May 19, 2025 • 41 mins
🎙️ Episode 2 – Couch to Tri: Starting Your Triathlon Journey
In this episode of Tri2Thrive, Chris and Dennis explore what it really takes to go from zero to triathlon. From awkward first swims to finding consistency in training, they share personal stories, beginner pitfalls, and key lessons from their own journeys.
You’ll hear:
- How they started from scratch and what kept them motivated
- Why swimming is often the hardest — and most humbling — first step
- The role of community, coaching, and consistency
- Tips on building habits, training at the right intensity, and setting realistic goals
- A few laughs, personal confessions, and a whole lot of encouragement
Whether you're thinking of signing up for your first sprint triathlon or just looking to build better fitness habits, this one's for you.
🎧 Tune in, get inspired, and start thriving — one step at a time.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Welcome to Try to thrive the podcast where passion meets endurance.
(00:04):
And every finish line is just the beginning.
We're here to inspire, challenge, and share our journey through swim, bike, run, and beyond.
Hello and welcome to another episode of Try to Thrive.
Thank you for listening once again to Chris.
(00:25):
And myself.
My name is Dennis, and today we will be talking about a very interesting topic in my opinion, which is couch to try starting your triathlon journey.
Isn't that about it? Yes, it is.
It is.
Great.
And welcome from my side as well.
(00:45):
My name is Chris.
Thank you for tuning into our second episode, Dennis, where are we right now? Hmm.
We are right now in Krakow, uh, close to Bonia.
For those of you who know where Bonia is, you are lucky.
(01:07):
It's very close to a very nice park in Krakow, where we also run very regularly.
But today we went swimming exactly and very often.
Swimming is also the point, uh, that makes it very difficult.
With triathlon.
I don't know how exactly it is for you, Chris, but for me, swimming was very difficult.
(01:29):
Yeah.
And that brings us back to the topic, right? So when I started triathlon, I mean, I knew how to swim.
In my mind I thought I knew it, and the reality was totally different.
So usually when I started swimming, I said, look, easygoing before the work, let me just go to a.
(01:50):
Swimming pool, start swimming a little bit.
And of course, I was not swimming the full stroke.
I was swimming, breast stroke, and I felt very comfortable with that, although I saw a lot of people around me doing full stroke.
And I said to myself, all right, that is if I want to improve and if I want to get faster, I need to learn how to swim properly.
(02:15):
So I started to swim myself.
And it was a total disaster, 25 meters, and I was done.
How did you feel? Exhausted.
Exhausted.
And like, besides being exhausted, H how was the feeling afterwards? Like I, I mean, you feel great.
(02:38):
You still felt great.
Okay.
For me it was different, similar, like you, my freestyle technique was.
Non-existent.
Yeah, I was okay at, uh, breast stroke.
So yeah.
Here I, I I was able to swim forward.
Yeah.
Not fast, but, uh, yeah, I, I could swim not being exhausted, but with the, the normal freestyle technique, which we want to do at, at a triathlon.
(03:07):
Yeah.
I was only able to do 25 meters and then I needed a break or 200 meters of breast stroke.
And I felt exhausted, but afterwards, of course, like the feeling was I was like mad.
I was angry.
I couldn't do it.
I was so bad at it.
And that's what we want to talk about today.
So how can you go from your couch to being able to do triathlon, not only once, but continuously? Yes, and I think what is very important in anything, it's not only when it comes to sport, but you need to have a feeling that you achieve something over time and you get better.
(03:50):
So now let's talk about again about the swimming topic.
So I was swimming still breast stroke because I felt comfortable and usually you do not do the things that are exhausting, although in most cases this is exactly what you need to do in your training.
So I observed couple after couple of swimming lessons that I did with myself, only that there are some trainers in the morning.
(04:17):
So I approached one and asked him if he wants to do lessons for me, and we agreed on a specific date, specific time, and now I'm going to the trainer since half a year.
And man, I can tell you when I compare where I started and where I am right now, it's still not good.
(04:39):
My trainer said something really nice.
He said, most of the people know how to move in the water, but a lot of people do not know how to swim.
I know now what is needed from a, from a movement perspective, but it's still problematic to coordinate that all at the same time.
(04:59):
It, it's, it's quite challenging still, but I like it.
Because I see the progress.
How about you, Dennis? I, I agree.
Like when you want to learn how to swim, I think there are like three, three elements.
Like first you need to understand then yourself, need to feel it, and then, yeah, you need to be able to change what you, what you, what you feel.
(05:25):
So, and, and that's very complicated with swimming because most of the time when people start swimming, we.
We tend to use our legs a lot.
Mm-hmm.
And you just have to, you have to have feedback from someone.
Uh, I had a similar approach to, to learning how to swim.
(05:46):
Like Chris, I went to a lot of different, uh, trainers.
So, uh, I.
At the moment, I work together with, uh, actually three different swim trainers.
One, one is my coach, actually my triathlon coach, um, who gives me feedback, uh, with, uh, yeah, watching my videos because he, he lives far away.
(06:12):
And then there are two, two swimming coaches I, I see regular regularly right now.
And.
That gave me the biggest boost to just say like, Hey, yeah, okay, I invest my time once a week or every other week.
Uh, and you get feedback and yeah, you, you, you put in the work and you try to just make some microscopic improvements and it adds up over time.
(06:43):
And it's the journey.
It's a process like.
Chris said, when you, when you just want to take care of the process, you will, you will continue to get better.
I'm not saying I'm feeling always very good in the water, but there is some progress and that's very fulfilling when you, when you start swimming and you're not able to swim 25 meters.
(07:12):
And you go regularly to the pool, and then after half a year you are actually able to swim 1000 meters without stopping freestyle.
I'm not saying that it's fast, but, but I still remember from the first episode You are faster than the old ladies right now.
Yes.
Nowadays.
(07:32):
Nowadays.
Now.
Yes.
Yes.
You know, Dennis, what I wanted to point out, what is also very important for me.
Which helped me, and I think this is also very important when it comes to starting and to stay motivated.
You do that with your trainer, that's fine.
You go regularly swimming, but if you have a team and that continuously check on the status where you have some conversation like we have right now.
(08:02):
It is super nice and that motivates you.
Otherwise, I wouldn't know if I would get up at 4:00 AM like today and then be at your place at six.
So we go swimming.
If I would do that alone, I don't know.
Right? But that motivates me that we meet, that we spend some time together.
You check how I swim.
(08:24):
I check how you swim.
We give each other advices and that is super nice.
And it's not only for swimming, the same can be repeated for running as well as for cycling.
Do some trips together.
If you have a local club or some friends that share the same that say, share the same motivation or goals in you and to try it on that is super nice and that motivates a lot.
(08:49):
Exactly.
Exactly.
And that's, uh, that's very important when you, when you have a group of people, a community.
Right.
Uh, and that's exactly also the reason why we started, started talking about swimming.
Uh, eat the fork first.
So it's, uh, it's very hard.
It's, I think the hardest part at triathlon is swimming and a lot of people are afraid of swimming.
(09:14):
I know a lot of people that are good at running or good at cycling, and then they say like, yeah, no, but I dunno how to swim.
