The triathlon season is over for another year, so it's the time to focus your energies elsewhere. Autumn is an excellent time to think about your performances in the past year and to set goals for next season.Setting goals can be broken down
people so you motivate each other. Do a road or cross-country race and use the treadmills together at your local gym. Join a tri club and use the sessions and advice on offer." - Tim Don "Tell yourself that training in the miserable winter makes you a
-hour bike ride after work may seem daunting. However, an interval session of less than an hour can provide the same physiological benefit and can even be more fun to perform.Quality, not quantityWe know from sports science that it is possible to trade
. Capitalise on your fitness and the warm(ish) weather by entering some events that are different to those you'd usually do: shorter, longer, more hilly or in a great location you've always wanted to visit. Outside triathlon, there are plenty of ways
hours; and the weekends are cold, damp and miserable. Your first triathlon of the year may be months away. All things considered, staying in bed with a mug of hot chocolate has much more appeal than a bone-numbing bike ride. After all, missing one little
riding the shopping bike with the buckled wheels. How good could you be, you wonder, if you carried on training. Good enough to represent your country? If you're going to tri, you may as well try hard.One of the (many) great things about triathlon is its
. Compare some of the times at the Corus Disabled Triathlon Championships for 2008 and 2009, held over the usual sprint distance of 750m swim, 20K bike and 5K run: Tom Perkins (Tri 5 - see overleaf for the full British Triathlon classification system
, and they all get so much from listening to each other; it's very motivational," he says.2. Go the extra mile If you haven't changed your race distance since you started triathlons, then the chances are your training hasn't change much, either. Even if you
(the Ironman brand owner) has successfully marketed the race to ensure that anyone with enough determination can swim, bike and run the same course as their heroes. It has become an inclusive, welcoming event.Newsom says that triathlon, and Ironman
