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Triathlon is a sport in which you swim, bike, and run consecutively, almost always in that order.

The recognized competitive distances are as follows, though many race directors create their own unique distances.

Sprint-        750 meter swim, 20 kilometer bike, 5 kilometer run

Olympic-    1.5 kilometer swim, 40 kilometer bike, 10 kilometer run

½ IronMan- 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run

IronMan-    2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, 26.2 mile run

History
Early triathlons were held as offbeat training exercises for runners.  The first known swim, bike, run triathlons were held at San Diego’s Mission Bay in 1974.
John Collins a U.S. Naval Officer, took the triathlon concept to the next level.  He combined three of Hawaii’s brutal endurance events-the Waikiki Rough Water Swim, the Around-Oahu Bike Ride and the Honolulu Marathon-into one race: the IronMan.

Only twelve men completed the first race held in January of 1978.  In 1979 13 men and one woman crossed the finish line.  Through the 80’s triathlon saw a tremendous increase in popularity with national publications and television coverage.  Since 1982, you now have to qualify in order to compete in the Hawaii IronMan.  The most popular of the events is still the Olympic distance with the sprint running a strong second.  That same year USA Triathlon was formed, triathlon’s national governing body; and the national racing series.

Triathlon Training
Training to do a triathlon is a great and exciting challenge.  Many athletes train five to six days a week, working on one or two of the three disciplines each day.

I am a USA Triathlon Certified Coach.  We do offer a variety of training packages for the various different events.  In addition we started a triathlon club called Monroe County Multi Sport.  If you are interested in more information on the Multi sport club check out our web site at www.monroemultisport.org we are a registered triathlon club with USA Triathlon.