My swimming is bad here.
It's also a mindset question because, because I go with, uh, a certain mindset into it, a certain belief that, uh, doesn't even allow me to, to get into the process of improving myself in swimming because I just accept that I'm bad.
(09:37):
And here, if you have a group of people that are, it is supportive, uh, you meet with them regularly, you can talk with them.
Everyone wants to thrive.
Mm-hmm.
And that's exactly, that's in my opinion, first major step towards a triathlon.
(09:57):
Find people that you can connect with that, uh, help you.
Of course it's a coach in swimming.
If you, if you're not a swimmer, which most of us are not swimmers, uh, even if you are able to swim freestyle, much likely you will not be a very good swimmer.
(10:18):
You need a coach or someone else who helps you regularly and the community.
Some people like we have, we meet regularly.
We give each other feedback.
We talk about training.
Uh.
That's one of the first steps.
Find, find, uh, people that are wired in a similar way.
Find people that are better than you, and usually people like to help each other.
(10:40):
Like I, I like to help each other, like other people.
Uh, a lot of people help me.
Um, I have one person, which for sure at some point will be here in our podcast too.
He helped me a lot with giving me so many different information.
We went swimming together and, uh.
We became very close friends, good friends, only because, uh, we do the same sports and now we share not only sports, but even more because we are in the process, in the process together.
(11:12):
So that's very cool.
And from my perspective, that's my first advice.
I.
What do you think, Chris? I 100% agree with you and I enjoy it a lot because you get to know other people.
I mean, we are in, we have several people here in Krakow as well that I, I think I wouldn't know if I wouldn't get into that.
(11:34):
So the community grows, you learn, you get to know better, um, other people and that is super nice.
But, okay, so we started about talking.
How to swim a little bit.
Yeah.
How to get started.
So we went to the topic of exactly, because its the hardest one I, I think we should get now because we were, we talked about swimming.
(11:56):
Swimming is like, yeah.
You're kind of the hardest thing in my opinion.
Yeah.
Uh, in triathlon.
So now we should talk a little bit about the couch.
The couch, uh, which is, for me, a couch stands for resting.
Sometimes it is also very, very important to stay motivated for your mental health as well, to rest, to give your body sometime to recover.
(12:21):
So recovery is super important as well, that I learned myself as well.
Often you are overtrained sometimes.
But your mental health or your mental state says you need to do your training.
You, you need to make it.
Um, but sometimes if you don't feel well, I mean, yeah, we had that already at the discussion.
(12:41):
Uh, and sometimes it's good to give your body a little bit of freedom and, you know, to stay on the couch, but.
I absolutely agree with what you want to say.
Most probably, Dennis.
You need to stay on top of your training plan and you need to to focus on getting certain trainings done, otherwise, you will not be able to improve.
(13:02):
I.
What do you think? I agree with you 100% that it's recovery is very important and, uh, the couch, laying on the couch and relaxing Yeah.
Is also very important.
Uh, I see it for, for this episode.
I see the couch more as, uh, it's a metaphor for people that.
(13:23):
They're not really doing anything now from couch to triathlon, and I would like to talk about the couch in this way.
How can we.
How can we get away from the couch? Because much likely, uh, the people we are addressing with this episode, they're not over training right now.
(13:45):
Yeah.
I mean, it depends.
You know, someone can be very good and already and, but he doesn't do triathlon, but.
Uh, the first steps usually are the hardest, and yeah.
Now me personally, I train at least once a day, very often, twice a day, or three times per day.
(14:05):
But, you know, before I started training, I wasn't able to train every day.
And here is again, is a process.
So how do we get from the couch? Somehow closer to the triathlon.
Not only focusing now on the swimming part, but just in general.
(14:26):
Chris, what do you think? You train a lot already.
Mm-hmm.
Uh, you started, when did you start to train Chris? What is your experience and how did you do it? Because I know before you didn't, you weren't very active.
Let's call it like this.
Ah, yes, that is true, Dennis.
That is, that's for fact.
(14:47):
So I come from running and for me it was easy to continue with that right to, so to get a little, to get a little bit better in terms of my physical activity, I started doing that again, what I knew.
Mm-hmm.
So I started running and on top of it, I added a little bit of swimming in the morning.
(15:13):
You know, I wasn't training every day, but at least I was training three times per week and on the weekend as well.
Mm-hmm.
So three to four times.
Three to four times.
Yeah.
So I continued with running and then started to add swimming As I started, I.
In the, uh, in the winter season, it was a little bit hard to start biking and I didn't have the right equipment as well, so I didn't have to bike to that point in time.
(15:40):
But again, I had the, I know what I wanted to do.
I want, I know that I wanted to go for a triathlon, so I went to the gym.
And use the bikes in the gym as well.
So to get a little bit of a feeling how the movement is different because each and every sport, you know, swimming, biking, running, it's totally different from each other.
(16:03):
So I started to, um, do it in, in that way.
And of course now I have a proper bike.
Uh, but this is how I started.
Mm-hmm.
So, to sum up, I started with, with what I knew best, which was for me running.
Then I added on top the swimming.
I'm still improving it with a trainer, and then I added slowly the biking and now I'm able to do, as you said, minimum one, one time per day sport.
(16:31):
For example, I go in the morning like we did today.
We, I go swimming in the evening, I go biking or running or whatever.
And when you, when you had this change in your life, how, how did you feel? W when you started training three, four times per week, and how did your trainings look like? What do you think was good and what could you, could you have done better? And what can you tell a listener that perhaps, yeah, doesn't do much sport, or didn't do much sport and you want to give some advice here? Start, start training.
(17:12):
How could you do it with, uh, you know, in a way.
That, uh, will help the person to keep going and not overdo in the beginning.
Good point.
And you know, Dennis, right now we live in a age of ai, so we have, um, a lot of opportunities and access to easy information.
(17:36):
What I started to leverage as well, is some large language models and everyone minimum heard about chat, GPT.
And an advice I haven't done to that point in time.
I could have asked Chad G.
PT that I am not a triad lead and I want to get started.
But to draft a little bit of a rough plan, training plan, how to do it, I was doing it more or less freestyle.
(18:03):
I started using, or I started doing sports when I was thinking I should, when I didn't feel well, I wasn't then yeah, continuing with the activity I had planned.
So having a proper plan, even from the beginning is essential to keep motivated.
(18:23):
And to also monitor the progress.
What is also important is to write a little bit down how you feel so that you can check from time to time what is the improvement.
So this is the advice I would give the listeners.
What about you? How did you start and how, how do you feel right now? Mm-hmm.
(18:45):
What is your advice that you could give someone? So, how did, how did I start? Um, for me it was similar like you, uh, first I started, uh, I was always cycling even, even if I didn't cycle a lot.
I was always from time to time on the bike, on some bike tours.
(19:07):
And so I, I never really stopped with cycling.
Uh, and when I got back into sports, first it was gym, uh, and then.
It was, uh, running more 'cause it was also winter time.
Uh, so I didn't really want to go out, uh, on, uh, bike rides when it's cold.
(19:31):
And I didn't have this, uh, how do you call this in English? Even this bike.
Bike indoor training.
