The difference between ‘taking part’ in a triathlon and ‘racing’ one

Everyone who enters a triathlon has their own back story. Some are veteran triathletes; some are juniors who are now entering senior races; some are swimmers, runners, cyclists or adventure racers who dabble in triathlon; some are entirely new to all of the sports involved in triathlon; and some are entering one triathlon to achieve a personal goal or raise money for a charity. 

Whatever the reason someone enters a triathlon, on the day of the race there are those who are ‘taking part’ and those who are ‘racing’. Much of the reason for this stems from running races. People have gotten so used to taking part in 5km, 10km, 10 mile or longer running races and not expecting to do anything more than enjoy the day. The effect is similar but less strong for those who have previously taken part in cycling or swimming events. When you enter a triathlon, you need to ditch the ‘I’m only racing against myself’ mentality. There are two reasons for this.

Firstly, triathlons are races which give those who never excelled at individual sports, but were decent at all three disciplines (swimming, cycling and running) a chance. You might not win the race, but you will likely do much better than in single sport events and there are age group prizes to be claimed.  The beauty of triathlon is the levelling effect it has on those who are excellent at one of the three disciplines. Even the best runner will have little chance in a triathlon unless he or she can complete the swim and bike legs in reasonably competitive times. Train hard and get competitive in all three disciplines and you will quickly start to beat those concentrating on one discipline only. Put aside your pre-conceived ideas of where you think you should finish in any given race and just race, in a triathlon you’ll do better than you expect.

Secondly, by focusing on racing and setting out with the mentality of going as hard as you can for the entire race, rather than setting a goal and being happy to achieve it (even perhaps by slowing down a bit as runners do in marathons), you will find triathlon races are more enjoyable and you will go faster. If you feel like you are in a race, the entire event will go by in a flash. This is far better than setting out just to finish where you spend the whole time thinking about getting to the finish line, rather than on racing against the competitors around you. The racing mindset is a more enjoyable place to be. Those who set out with the race mentality will more often than not beat the time they had hoped for or be able to identify the areas of a race where they got it wrong and can go faster next time (e.g. drinking and eating enough, pacing, transitions, etc.).

Triathlons have become bucket list events for many people. They enter the sport; do a couple of triathlons and perhaps the mandatory Ironman race but, all the time, they are just taking part. If you are going to try triathlon, try racing. Don’t set your sights on a target you know you can achieve, but go out and do the best you can do. It is the racing which gets people addicted to triathlon – not the ‘taking part’.