Table of Contents
Foreword Rachel Joyce xvii
Introduction xix
l Making The Decision To Become A Triathlete 1
How the Decision Happened to Me 2
Who Am I to Tell You … Anything? 6
I Can Do a Triathlon! Wait. Right Now? 25
The Three Tiers of Goals 27
2 Getting Started 41
The Great Gym Caper 43
All the Gear 46
Race Day Clothing 53
3 Coaching And Community 59
Taking the Coaching Plunge 59
4 Safety And Smartness 65
Be Smart 65
Be Safe 66
Become a Student of Triathlon 67
5 A Brief Interlude On Data 69
Heart Rate 69
Cadence and Stroke Rate 70
Pace and Speed 71
Power 72
6 The Swim 73
I Was Going to Swim! 74
The Swim for the Every Woman 76
7 The Bike 97
The Bike Itself 100
About the Bike 101
Time to Ride (Like, for Real) 105
Save Your Queen (and I'm Not Talking Chess) 110
How to Ride Your Bike 111
How Do You Get Faster and Better? 122
Basic Bike Maintenance 125
Common Cycling Issues and How to Avoid Them 129
8 The Run 133
Go Slow to Go Fast 134
9 Other Important Training Stuff 151
Stretching 151
Strength and Stability 152
Rest and Recovery 156
No Overtraining Allowed! 157
A Training Plan for Your Triathlon 158
Coming Attractions 159
10 The Mental Game 161
Panic. Bike. Walk. 162
You Are in Charge 168
Mental Badassery 168
Got Mantra? 169
See It, Believe It. 169
Doubt: The Enemy 170
Just Show Up 172
Focusing on What You Can Do 172
Bothersome Happiness 173
Self-Motivation 174
11 Mental Toughness: Not Just for the Pros 174
11 Nutrition And The Scale 177
Food. A Love Story. 177
Just Keep Trying 178
Keeping Track of What I Put in My Mouth 180
Nutrition and Triathlon Nutrition for the Every Woman 181
12 The Trifecta: Family, Work, And Triathlon 203
Doing It All 205
Marriage and Serious Relationships 207
Parenthood 213
Work 223
12 Tri Through Tough Times 227
Everyone Is Struggling 229
Working Through Injury 231
Working Through Burnout 235
DNS or DNF: Did Not Start or Finish 235
Triathlon as Healing 239
14 Lost In Transition 243
T1 244
T2 246
T3 247
15 Race Preparation And Race Day 249
The Taper 249
The Week Before: Pre-race! 250
The Day Before the Race 253
Race Day 256
The Hour Before 261
The Final Few Minutes 262
16 To Long-Distance Triathlon And Beyond 263
Set the Dream into Motion 264
On Race Day 265
After the Letdown 266
The Great Triathlon Beyond 273
Repeat After Me 275
Appendix A How To Speak Triathlon 277
Appendix B Your Training Plan 285
Notes 305
Acknowledgments 307
Index 309