Indoor trainer.
Indoor trainer.
Indoor trainer.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I forgot that word.
Uh, yes.
So I didn't have that.
So.
Um, I was focusing more on, on running then.
(19:52):
Uh, in my opinion, the most important thing for someone who is new to the sport, who, or in general new to sports, is that your intensity in the beginning should be very low, especially when you go running, uh, or cycling.
(20:17):
Even in the beginning, uh, a lot of people, myself included, especially when I was younger, uh, I, my, um, the attendance was to, to run always very fast.
All my runs were almost always in the same pace.
(20:37):
Uh, and then when there was a race day, I would have the same pace, like in, in the, in the training.
Um, so it doesn't really make sense.
So the first thing is you want, uh, you, you want to be able to train to work out regularly, but if you like, have such a hard training and you run and it, it's so exhausting that you, you, you need like a week to recover from it.
(21:07):
It's impossible to, to train regularly.
So the intensity needs to be low so that you can be able to train.
Let's say two days later or three days later again, and you, you can have a plan in the beginning where you trade three, four times a week for one, one and a half hours, two hours.
(21:29):
But you need to see that, okay, yeah, I need to have a certain, uh, heart rate.
It cannot be too high because if you run with a very high heart rate, only because you see that your friend runs in such a.
Yeah, quick pace, and you can run this pace as well, but for him it's easy and for you it's hard.
(21:51):
You'll be exhausted for one week, but he's able to run the next day.
So don't compare yourself to others, um, by yourself.
A heart rate monitor, um, you can use here the, um, different zones you.
You can, you can even calculate it in, in, in an easy way.
(22:13):
You just say, uh, 220 minus, uh, the years of age you have, and then you have your maximum, uh, heart rate.
And then, uh, you find the different zones on 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and then focus more on being in zone two, which is, if I am correct, uh, 70% of, uh, your maximum heart rate.
(22:37):
I think so, yes.
I'm not sure, but yeah, we check that.
Uh, and you should check it too.
Don't believe any, everything we say.
And yeah, try to, try to train with a relatively low heart rate, especially in the beginning, because your goal is to make sports your habit.
And I'm not completely with you, Chris.
(23:02):
Uh, where yeah, you need from the beginning a complete plan.
I don't believe So what you need in the beginning is, uh, some consistency you need, uh, to know and need to be able to execute, not.
Too high intensity too often, but after a few weeks when you get to use, when you're used to working out more regularly, you can put in some higher intensities, but it shouldn't be from the beginning, in my opinion.
(23:38):
So that's my, my advice to the people.
Uh, buy yourself a heart rate monitor.
It's not so expensive.
Don't use just your Garmin watch or Apple Watch.
I.
Uh, for monitoring your heart rate because it's not that accurate.
Usually you need a heart rate monitor, which you have around your chest and, um, this investment for sure will help you.
(24:01):
You will also find a lot of content online, um, for that.
And then, yeah, I know that Chris is someone who really likes to make use of ai, which is very, very useful.
But I think in, in the first stage, you don't need to make it as complicated and you can just stick to some basics and just feel your body get, get, feel of, okay, how fast can I run with a certain heart rate? For sure.
(24:34):
In the beginning it will be very slow, but then if you continue running slowly, your heart rate gets lower and lower.
You get faster and faster.
Chris.
Now you challenged me.
Okay.
So what is part of the training plan? And of course part of the training plan as well is the intensity.
So that's what I meant as well.
(24:55):
If you have the intensity mentioned, you also try to not over pace and you don't get into some injuries.
And that is what happened with me.
So as I was running long time before I said to myself, okay, so I was able to run, let's say.
Four minute pace.
(25:16):
Now it's like 10 years later.
Can I still do it in my head? Of course.
My buddy said a clear trick.
No, you can't.
So what I tried from the beginning, it's exactly what you said.
I was getting up from the couch, putting the shoes on running.
Huh? Actually, people tend to say running is easy.
(25:37):
It's not, it's not.
Running is not very easy.
If you want to do it proper without any kind of injury.
It's not, you need to do a lot of activities in order to prevent some injuries.
So I didn't do that, obviously, and I had some issues with shin spins.
Mm.
(25:58):
And that's an overuse of the muscle around your tibia, and that's very, very painful.
To overcome that, you need to do a lot of core training.
So it's not only biking, running, and swimming, it's also that you need to shape your body, your muscles in a way that they are able to perform in certain disciplines.
(26:27):
And I really don't like core training.
Mm-hmm.
We talked about that today in the morning.
It's super important.
I.
Even if you do like a 30 minute workout, um, for certain muscle arrears, it is very important and it will every other sport that you do, especially when it comes to running, biking, and swimming, it'll improve and it'll will prevent issues.
(26:52):
So.
I did the mistake that a lot of people do.
I was running when my, because my head said, yes, you can do four minute pace and you, you went four minute pace.
I tried.
So you went four minute? Yes.
So, yeah, of course.
Oh long? I, well I, couple of kilometers, yeah.
Oh nice.
So no problem with that.
But some days later my buddy showed me that I'm not capable of doing that.
(27:17):
And in your mind you still think, hey.
That was just like a five kilometer run.
Yeah.
That's nothing compared to what I have done before.
So let's continue running.
And that's where usually most of the people start facing issues.
Exactly.
And then it takes weeks Yeah.
To recover.
Yeah.
And again, what you said is really, really, really important.
(27:42):
You train with your body, you need to listen to your body.
And if something you feel is not right, you need to check it.
You need to find the root course and adjust your training so you feel better and you can continuously do your trainings.
I think we both are here on the same page.
Uh, now we are, yeah, we are on the same page.
(28:05):
I think we are from the beginning on the same page.
Uh, I, I would like to talk a little bit more about intensity, uh, because you were mentioning intensity connected to.
A, a whole plan, right? You have to, you have to stick to, so you, uh, you were mentioning that, okay, you should have a plan from the beginning and you were mentioning connected to this intensity.
(28:26):
And I'm saying more, you need to, you need to understand like what is, which intensity and, uh, you need to have a heart rate monitor to, to being able to track it and what, what I believe in the beginning, you.
You don't need an a complete plan for several weeks in advance in the beginning.
(28:49):
You just need like the goal.
Okay, now I want to go running.
Everyone can be different once a week, twice per week, whatever, but stick to a lower intensity in the beginning and try to improve your lower intensity.
(29:10):
Uh, your, um.
How do you call that in English? It's the Arab, uh, um, range energy system, right? So the system where you can, can make use of your, uh, like when you just breathe in and you don't have to produce, uh, LACT.
Yeah, that's in, in so often, often runners say that you should be able to talk while running this is in exactly the right pace for your body so that you are not getting into, um, different areas where it, you exhaust your body too much.
(29:47):
But here, that's interesting.
You can, you can go on a run.
It can feel that, ah, that is easy.
I can go like that for a long time.
But especially beginners.
They can feel like that, but actually for a body it's not easy.
And your heart rate monitor will show you that you already have 165 heart rate.
(30:10):
And yeah, if you then want to continue one day later again, but you did like 10 k just with the highest heart rate.
Yeah.
