The weather is heating up and so is the racing! On 26 January 2022, Triathlon ACT and SportsCare are bringing the Australia Day Aquathlon to the shores of Lake Burley Griffin for the SportsCare Oz Day Aqua Fest. Come join us on race day, leave the bike at home, and race the short (250m swim & 2.5k run) or long (500m swim & 5k run) course. But first, you need to prepare for the day. Whether you are new to triathlon/aquathlons or have been racing for years, the great news is the training isn’t complicated and will aid in future races. It’s a great reason to work on your top-end speed and transitions, as well as just have fun!
While you don’t require too much equipment to race an aquathlon, a few essential pieces are important:
- Swimmers (and tri top) or tri suit
- Swimming goggles
- Racing shoes (highly recommend elasticised shoe laces for a fast and easy transition and run leg so you don’t have to stop and re-do up your laces mid run)
- Socks (optional and not required)
- Watch (optional, but does it count if you don’t record it?!)
The most challenging part of an aquathlon is the ability to quickly adjust from the swim to the run. Managing to adjust the change in breathing after the swim leg to running, as well as getting the legs capable of turning over at a fast pace and holding your weight up after being horizontal and weight-less in the water are the key challenges. For this reason, some specific training is recommended, to achieve a fun and successful result -
Step one: Separate the two legs and focus on speed
Build up to the race distance and be capable of swimming further at an easier pace. Then, because of the style of racing, you will need to practice swimming the distance at a high intensity to get use to being uncomfortable.
Step two: Fast transitions
A quality transition means you run out of transition with or ahead of the group you swam with, and this can significantly help your run as you then try to stay ahead.Practice at home running a short distance to your shoes before putting them on and going for your run. Then try adding quick transitions after swim sets.
Step three: Swim to quick transitions & short runs out of the water
Once you have the individual legs and transitions sorted, then bring it together at a higher intensity. I recommend starting with a short, max-effort swim (approximately 200m race pace swim, including a really hard final 100m focusing on quick kicking), then running out of the water at speed, quickly putting on your shoes and then a short hard max-effort 1k run out of transition. Practice a few times; building from below race pace to above race pace.
Step four: Bring it all together
Prior to the day you want to complete a race simulation, so you feel comfortable putting it all together as well as pushing through the uncomfortable feeling, which is so normal when transitioning from the swim to run leg. The race simulation should be hard but doesn’t have to be race distance. For example if you are racing the long course then have a go at 5min out and back lake swim, placing the shoes 100m from the waters edge so you can sprint out of the water to your shoes, complete a quick transition into your shoes, and then into a hard 3k max effort run. Focus on leg turn over, and getting the heart rate and breathing under-control.
Please see below a generalised training program for both the short and long course races to be held on Wednesday 26 January 2022:
Long course program (500m swim, 5k run)
Week beginning 27 Dec:
Swim 1: 400m: 8 x 50m freestyle (F/S) easy (30sec rest) (recommend a buoy)
Run 1: 3 x 1k easy (3min walk in between)
Swim 2: 400m: 8 x 50m F/S easy (30sec rest) (recommend a buoy)
Run 2: 3 x 1k easy (3min walk in between)
Week beginning 3 Jan:
Swim 1: 600m: 12 x 50m F/S easy (30sec rest) (no buoy)
Run 1: 4 x 1k easy (3min walk in between)
Swim 2: 500m: 5 x 100m F/S easy (1min rest) (recommend a buoy)
Run 2: 4 x 1k moderate (3min walk in between)
Week beginning 10 Jan:
Swim 1: 600m: 12 x 50m F/S hard (30sec rest) (no buoy)
Run 1: 6 x 1k moderate (2min walk in between)
Run 2: 4k straight, moderate pace
Swim 2: 600m: 6 x 100m F/S moderate (1min rest) (no buoy)
Week beginning 17 Jan:
Swim 1: 600m: 6 x 100m F/S hard (1min rest) (no buoy)
Run 1: 4 x 1k hard (3min walk in between)
Swim 2: 500m straight, moderate pace (no buoy)
Weekend - Brick: 2 x (300m swim to quick transition to 2k run hard)
Week beginning 24 Jan:
Swim 1: 400m: 4 x 100m F/S (50m easy, 50m hard) (30sec rest) (no buoy)
Wed 26 Jan: Race Day - 500m Swim; 5k run
Short course program (250m swim, 2.5k run)
Week beginning 27 Dec:
Swim 1: 300m: 6 x 50m F/S easy (1min rest) (recommend a buoy)
Run 1: 4 x 500m easy (3min walk in between)
Swim 2: 300m: 6 x 50m F/S moderate (1min rest) (recommend a buoy)
Run 2: 6 x 500m easy (3min walk in between)
Week beginning 3 Jan:
Swim 1: 400m: 8 x 50m F/S moderate (1min rest) (no buoy)
Run 1: 3 x 1k easy (2min walk in between)
Swim 2: 300m: 3 x 100m F/S easy (2min rest) (recommend a buoy)
Run 2: 3 x 1k moderate (3min walk in between)
Week beginning 10 Jan:
Swim 1: 500m: 10 x 50m F/S hard (1min rest) (no buoy)
Run 1: 2 x 2k moderate (3min walk in between)
Swim 2: 400m: 4 x 100m F/S moderate (1min rest) (no buoy)
Run 2: 4 x 1k hard (3min walk in between)
Week beginning 17 Jan:
Swim 1: 400m: 2 x 200m F/S moderate (1min rest) (no buoy)
Run 1: 3k straight
Swim 2: 300m straight, moderate (final 100m see if you can push a little harder)
Weekend - Brick: 2 x (200m swim to quick transition to 1.5k run hard)
Week beginning 24 Jan:
Swim 1: 300m: 6 x 50m F/S hard (2min rest) (no buoy)
Wed 26 Jan: Race Day - 250m Swim; 2.5k run
Good luck with the training and we hope to see you on Wednesday 26 January for the SportsCare Oz Day Aqua Fest!
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