Triathlete Magazine's Complete Triathlon Book: The Training, Diet, Health, Equipment, and Safety Tips You Need to Do Your Best (Paperback)

by Matt Fitzgerald (Author) "In 1978, a small but spirited group of endurance athletes completed the first Ironman Triathlon (2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike, 26.2-mile run), just to see whether..." (more)
Key Phrases: Robert Oliver, Off Swim, Mark Allen (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
For those ambitious enough to voluntarily agree to swim, bike and run their way through a triathlon, Triathlete contributor Fitzgerald proposes this impressive, wide-ranging guide. Triathlon training is fairly standardized, says the author, with established principles and proven methods. Among the rules are "train for endurance" (even the shortest triathlons take at least an hour for the fastest athletes to compete), "train specifically" (compartmentalize to become efficient) and "rest and recover sufficiently" (after a body system's been overloaded, it needs to return to a state of balance). Fitzgerald follows these conventions with chapters on equipment, including hydrodynamic swimsuits and road bikes with clip-on aerobars; swim training, with in-depth explanations of freestyle techniques; maintaining a healthy lifestyle, describing various stretches and how to deal with injuries; and more. He even discusses mental training, reminding readers to keep a playful attitude. They'll need it, especially in the grueling final stretches.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review
Bearing the name of the most popular and extensive source for triathlon information, this "triathlon bible" covers everything anyone, from beginner to expert, would want to know about competing in the phenomenally popular swimming, bicycling, and running races. --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Wellness Central (March 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446679283
• ISBN-13: 978-0446679282
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #55,606 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  #14 in	Books > Sports > Individual Sports > Triathlon
  #23 in	Books > Health, Mind & Body > Exercise & Fitness > Triathlons

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great book for beginners, May 7, 2004

By	Trina P Steljes (Las Vegas, NV) - See all my reviews

I am a beginner triathlete and I really thought this book covered the basics and then some. I am a marathoner so I didn't really go over the running section but the bike and swim sections were great for learning basics and getting some drill and cycling advice.
However, the one obvious thing missing in this book for me was training schedules. Not one in the whole book! That is really what I was looking for as a beginner because I didn't quite know how to structure my workouts on a daily basis. I did find quite a few training schedules on the internet though, and I recently bought a book with training schedules in it, so it wasn't a big deal. I found this book to be very complete in all other aspects of the triathlon so far.

31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Intro to multisport, September 14, 2004

By	Paul H. (Michigan) - See all my reviews

I've run numerous races (including marathons) but I was new to the world of cycling and swimming. This book had just what I needed to get started and get going. I found the swim section especially useful and learned a great deal about what my stroke should look and feel like. The simple leasons took 3 minutes off my 750m pace (in the pool).
Some of the off beat advice (matching clothes) for example seemed a bit silly and directed to those jonesing. But in the end, this was a very useful book and got me through the Chicago Triathlon with out too much difficulty. Some of the lessons just have to be applied to be realized however (read here: Open water swimming!).
If this book would have had some serious training schedules in it, I would have given it 5 stars. It does contain a weak training bit right in the middle of the text, but it isn't all that helpful or informative.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very useful, February 4, 2004

By A Customer

This is one of the few books that really gives you some guidelines in how to put a training routine together. It explains in detail what to do according to the distance that you will be doing. It divides it according to your current fitness level, and according to the triathlon's distance. I reviewed several books in order to "get help" on as how to put a routine together, this was the best one by far. So, I really think this is a very useful book.