In the in, in the long run, you will not be able to do so because you want to go again and again, and then it's like a downward spiral.
So I, I sticks in the beginning, like only to low intensity.
(30:34):
Uh, runs very low intensity.
I was even going seven 30 pace in the beginning.
When I started again running, I was going so slow.
I was checking my heart rate.
Even when I felt alright, my heart rate was too high.
I was going slower, I was going slower.
(30:55):
After like a few weeks, my pace went up, up, up, up, up.
And I, I stick to it all the time until I started working with a coach and that built my base.
So then as you're saying, that data is, uh, fundamental for proper training.
Is that correct? That for sure is, uh, fundamental, like how you feel.
(31:15):
But in the beginning, how you feel can, can be just an illusion.
You feel good, but uh, your body.
Knows better.
And there you can make use of data with, with a heart rate mon monitor.
So are you saying that it's recommended also to start like a little journal? To write down how you feel after a specific training.
(31:37):
What was your time? What was your heart rate and so on.
Yeah.
Um, I use, I use this Garmin application because I have a Garmin watch, so I do.
You can also, maybe someone doesn't know what a Garmin watch is, but it's a GPS watch where you can track your pace while running, cycling, even swimming.
(32:00):
Um, and yeah, I use that.
And when you finish your workout, I get always a question like, how hard was this, uh, run or this ride or this swim for you? And then how did you feel? Because yeah.
Did, did you feel very well or very bad? So I, I use that to, to track how, how I feel and yeah, not always I feel good, but yeah.
(32:30):
It's, it's important also to track.
So after several weeks you can create your own dashboard with some graphs and can compare if you getting faster, if your heart rate is getting low.
I used to watch and whatever brand you're using, it doesn't matter really.
It just is important that you get the data because of the data.
Is that what, what we need the metrics and when I started running and doing that kind of exercises over.
(32:58):
I would say like three months, I already could see that my resting heart rate was 10 beats per minute lower.
So that was a sign for me that I'm doing the right thing for my body.
What's your heart rate now? Right now? No.
No.
Like uh, your resting heart rate.
You're around 50 50.
Oh yeah, that's low.
(33:19):
I would say 50, 55.
Something around that.
Yes, 50, 55.
So it's like, yeah.
What about you? For me, it's like between, if I'm very recovered.
Mm-hmm.
Like I can go down to like 55, maybe 54.
And if I'm very fatigued, it can be even 65.
But again, everybody is different For you.
(33:40):
For me it might be 50.
Super low for you.
55 is super low.
Yeah.
So that is also important to observe data over a specific time and to see and observe the trend.
Yeah.
It's a trend going up is a trend going down.
That's also very important.
(34:01):
For sure.
It's, it's very helpful.
If I think now about the, today's topic from couch to triathlon, I wouldn't make it too complicated for the listener.
Just like my, my personal opinion.
I'm not talking for Chris now.
I'm talking only for myself because Chris will answer you in a second.
(34:21):
Uh.
I, I just believe here, don't make it too hard in the beginning.
'cause people tend to go very hard because we think, ah, we have to train very, very hard.
But for the most of the time, you train in very low intensities.
Even professionals, they train more often with low intensities then in higher intensities.
(34:44):
And so that would, that's what I would recommend, uh, Chris.
Yes, I agree with what you're saying.
I know often I tend to be like a perfectionist, so I want, before I buy something, I check several different brands and I want to get the best out of it.
(35:12):
Um, if I want to look for a training plan, I want to, I'm checking more than doing the training.
Mm-hmm.
And you know, that tend to be a behavior that doesn't help here.
Mm-hmm.
So I agree with what you're saying that just do it.
Do not overthink and overcomplicate things, but obviously you need to have a certain plan in mind.
(35:38):
I think that is also important.
A little bit of planning here is still needed because you know what disciplines there are.
You know what your body can do.
You know your weakness, you know your strengths over a specific time, and you need to continuously work on that.
And sometimes it's better to have three times 20 minute workout than one time an hour workout.
(36:08):
So being continuously working and doing sports even in a short period of time, that is the key here.
Yeah, I would sign that.
I would sign that.
And, uh, yeah, that's, uh, that's it.
We want to, we want to be able to do it for a long time, and we want to be healthy.
(36:31):
It's not that we only want to reach a certain goal of time during a triathlon.
Uh, I want to be able to do it in 20 years.
And there is also, you know, we, it's, uh, statistically, uh, after the age of, I think it was 35, I don't remember, but it's proven that we lose muscle after we reach the age of 35, like high amount of muscle, uh, mass per year.
(37:00):
And, uh, triathlon can prevent you from losing that.
So that's why yeah.
Having this, uh, this, uh, journey, uh, will be good.
And so, Chris, do you have any other, other idea what we can share with the listeners? Have goals in mind, use and leverage data and metrics that you get from your body and.
(37:36):
Set a race goal as well.
A race goal.
Race goal.
Okay.
So for me it is the.
Ironman 73 in 3rd of August in Krakow.
So that is my goal, and I'm training towards that goal.
What could also be a useful goal in between is to attend, I.
(37:59):
A specific race, for example, um, city Run where you check how, how fast or how do you feel after five kilometer in a competition or a half marathon.
Or marathon or whatever.
But setting that in your calendar is also important for me.
That helps me to stay consistent.
(38:22):
Yeah, that's good.
That's, uh, that's true.
Uh, I also use that.
I, I used it from the beginning.
When I started, uh, training for my first triathlon.
I signed up, uh, even I signed up for a triathlon before I started training for the triathlon.
Yeah.
Uh, so that, that, uh, for sure helped a lot.
(38:46):
Cool.
Cool.
I think, uh, I don't have anything more to add.
I would like to sum up what we had so far just to.
So to be sure we, we all remember what we were talking about.
Yeah.
So first we were talking about swimming.
(39:08):
Yes.
We said that having a community is very important.
Community is important for feedback.
Have some friends to friends do it together.
That stays mo so you stay motivated.
Yes, exactly.
So that's, uh, one very big thing, not only for swimming, but in general for everything.
I connected to sports.
Very helpful.
I.
Uh, then we were talking how to get from the couch to, to your first triathlon.
(39:33):
So how to start training for your first triathlon.
Of course, sign up for some something.
Uh, don't go too hard.
Try to.
Train some basics in the beginning, not too high intensity, and observe your body.
Try to to use a heart rate monitor and if you are able to do so, also monitor.
(39:59):
Monitor some data if you can.
It will be help helpful in the long term, even if it's only.
Heart rate during certain types of runs set realistic goals because you want to stay motivated over time and everyone stays motivated if you reach what you planned and what you wanted to achieve.
(40:21):
Exactly.
Exactly.
Awesome.
I think that's for today.
That's all.
Dear listeners, I would like to invite you to check out our Facebook page and our Facebook community group.
Check it out.
You'll find all the details in the description, and if you have some feedback.
(40:45):
If you agree with something I said, or if you disagree with something Chris said, just of course, just post it, obviously.
No, you can al you can also, uh, post it when you disagree with something.
Uh, I said, uh, yeah, this podcast is about, uh, sharing opinions and thriving together.
So there, there were a lot of different opinions and we could all learn from each other.
