a challenge it's one of those challenges that are within your realm of "an acceptable challenge" where swimming is probably not. Because cycling is new, doesn't it seem as challenging as the swim? Much of that has to do with your perception of each sport. Your perception of the bike is that you are sitting, assisted by a bike, exercising [seated exercise as I call it]. Now, that you can do and you can be successful at. Your perception of the swim is that it's hard, there's really no equipment to help you get through it, the ocean is scary and you aren't quite sure whether you are going to be capable of doing it. We each have an idea about who we are. If something doesn't fit into the perception of whom we think we are than it's almost out of our realm of understanding and we don't know what to do with it. This is known as self-efficacy. It's the belief in one's capabilities to execute the course of action required to produce certain attainments.

How do you deal with self-efficacy? Think back to a time when you thought there was NO WAY you were going to be able to do something, perhaps at work [because many times at work you don't have a choice about whether or not you can do it], but then realized you could do it and did it. The first step is to believe you can do whatever you want to do. Will you become an Olympic champion swimmer? Maybe although probably not but you will learn how to swim and become "successful" if you want to do triathlons. Defining success is another step in dealing with this. You don't want to set yourself up for failure which is easy to do when participating in something you have never done before. Set reasonable goals and allow yourself time to mature in your swimming. Don't be one of those people that set outrageous goals in order to fulfill your self fulfilling prophecy, thinking you can't do something. It's also important to think positively about your swimming and do some mental imagery around it, alongside working on the physical skills of swimming and putting the time in. I tell athletes to devote more time to the sport that is the most challenging; in this case swimming.

The time commitment is always another issue for most beginning triathletes. How do I find the time to train for three sports? Part of the answer to the question depends on what distance triathlon are you planning to train for. As a beginner I always tell people to start out small, don't worry about winning and just have fun; again, try to not set yourself up for failure. If you start out small, say a sprint triathlon, then you really can train more minimally than you might think, but it's all about setting your priorities and doing what's realistic. If doing a triathlon is important to you, plan your training, write your goals and allot the necessary time using time management skills [as you would for anything]. Maybe your time is what dictates the distance and how many triathlons you do a year and that is ok. You've heard the saying; it's not about winning or losing but how you play the game. This is also true for triathlons. If you are managing your time [taking into consideration the rest of your life], writing the appropriate goals and training program then the outcome will be a product of that.

We are such an all or nothing society. Triathlon is no exception to that. I have been caught up in the web of conducting my life as if all there was nothing but training and competing. It's knowing that you can do whatever you tell yourself you can do, sometimes better than you think and sometimes in less amount of time that seems likely. It's about finding the balance. The bottom line in all of this is that negative energy weighs us down and keeps us from productively moving forward. Whether that negative energy is in regards to self-efficacy or time management or getting caught up in winning and losing, negative energy is negative energy no matter what it looks like in your life. Here's an experiment, the next time you are at the pool talk negatively to yourself (I can't do this, I stink at swimming, I am never going to get better, etc) and write down how your body felt and how your swim went. The next time at the pool talk positively to yourself (I am smooth in the water, I feel great, my stroke is improving, relax, breath, etc) and then write down your experience. Now compare the experiences. I guarantee that experience #2 will be much easier and much more productive than experience #1. Much of that has to do with eliminating negative energy because negative energy tenses up your muscles and clogs your brain from being able start something new or to move positively, productively forward. It's also what stops people from following their dreams.

Michelle works is owner of Sports Minded, a Sports Psychology Consulting practice. She works with individuals and groups on performance enhancement. Michelle is an NASM-certified personal trainer and a USAT-certified triathlon coach. E-mail questions and comments to her at SportsMindedMC@aol.com or WomenWhoTri@aol.com.