A manual for triathlon

Swim, Bike, Run: Wes Hobson, Clark Campbell, Mike Vickers. Human Kinetics 2001. 254 pages paperback, £12.95. ISBN 9-780736-032889

As you'd suppose from the title, this is a manual on triathlon. It's well laid out and reasonably accessible, though there are some specifically American oddities. Chapter 1 is 'Balancing Workouts', but, we're told, 'training is different from working out'. The former is a 'detailed plan of success', the latter 'more of an activity'. This kind of sloppy thinking and writing can be confusing. But they're on the right lines in insisting that the keys are consistent training, quality over quantity, and maintaining good health with plenty of recovery. Wes Hobson, a professional triathlete, contributes his own horror story of chronic fatigue. Even Ironman contenders aren't advised to train more than around 19 hours a week. In a sport where proper feeding is vital, the nutrition chapter is a bit sketchy, but there are some interesting insights into American thinking: 'Food grown in the United States is better than imported food'. And I thought we were chauvinistic.

The chapter on general training offers the US 5-zone system and/or Perceived Exertion. The former requires a heart monitor to be properly effective, but the methods suggested for finding max heart rate, on which the Zone system is based, are unlikely to be very effective. In any case, although it's not pointed out, triathletes will have three different max heart rates.

The three sport-specific sections follow a common pattern: equipment, technique, and training, here called 'workouts' despite the distinction made in chapter 1. Confused? I was. The section on bike equipment would benefit from more illustrations, but the text is good and very detailed. Incidentally, beam bikes may offer greater comfort, but they also waste a lot of energy.

Most triathletes find cycling the most difficult sport in which to make progress. I can see why. Some of the advice given is the exact opposite of what experienced racing cyclists do – like shifting down from the big ring as late as possible on a steep hill. Follow this book and you'll be putting on too much pressure for the front changer to work. Like all such techniques, one ride is worth thousands of printed words, preferably in the company of people who know what they're doing and can pass on their knowledge. This chapter perpetuates the use of the non-word 'peleton', pronounced by Paul Sherwen (who should know better) 'pelly-tonn'. Who first mis-spelled it and/or mispronounced it, and why? Can't we agree to say 'group' or 'bunch', like we used to when I were a lad? The English have always been lousy ( pouilleux ) at French.

Incidentally, Hobson's ideas for 'sprucing up' a long training run (in company, in nice scenery, with music, away from traffic, etc) apply pretty much to cycling, too, except for the dog and the night. You remember, Watson, what the dog did in the night-time.

Training is organised on periodised linses, with plenty of sample four-week schedules for the three basic types of triathlon (sprint, Olympic, Ironman). A chapter on the by-now standard techniques of mental preparation – goal-setting, visualisation, imagery), and a last one on race-day at three different distances. A fanny pack, incidentally, is what we call a bum-bag. Just in case you were confused.

The book is just what it says it is on the cover. It's inexpensive, up-to-date and it's got all the information most people will need. What more do you want?

Ramin Minovi