(41:10):
Chris, thank you so much.
Thank you, Dennis.
It was a nice chitchat that we had today.
And I think our next episodes will be more based on specific topics.
So we just wanted to get you guys also started and invite you and let you a little bit to know how we started our journey.
And I think now we are all on the same page.
(41:32):
Let's get started and thrive together.
See you.
Bye-bye.
Bye-bye.
Welcome to Try to thrive the podcast where passion meets endurance.
(00:04):
And every finish line is just the beginning.
We're here to inspire, challenge, and share our journey through swim, bike, run, and beyond.
Hello and welcome to another episode of Try to Thrive.
Thank you for listening once again to Chris.
(00:25):
And myself.
My name is Dennis, and today we will be talking about a very interesting topic in my opinion, which is couch to try starting your triathlon journey.
Isn't that about it? Yes, it is.
It is.
Great.
And welcome from my side as well.
(00:45):
My name is Chris.
Thank you for tuning into our second episode, Dennis, where are we right now? Hmm.
We are right now in Krakow, uh, close to Bonia.
For those of you who know where Bonia is, you are lucky.
(01:07):
It's very close to a very nice park in Krakow, where we also run very regularly.
But today we went swimming exactly and very often.
Swimming is also the point, uh, that makes it very difficult.
With triathlon.
I don't know how exactly it is for you, Chris, but for me, swimming was very difficult.
(01:29):
Yeah.
And that brings us back to the topic, right? So when I started triathlon, I mean, I knew how to swim.
In my mind I thought I knew it, and the reality was totally different.
So usually when I started swimming, I said, look, easygoing before the work, let me just go to a.
(01:50):
Swimming pool, start swimming a little bit.
And of course, I was not swimming the full stroke.
I was swimming, breast stroke, and I felt very comfortable with that, although I saw a lot of people around me doing full stroke.
And I said to myself, all right, that is if I want to improve and if I want to get faster, I need to learn how to swim properly.
(02:15):
So I started to swim myself.
And it was a total disaster, 25 meters, and I was done.
How did you feel? Exhausted.
Exhausted.
And like, besides being exhausted, H how was the feeling afterwards? Like I, I mean, you feel great.
(02:38):
You still felt great.
Okay.
For me it was different, similar, like you, my freestyle technique was.
Non-existent.
Yeah, I was okay at, uh, breast stroke.
So yeah.
Here I, I I was able to swim forward.
Yeah.
Not fast, but, uh, yeah, I, I could swim not being exhausted, but with the, the normal freestyle technique, which we want to do at, at a triathlon.
(03:07):
Yeah.
I was only able to do 25 meters and then I needed a break or 200 meters of breast stroke.
And I felt exhausted, but afterwards, of course, like the feeling was I was like mad.
I was angry.
I couldn't do it.
I was so bad at it.
And that's what we want to talk about today.
So how can you go from your couch to being able to do triathlon, not only once, but continuously? Yes, and I think what is very important in anything, it's not only when it comes to sport, but you need to have a feeling that you achieve something over time and you get better.
(03:50):
So now let's talk about again about the swimming topic.
So I was swimming still breast stroke because I felt comfortable and usually you do not do the things that are exhausting, although in most cases this is exactly what you need to do in your training.
So I observed couple after couple of swimming lessons that I did with myself, only that there are some trainers in the morning.
(04:17):
So I approached one and asked him if he wants to do lessons for me, and we agreed on a specific date, specific time, and now I'm going to the trainer since half a year.
And man, I can tell you when I compare where I started and where I am right now, it's still not good.
(04:39):
My trainer said something really nice.
He said, most of the people know how to move in the water, but a lot of people do not know how to swim.
I know now what is needed from a, from a movement perspective, but it's still problematic to coordinate that all at the same time.
(04:59):
It, it's, it's quite challenging still, but I like it.
Because I see the progress.
How about you, Dennis? I, I agree.
Like when you want to learn how to swim, I think there are like three, three elements.
Like first you need to understand then yourself, need to feel it, and then, yeah, you need to be able to change what you, what you, what you feel.
(05:25):
So, and, and that's very complicated with swimming because most of the time when people start swimming, we.
We tend to use our legs a lot.
Mm-hmm.
And you just have to, you have to have feedback from someone.
Uh, I had a similar approach to, to learning how to swim.
(05:46):
Like Chris, I went to a lot of different, uh, trainers.
So, uh, I.
At the moment, I work together with, uh, actually three different swim trainers.
One, one is my coach, actually my triathlon coach, um, who gives me feedback, uh, with, uh, yeah, watching my videos because he, he lives far away.
(06:12):
And then there are two, two swimming coaches I, I see regular regularly right now.
And.
That gave me the biggest boost to just say like, Hey, yeah, okay, I invest my time once a week or every other week.
Uh, and you get feedback and yeah, you, you, you put in the work and you try to just make some microscopic improvements and it adds up over time.
(06:43):
And it's the journey.
It's a process like.
Chris said, when you, when you just want to take care of the process, you will, you will continue to get better.
I'm not saying I'm feeling always very good in the water, but there is some progress and that's very fulfilling when you, when you start swimming and you're not able to swim 25 meters.
(07:12):
And you go regularly to the pool, and then after half a year you are actually able to swim 1000 meters without stopping freestyle.
I'm not saying that it's fast, but, but I still remember from the first episode You are faster than the old ladies right now.
Yes.
Nowadays.
(07:32):
Nowadays.
Now.
Yes.
Yes.
You know, Dennis, what I wanted to point out, what is also very important for me.
Which helped me, and I think this is also very important when it comes to starting and to stay motivated.
You do that with your trainer, that's fine.
You go regularly swimming, but if you have a team and that continuously check on the status where you have some conversation like we have right now.
(08:02):
It is super nice and that motivates you.
Otherwise, I wouldn't know if I would get up at 4:00 AM like today and then be at your place at six.
So we go swimming.
If I would do that alone, I don't know.
Right? But that motivates me that we meet, that we spend some time together.
You check how I swim.
(08:24):
I check how you swim.
We give each other advices and that is super nice.
And it's not only for swimming, the same can be repeated for running as well as for cycling.
Do some trips together.
If you have a local club or some friends that share the same that say, share the same motivation or goals in you and to try it on that is super nice and that motivates a lot.
(08:49):
Exactly.
Exactly.
And that's, uh, that's very important when you, when you have a group of people, a community.
Right.
Uh, and that's exactly also the reason why we started, started talking about swimming.
Uh, eat the fork first.
So it's, uh, it's very hard.
It's, I think the hardest part at triathlon is swimming and a lot of people are afraid of swimming.
(09:14):
I know a lot of people that are good at running or good at cycling, and then they say like, yeah, no, but I dunno how to swim.
My swimming is bad here.
It's also a mindset question because, because I go with, uh, a certain mindset into it, a certain belief that, uh, doesn't even allow me to, to get into the process of improving myself in swimming because I just accept that I'm bad.
(09:37):
And here, if you have a group of people that are, it is supportive, uh, you meet with them regularly, you can talk with them.
Everyone wants to thrive.
Mm-hmm.
