What Three Sports Make Up the Triathlon?

The first stage of a triathlon is swimming. Usually, the swimming portion of the race is held in open water. Because triathlons are not always held in warm places, many participants use wetsuits. Manufacturers have actually developed wetsuits specifically for triathlons that are easy to change out of for the next leg of the race. Contestants regularly use different strokes to cope with the waves and keep track of the markers in the water when swimming . The triathlon participants are required to wear swimming caps, which are issued by the triathlon. These caps help to indentify the swimmers in the water. The length of the swimming portion can vary anywhere from several hundred meters to four kilometers.

After completing the swimming section, the contestants change as quickly as possible and jump onto their bicycles for the cycling portion of the race. Triathlon bicycles are specially designed to be aerodynamic and to keep the muscles loose for the running portion of the triathlon. Usually, the cycling portion of the triathlon is held on public roads. These roads are not always closed to traffic, though they usually have officials there to keep an eye out for vehicles and protect the cyclists. The bicycling portion is the longest section of the triathlon by far. This segment of the race is between eight to 180 kilometers depending on what type of triathlon it is.

The final part of the triathlon is the running segment. At this point, the athlete has already spent hours putting his or her body through strenuous exercise and is exhausted. Many athletes find that their muscles are worn out when they start running and are surprised at how much slower they run compared to their usual speed. Pain in the leg muscles from the buildup of lactic acid is not unusual. One way that the contestants prepare for this is to practice cross-training; they have workouts in which they bicycle then run in order to train their bodies for this type of strain.

One of the most famous and grueling triathlons is the Ironman. There are various Ironman competitions held in different places around the world, although the first one was in Hawaii. In an Ironman competition, the participants swim for 3.8 kilometers, bike 180 kilometers, and run 42.2 kilometers. The triathlon first became an Olympic sport at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia. A triathlon is a way for athletes to test and prove their strength and endurance. Although these grueling races are not for everyone, they are a way for serious athletes to challenge themselves.