How Charlotte makes triathlon training easy
In a half insane attempt to increase my cardio, without wanting to run another half marathon, my friend and I have decided to complete a sprint triathlon at the end of August.
A sprint triathlon is a 750-meter swim, 17.8-mile bike ride, and a 5K run. All seems doable by itself, right? But when you add it all together (I hear) it can be pretty challenging. Once we started looking at training programs, and reading all of these articles about how to train and where to train and what to wear and what kind of bike to use – I started to freak out a little bit. Luckily, we live in a city that is full of resources for everything you need to train.
Here are some resources I’ve found that are going to make the next few months much, much easier.
For swimming:
For me, the biggest hurdle in training is the swimming portion. I have an Olympic sized pool at my apartment complex – which is amazing on its own – but it’s hard to find times when I can really occupy the whole pool to swim (very slow) laps.
The YMCA is a great option. They have a pool with optimal hours for open-swim, spin classes, stationary bikes, treadmills and a track. The fact that they have options for each portion makes it the perfect spot for days when you are doing brick workouts (training for two of the three events back to back).
But – if you are not a member of the Y and don’t particularly feel ready to make that investment, Charlotte has some other great resources to get your swims in.
The Mecklenburg County Aquatics Center is one. You can come in for open swim hours, get in your laps, and pay a minimal drop-in fee for the use of the pool. You can also become a member for $36 a month and have unlimited access to the pool. This can be a much more affordable option than the Y (though it offers only the pool).
Last, but definitely not least, the U.S. National Whitewater Center offers open swims every Thursday night from 6:30-8 p.m. May through September. It’s free to the public, and allows you to actually practice an open water swim before the big day. Not to mention, you can have some brews after at River Jam and have the perfect Thursday night!
For biking:
Seemingly my second biggest challenge in this is that I simply don’t own a bike. While I am debating borrowing one from a friend, I was also doing some research and found that renting a nice road bike for the day is totally manageable. Queen City Cycles rents out really nice bikes from $40-$65 for the full day. Uptown Cycles also has a selection you can rent for $49 a day.
While I’m sure it’s highly recommended that you actually train on the bike you’ll be using, if a new bike isn’t in the cards for you – these are wonderful options.
If you, like me, are relying on indoor training for the riding portion – there are several spin studios throughout Charlotte with a wide range of classes to get your spin on. Flywheel and CycleBar are two of my favorites. They are definitely pricier than your YMCA variety classes – but they work you to the max and are sure to get you ready for race day!
For running:
Charlotte has no end to the options to get your runs in. You can hop on one of the many run clubs throughout the week, join a meet up group, or even just jump on one of the popular running loops throughout the city if you prefer solo runs.
The good thing about a sprint triathlon is that your runs are never going to be more than three miles – making it extremely easy to work this into run clubs. Below are a few of my personal favorites that are especially great when training for a run at this level:
Wednesdays – NoDa Brewing at 6:30 p.m.
1, 3 or 5 miles
Thursdays – Triple C Brewing Co. at 6:30 p.m.
This is totally customizable because you run along the Rail Trail – which makes it one of my personal favorites.
3, 4 or 5 miles (But really you can choose how far you go along the trail, here.)
Mondays – Heist Brewery at 6:30 p.m.
1, 3 or 5 miles
With all of the options available for running, swimming, and biking, I feel more confident that this is a challenge I’ll be able to accomplish. If you feel like joining in you can find more information about the Lake Norman YMCA Sprint Triathlon here.
Photo: Robert Lahser/Observer files
This story was originally published May 2, 2017 at 9:00 PM with the headline "How Charlotte makes triathlon training easy."