And that's exactly, that's in my opinion, first major step towards a triathlon.
(09:57):
Find people that you can connect with that, uh, help you.
Of course it's a coach in swimming.
If you, if you're not a swimmer, which most of us are not swimmers, uh, even if you are able to swim freestyle, much likely you will not be a very good swimmer.
(10:18):
You need a coach or someone else who helps you regularly and the community.
Some people like we have, we meet regularly.
We give each other feedback.
We talk about training.
Uh.
That's one of the first steps.
Find, find, uh, people that are wired in a similar way.
Find people that are better than you, and usually people like to help each other.
(10:40):
Like I, I like to help each other, like other people.
Uh, a lot of people help me.
Um, I have one person, which for sure at some point will be here in our podcast too.
He helped me a lot with giving me so many different information.
We went swimming together and, uh.
We became very close friends, good friends, only because, uh, we do the same sports and now we share not only sports, but even more because we are in the process, in the process together.
(11:12):
So that's very cool.
And from my perspective, that's my first advice.
I.
What do you think, Chris? I 100% agree with you and I enjoy it a lot because you get to know other people.
I mean, we are in, we have several people here in Krakow as well that I, I think I wouldn't know if I wouldn't get into that.
(11:34):
So the community grows, you learn, you get to know better, um, other people and that is super nice.
But, okay, so we started about talking.
How to swim a little bit.
Yeah.
How to get started.
So we went to the topic of exactly, because its the hardest one I, I think we should get now because we were, we talked about swimming.
(11:56):
Swimming is like, yeah.
You're kind of the hardest thing in my opinion.
Yeah.
Uh, in triathlon.
So now we should talk a little bit about the couch.
The couch, uh, which is, for me, a couch stands for resting.
Sometimes it is also very, very important to stay motivated for your mental health as well, to rest, to give your body sometime to recover.
(12:21):
So recovery is super important as well, that I learned myself as well.
Often you are overtrained sometimes.
But your mental health or your mental state says you need to do your training.
You, you need to make it.
Um, but sometimes if you don't feel well, I mean, yeah, we had that already at the discussion.
(12:41):
Uh, and sometimes it's good to give your body a little bit of freedom and, you know, to stay on the couch, but.
I absolutely agree with what you want to say.
Most probably, Dennis.
You need to stay on top of your training plan and you need to to focus on getting certain trainings done, otherwise, you will not be able to improve.
(13:02):
I.
What do you think? I agree with you 100% that it's recovery is very important and, uh, the couch, laying on the couch and relaxing Yeah.
Is also very important.
Uh, I see it for, for this episode.
I see the couch more as, uh, it's a metaphor for people that.
(13:23):
They're not really doing anything now from couch to triathlon, and I would like to talk about the couch in this way.
How can we.
How can we get away from the couch? Because much likely, uh, the people we are addressing with this episode, they're not over training right now.
(13:45):
Yeah.
I mean, it depends.
You know, someone can be very good and already and, but he doesn't do triathlon, but.
Uh, the first steps usually are the hardest, and yeah.
Now me personally, I train at least once a day, very often, twice a day, or three times per day.
(14:05):
But, you know, before I started training, I wasn't able to train every day.
And here is again, is a process.
So how do we get from the couch? Somehow closer to the triathlon.
Not only focusing now on the swimming part, but just in general.
(14:26):
Chris, what do you think? You train a lot already.
Mm-hmm.
Uh, you started, when did you start to train Chris? What is your experience and how did you do it? Because I know before you didn't, you weren't very active.
Let's call it like this.
Ah, yes, that is true, Dennis.
That is, that's for fact.
(14:47):
So I come from running and for me it was easy to continue with that right to, so to get a little, to get a little bit better in terms of my physical activity, I started doing that again, what I knew.
Mm-hmm.
So I started running and on top of it, I added a little bit of swimming in the morning.
(15:13):
You know, I wasn't training every day, but at least I was training three times per week and on the weekend as well.
Mm-hmm.
So three to four times.
Three to four times.
Yeah.
So I continued with running and then started to add swimming As I started, I.
In the, uh, in the winter season, it was a little bit hard to start biking and I didn't have the right equipment as well, so I didn't have to bike to that point in time.
(15:40):
But again, I had the, I know what I wanted to do.
I want, I know that I wanted to go for a triathlon, so I went to the gym.
And use the bikes in the gym as well.
So to get a little bit of a feeling how the movement is different because each and every sport, you know, swimming, biking, running, it's totally different from each other.
(16:03):
So I started to, um, do it in, in that way.
And of course now I have a proper bike.
Uh, but this is how I started.
Mm-hmm.
So, to sum up, I started with, with what I knew best, which was for me running.
Then I added on top the swimming.
I'm still improving it with a trainer, and then I added slowly the biking and now I'm able to do, as you said, minimum one, one time per day sport.
(16:31):
For example, I go in the morning like we did today.
We, I go swimming in the evening, I go biking or running or whatever.
And when you, when you had this change in your life, how, how did you feel? W when you started training three, four times per week, and how did your trainings look like? What do you think was good and what could you, could you have done better? And what can you tell a listener that perhaps, yeah, doesn't do much sport, or didn't do much sport and you want to give some advice here? Start, start training.
(17:12):
How could you do it with, uh, you know, in a way.
That, uh, will help the person to keep going and not overdo in the beginning.
Good point.
And you know, Dennis, right now we live in a age of ai, so we have, um, a lot of opportunities and access to easy information.
(17:36):
What I started to leverage as well, is some large language models and everyone minimum heard about chat, GPT.
And an advice I haven't done to that point in time.
I could have asked Chad G.
PT that I am not a triad lead and I want to get started.
But to draft a little bit of a rough plan, training plan, how to do it, I was doing it more or less freestyle.
(18:03):
I started using, or I started doing sports when I was thinking I should, when I didn't feel well, I wasn't then yeah, continuing with the activity I had planned.
So having a proper plan, even from the beginning is essential to keep motivated.
(18:23):
And to also monitor the progress.
What is also important is to write a little bit down how you feel so that you can check from time to time what is the improvement.
So this is the advice I would give the listeners.
What about you? How did you start and how, how do you feel right now? Mm-hmm.
(18:45):
What is your advice that you could give someone? So, how did, how did I start? Um, for me it was similar like you, uh, first I started, uh, I was always cycling even, even if I didn't cycle a lot.
I was always from time to time on the bike, on some bike tours.
(19:07):
And so I, I never really stopped with cycling.
Uh, and when I got back into sports, first it was gym, uh, and then.
It was, uh, running more 'cause it was also winter time.
Uh, so I didn't really want to go out, uh, on, uh, bike rides when it's cold.
(19:31):
And I didn't have this, uh, how do you call this in English? Even this bike.
Bike indoor training.
Indoor trainer.
Indoor trainer.
Indoor trainer.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I forgot that word.
Uh, yes.
So I didn't have that.
So.
Um, I was focusing more on, on running then.
(19:52):
Uh, in my opinion, the most important thing for someone who is new to the sport, who, or in general new to sports, is that your intensity in the beginning should be very low, especially when you go running, uh, or cycling.
