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New to Triathlon? An AI Coach Will Help

By Gaelle Abecassis | Sep 5, 2023

Triathlons demand stamina and the ability to excel at three different sports back-to-back-to-back: swimming, cycling, and running. As such, one could argue that triathletes are the most complete endurance athletes around. Becoming a successful one takes hard work and commitment. It also takes specialized gear. You need swim gear, a suitable bike, cycling gear, running shoes, and running clothes. You need regular pool access (and a lake for at least one open water swim practice) and bike maintenance and repair skills. You also need time to train and time to recover. For Ironman distance triathlons, it can take years to build up the endurance to consider training for the distance, much less tackle the event. But put all that together, and you’re ready to go. Now, all you need is a plan. That’s where an AI coach can help. 

Three Ways AI Will Make You a Better Triathlete

Below are three ways your triathlon dreams will benefit from having a tech-enabled coach to guide you to each finish line.

1. Set a Baseline.

Sprint triathlons are most newbies' first entry into the sport. These short-distance races take top pro triathletes about an hour to finish and up to two hours for less fit or experienced athletes. The value of the sprint tri is that participants can finish the race with as little as 6-8 weeks of training. Free training plans are available all over the web. For most people, they work fine. But if you want to perform better than most people, AI can give you the edge you need.

You'll see two benefits from using an AI coach to create and monitor your training. First, the AI coach will design a plan for your age, fitness level, and available training time. Your plan may not be perfect yet, but it’ll be magnitudes better than the free one you found on a website. Second, the data collected from each completed training session helps inform upcoming sessions, and it’s used to continually improve and build toward your next event, whether it’s another sprint tri, an Olympic distance triathlon, or a half-ironman distance triathlon.

2. Maximize the Gains From Each Workout From Day One.

AI can construct a progressive training program from the data culled during the training from your first tri. From the first week, you’ll see workouts you can complete successfully — even if they look hard at first glance. And if you have an off day or miss a workout, the digital coach will instantly adjust your schedule and workout intensities to account for the setback. The guesswork is gone. All you need to do is provide your AI coach with timely and accurate data to process.

As you get closer to race day, the training plan will taper your workouts to let you recover and grow stronger in preparation for the big day. Tapering is different for everyone, but AI learning gives you a guide for your physical transformation into a triathlete. It will custom-tune your taper, delivering you to race day rested, primed, and physically prepared for your best performance.

3. Race With Confidence, Not a Prayer.

Race day is where the power of AI coaching truly shines. Thanks to the weeks and months of training with an AI coach, you’ll hit the start line knowing that you’ll not only finish, you’ll be primed to achieve your personal best. What seemed like an ambitious goal at the start of your training is now a very real objective. All you need to do is believe it and believe in yourself.

If you’re prepping for your first foray into the world of triathlon or looking to level up in the next race, Humango’s AI-powered coaching app will make sure you’re ready. Then, instead of arriving at a triathlon race wondering how well you could do, you’ll know what you can do.