My Tri Training: First Jog

Next week officially kicks off the 12 week training plan I'll be following for the triathlon sprint I've signed up for, so this week (week 13), I'm loosely following it to get a feel for what's to come.

• Click here to view the plan

The running portion of the sprint triathlon is 3.1 miles (5k), which absolutely seems doable. However, after all the videos I've seen and reading I've been doing, trying to run after biking 12.4 miles is a very difficult task if you don't include it in your training. Commonly referred to as "Brick" training (Bike ride immediately followed by a run).

Today's plan was 20 mins of easy jogging. I haven't been jogging in quite some time so about 4-5 mins in I was definitely feeling it and stopped for a beat. I stopped again about 10 mins in and then at 15 mins, each time for about 30 - 45 seconds before getting back to it. Finished it up and hoping to run it with no breaks next time.

Tips Include:

• If you're planning to run in your neighborhood, take a drive and map out a course that's a standard distance (1/4, 1/2 or 1 mile). Use this for your runs and you'll be able to time yourself and know the distance you covered

• Warm-up and stretch before your run

• Wear the right type of shoes to avoid injury

• Bring water

• Skip the music/headphones now, or down the road. You won't have them during the race, so learning to do it without will help

• Try not to focus on the fact you'll be swimming in open water with sharks.