(20:17):
Even in the beginning, uh, a lot of people, myself included, especially when I was younger, uh, I, my, um, the attendance was to, to run always very fast.
All my runs were almost always in the same pace.
(20:37):
Uh, and then when there was a race day, I would have the same pace, like in, in the, in the training.
Um, so it doesn't really make sense.
So the first thing is you want, uh, you, you want to be able to train to work out regularly, but if you like, have such a hard training and you run and it, it's so exhausting that you, you, you need like a week to recover from it.
(21:07):
It's impossible to, to train regularly.
So the intensity needs to be low so that you can be able to train.
Let's say two days later or three days later again, and you, you can have a plan in the beginning where you trade three, four times a week for one, one and a half hours, two hours.
(21:29):
But you need to see that, okay, yeah, I need to have a certain, uh, heart rate.
It cannot be too high because if you run with a very high heart rate, only because you see that your friend runs in such a.
Yeah, quick pace, and you can run this pace as well, but for him it's easy and for you it's hard.
(21:51):
You'll be exhausted for one week, but he's able to run the next day.
So don't compare yourself to others, um, by yourself.
A heart rate monitor, um, you can use here the, um, different zones you.
You can, you can even calculate it in, in, in an easy way.
(22:13):
You just say, uh, 220 minus, uh, the years of age you have, and then you have your maximum, uh, heart rate.
And then, uh, you find the different zones on 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and then focus more on being in zone two, which is, if I am correct, uh, 70% of, uh, your maximum heart rate.
(22:37):
I think so, yes.
I'm not sure, but yeah, we check that.
Uh, and you should check it too.
Don't believe any, everything we say.
And yeah, try to, try to train with a relatively low heart rate, especially in the beginning, because your goal is to make sports your habit.
And I'm not completely with you, Chris.
(23:02):
Uh, where yeah, you need from the beginning a complete plan.
I don't believe So what you need in the beginning is, uh, some consistency you need, uh, to know and need to be able to execute, not.
Too high intensity too often, but after a few weeks when you get to use, when you're used to working out more regularly, you can put in some higher intensities, but it shouldn't be from the beginning, in my opinion.
(23:38):
So that's my, my advice to the people.
Uh, buy yourself a heart rate monitor.
It's not so expensive.
Don't use just your Garmin watch or Apple Watch.
I.
Uh, for monitoring your heart rate because it's not that accurate.
Usually you need a heart rate monitor, which you have around your chest and, um, this investment for sure will help you.
(24:01):
You will also find a lot of content online, um, for that.
And then, yeah, I know that Chris is someone who really likes to make use of ai, which is very, very useful.
But I think in, in the first stage, you don't need to make it as complicated and you can just stick to some basics and just feel your body get, get, feel of, okay, how fast can I run with a certain heart rate? For sure.
(24:34):
In the beginning it will be very slow, but then if you continue running slowly, your heart rate gets lower and lower.
You get faster and faster.
Chris.
Now you challenged me.
Okay.
So what is part of the training plan? And of course part of the training plan as well is the intensity.
So that's what I meant as well.
(24:55):
If you have the intensity mentioned, you also try to not over pace and you don't get into some injuries.
And that is what happened with me.
So as I was running long time before I said to myself, okay, so I was able to run, let's say.
Four minute pace.
(25:16):
Now it's like 10 years later.
Can I still do it in my head? Of course.
My buddy said a clear trick.
No, you can't.
So what I tried from the beginning, it's exactly what you said.
I was getting up from the couch, putting the shoes on running.
Huh? Actually, people tend to say running is easy.
(25:37):
It's not, it's not.
Running is not very easy.
If you want to do it proper without any kind of injury.
It's not, you need to do a lot of activities in order to prevent some injuries.
So I didn't do that, obviously, and I had some issues with shin spins.
Mm.
(25:58):
And that's an overuse of the muscle around your tibia, and that's very, very painful.
To overcome that, you need to do a lot of core training.
So it's not only biking, running, and swimming, it's also that you need to shape your body, your muscles in a way that they are able to perform in certain disciplines.
(26:27):
And I really don't like core training.
Mm-hmm.
We talked about that today in the morning.
It's super important.
I.
Even if you do like a 30 minute workout, um, for certain muscle arrears, it is very important and it will every other sport that you do, especially when it comes to running, biking, and swimming, it'll improve and it'll will prevent issues.
(26:52):
So.
I did the mistake that a lot of people do.
I was running when my, because my head said, yes, you can do four minute pace and you, you went four minute pace.
I tried.
So you went four minute? Yes.
So, yeah, of course.
Oh long? I, well I, couple of kilometers, yeah.
Oh nice.
So no problem with that.
But some days later my buddy showed me that I'm not capable of doing that.
(27:17):
And in your mind you still think, hey.
That was just like a five kilometer run.
Yeah.
That's nothing compared to what I have done before.
So let's continue running.
And that's where usually most of the people start facing issues.
Exactly.
And then it takes weeks Yeah.
To recover.
Yeah.
And again, what you said is really, really, really important.
(27:42):
You train with your body, you need to listen to your body.
And if something you feel is not right, you need to check it.
You need to find the root course and adjust your training so you feel better and you can continuously do your trainings.
I think we both are here on the same page.
Uh, now we are, yeah, we are on the same page.
(28:05):
I think we are from the beginning on the same page.
Uh, I, I would like to talk a little bit more about intensity, uh, because you were mentioning intensity connected to.
A, a whole plan, right? You have to, you have to stick to, so you, uh, you were mentioning that, okay, you should have a plan from the beginning and you were mentioning connected to this intensity.
(28:26):
And I'm saying more, you need to, you need to understand like what is, which intensity and, uh, you need to have a heart rate monitor to, to being able to track it and what, what I believe in the beginning, you.
You don't need an a complete plan for several weeks in advance in the beginning.
(28:49):
You just need like the goal.
Okay, now I want to go running.
Everyone can be different once a week, twice per week, whatever, but stick to a lower intensity in the beginning and try to improve your lower intensity.
(29:10):
Uh, your, um.
How do you call that in English? It's the Arab, uh, um, range energy system, right? So the system where you can, can make use of your, uh, like when you just breathe in and you don't have to produce, uh, LACT.
Yeah, that's in, in so often, often runners say that you should be able to talk while running this is in exactly the right pace for your body so that you are not getting into, um, different areas where it, you exhaust your body too much.
(29:47):
But here, that's interesting.
You can, you can go on a run.
It can feel that, ah, that is easy.
I can go like that for a long time.
But especially beginners.
They can feel like that, but actually for a body it's not easy.
And your heart rate monitor will show you that you already have 165 heart rate.
(30:10):
And yeah, if you then want to continue one day later again, but you did like 10 k just with the highest heart rate.
Yeah.
In the in, in the long run, you will not be able to do so because you want to go again and again, and then it's like a downward spiral.
So I, I sticks in the beginning, like only to low intensity.
(30:34):
Uh, runs very low intensity.
I was even going seven 30 pace in the beginning.
When I started again running, I was going so slow.
I was checking my heart rate.
Even when I felt alright, my heart rate was too high.
I was going slower, I was going slower.
