1. Hanging around in dirty kit after training
This one is so common. If we spent more than about 5 minutes after a training session in wet dirty kit, we'd get a hiding. You're asking to get ill. I see people leaving the gym in the kit they trained in with no shower all the time. In particular, there seem to be a lot of girls at the moment who wear their carefully co-ordinated gym outfits basically all day, including after training. That's grim. I appreciate you might not always have the shower and changing facilities if you're out training somewhere remote, but in a gym there's no excuse.

Good point, if you're cycling home then it would be a case of changing as soon as you got back. Personally I would probably still shower and bring clean kit to cycle home in, just out of habit. But it's when people either hang around for ages after training in dirty kit / travel home in a car or on public transport without changing that it becomes problematic. It's something we were particularly concerned with as rowers because more often than not your kit would be wet at the end of a session, and it just wasn't worth the risk of getting ill.

Ha! I had not considered that additional benefit. I stand corrected.

i think the opposite of #3 is also true,
#4 too much horrible, not enough easy. people out killing themselves every training session, running a 5k as fast as the can all the time, but never 10 miles easy, wondering why they aren't getting faster.

balance is the key here, just the right amount of horrible mixed in with the easy.

Fun Friday game for you all.

I'm pretty new to triathlon, but not new to competitive sport (my background is in swimming and rowing). Since starting tri training I've noticed that certain things universally mark you out as being an amateur, pretty much regardless of what sport you're doing. I'm definitely not talking about not having the best kit, or a flashy bike, or being a particular speed - I've got nothing but respect for the guy who blazes past me on a beat up hybrid, or the person who is slower but working really hard. What I'm talking about is your approach to training, and to looking after yourself so you can get the most out of whatever it is you like doing.

I'll start with a couple of examples of what I would consider rookie training mistakes:

1. Hanging around in dirty kit after training
This one is so common. If we spent more than about 5 minutes after a training session in wet dirty kit, we'd get a hiding. You're asking to get ill. I see people leaving the gym in the kit they trained in with no shower all the time. In particular, there seem to be a lot of girls at the moment who wear their carefully co-ordinated gym outfits basically all day, including after training. That's grim. I appreciate you might not always have the shower and changing facilities if you're out training somewhere remote, but in a gym there's no excuse.

2. Not knowing why you're doing the session you're doing
I had a coach once who would never tell us the purpose of our session, like it was a big secret only she was allowed to know. She didn't last long. She was followed by a coach who would sit down with us at the beginning of each session and explain what it was, and what we were trying to achieve. It made everyone so much more focused. I think far too many people aimlessly follow a plan they don't understand the purpose of, and then wonder why it's not working for them or they're stuck in a rut.

3. Too much easy, not enough horrible
I have a friendly nickname for when you're so gassed you can barely see. I call it "The Horrible Place". Over the years I've learned to love The Horrible Place, but I think it takes a while before you embrace its value. For many years, I thought I was doing the hard sessions properly, and couldn't understand why I wasn't getting any better. Turns out I was just sub consciously wussing out, even though I thought I wasn't. I've now learned that without The Horrible Place, I'm not going anywhere.

Add your own observations to the list. No gloating please, let's keep it civil.

At what point does a kit become dirty? 1 hr? 2? 3?

Should I bring extra kits to change in to on rides over 4 hrs so I don't get ill?


Will I get ill if I pee on the bike and din't change kits before the run during a race? Kind of kills the time savings of peeing...

And for that matter what do you do if you pee while running?

I don't see what wearing a dirty kit has anything to do with anything. You don't get a cold from being cold and wet.

No, but you do get all manner of unpleasant infections, both bacterial and fungal, particularly in shorts. You can pee your pants as much as you like but one of the most common causes of male thrush is sitting around in sweaty lycra for too long. So just have a shower.

And your kit becomes dirty when you've finished training. It's really not that complicated. I don't know why people are defending so vigorously their right to sit around in smelly kit.

training for the swim like you train for running = big mistake