(30:55):
After like a few weeks, my pace went up, up, up, up, up.
And I, I stick to it all the time until I started working with a coach and that built my base.
So then as you're saying, that data is, uh, fundamental for proper training.
Is that correct? That for sure is, uh, fundamental, like how you feel.
(31:15):
But in the beginning, how you feel can, can be just an illusion.
You feel good, but uh, your body.
Knows better.
And there you can make use of data with, with a heart rate mon monitor.
So are you saying that it's recommended also to start like a little journal? To write down how you feel after a specific training.
(31:37):
What was your time? What was your heart rate and so on.
Yeah.
Um, I use, I use this Garmin application because I have a Garmin watch, so I do.
You can also, maybe someone doesn't know what a Garmin watch is, but it's a GPS watch where you can track your pace while running, cycling, even swimming.
(32:00):
Um, and yeah, I use that.
And when you finish your workout, I get always a question like, how hard was this, uh, run or this ride or this swim for you? And then how did you feel? Because yeah.
Did, did you feel very well or very bad? So I, I use that to, to track how, how I feel and yeah, not always I feel good, but yeah.
(32:30):
It's, it's important also to track.
So after several weeks you can create your own dashboard with some graphs and can compare if you getting faster, if your heart rate is getting low.
I used to watch and whatever brand you're using, it doesn't matter really.
It just is important that you get the data because of the data.
Is that what, what we need the metrics and when I started running and doing that kind of exercises over.
(32:58):
I would say like three months, I already could see that my resting heart rate was 10 beats per minute lower.
So that was a sign for me that I'm doing the right thing for my body.
What's your heart rate now? Right now? No.
No.
Like uh, your resting heart rate.
You're around 50 50.
Oh yeah, that's low.
(33:19):
I would say 50, 55.
Something around that.
Yes, 50, 55.
So it's like, yeah.
What about you? For me, it's like between, if I'm very recovered.
Mm-hmm.
Like I can go down to like 55, maybe 54.
And if I'm very fatigued, it can be even 65.
But again, everybody is different For you.
(33:40):
For me it might be 50.
Super low for you.
55 is super low.
Yeah.
So that is also important to observe data over a specific time and to see and observe the trend.
Yeah.
It's a trend going up is a trend going down.
That's also very important.
(34:01):
For sure.
It's, it's very helpful.
If I think now about the, today's topic from couch to triathlon, I wouldn't make it too complicated for the listener.
Just like my, my personal opinion.
I'm not talking for Chris now.
I'm talking only for myself because Chris will answer you in a second.
(34:21):
Uh.
I, I just believe here, don't make it too hard in the beginning.
'cause people tend to go very hard because we think, ah, we have to train very, very hard.
But for the most of the time, you train in very low intensities.
Even professionals, they train more often with low intensities then in higher intensities.
(34:44):
And so that would, that's what I would recommend, uh, Chris.
Yes, I agree with what you're saying.
I know often I tend to be like a perfectionist, so I want, before I buy something, I check several different brands and I want to get the best out of it.
(35:12):
Um, if I want to look for a training plan, I want to, I'm checking more than doing the training.
Mm-hmm.
And you know, that tend to be a behavior that doesn't help here.
Mm-hmm.
So I agree with what you're saying that just do it.
Do not overthink and overcomplicate things, but obviously you need to have a certain plan in mind.
(35:38):
I think that is also important.
A little bit of planning here is still needed because you know what disciplines there are.
You know what your body can do.
You know your weakness, you know your strengths over a specific time, and you need to continuously work on that.
And sometimes it's better to have three times 20 minute workout than one time an hour workout.
(36:08):
So being continuously working and doing sports even in a short period of time, that is the key here.
Yeah, I would sign that.
I would sign that.
And, uh, yeah, that's, uh, that's it.
We want to, we want to be able to do it for a long time, and we want to be healthy.
(36:31):
It's not that we only want to reach a certain goal of time during a triathlon.
Uh, I want to be able to do it in 20 years.
And there is also, you know, we, it's, uh, statistically, uh, after the age of, I think it was 35, I don't remember, but it's proven that we lose muscle after we reach the age of 35, like high amount of muscle, uh, mass per year.
(37:00):
And, uh, triathlon can prevent you from losing that.
So that's why yeah.
Having this, uh, this, uh, journey, uh, will be good.
And so, Chris, do you have any other, other idea what we can share with the listeners? Have goals in mind, use and leverage data and metrics that you get from your body and.
(37:36):
Set a race goal as well.
A race goal.
Race goal.
Okay.
So for me it is the.
Ironman 73 in 3rd of August in Krakow.
So that is my goal, and I'm training towards that goal.
What could also be a useful goal in between is to attend, I.
(37:59):
A specific race, for example, um, city Run where you check how, how fast or how do you feel after five kilometer in a competition or a half marathon.
Or marathon or whatever.
But setting that in your calendar is also important for me.
That helps me to stay consistent.
(38:22):
Yeah, that's good.
That's, uh, that's true.
Uh, I also use that.
I, I used it from the beginning.
When I started, uh, training for my first triathlon.
I signed up, uh, even I signed up for a triathlon before I started training for the triathlon.
Yeah.
Uh, so that, that, uh, for sure helped a lot.
(38:46):
Cool.
Cool.
I think, uh, I don't have anything more to add.
I would like to sum up what we had so far just to.
So to be sure we, we all remember what we were talking about.
Yeah.
So first we were talking about swimming.
(39:08):
Yes.
We said that having a community is very important.
Community is important for feedback.
Have some friends to friends do it together.
That stays mo so you stay motivated.
Yes, exactly.
So that's, uh, one very big thing, not only for swimming, but in general for everything.
I connected to sports.
Very helpful.
I.
Uh, then we were talking how to get from the couch to, to your first triathlon.
(39:33):
So how to start training for your first triathlon.
Of course, sign up for some something.
Uh, don't go too hard.
Try to.
Train some basics in the beginning, not too high intensity, and observe your body.
Try to to use a heart rate monitor and if you are able to do so, also monitor.
(39:59):
Monitor some data if you can.
It will be help helpful in the long term, even if it's only.
Heart rate during certain types of runs set realistic goals because you want to stay motivated over time and everyone stays motivated if you reach what you planned and what you wanted to achieve.
(40:21):
Exactly.
Exactly.
Awesome.
I think that's for today.
That's all.
Dear listeners, I would like to invite you to check out our Facebook page and our Facebook community group.
Check it out.
You'll find all the details in the description, and if you have some feedback.
(40:45):
If you agree with something I said, or if you disagree with something Chris said, just of course, just post it, obviously.
No, you can al you can also, uh, post it when you disagree with something.
Uh, I said, uh, yeah, this podcast is about, uh, sharing opinions and thriving together.
So there, there were a lot of different opinions and we could all learn from each other.
(41:10):
Chris, thank you so much.
Thank you, Dennis.
It was a nice chitchat that we had today.
And I think our next episodes will be more based on specific topics.
So we just wanted to get you guys also started and invite you and let you a little bit to know how we started our journey.
And I think now we are all on the same page.
(41:32):
Let's get started and thrive together.
See you.
Bye-bye.
Bye-bye.
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