By Dorene Internicola
Reuters

Triathlons, the swim-bike-run races of varying lengths, are scaling the bucket lists of many middle-aged athletes, in line with U.S. fitness experts.

Multi-tasking, ego-boosting, and far from cheap, the competitions cater to different variety of fitness while rewarding endurance over speed, and cardiovascular versatility over single-minded focus.

\”It\’s not about who goes the fastest, it about who lowers minimally,\” said Connecticut-based running coach Tom Holland, 45, that has run greater than 50 triathlons.

Holland, this writer of \”The 12-Week Triathlete” said as people mature they\’re in a position to bide their time and to pace themselves.

He added that generally is it doesn\’t senior citizens who win the competitions.

\”The older athlete has produced endurance that you just won\’t have at 20,\” he stated.

USA Triathlon, the sport\’s governing body in america, said the 40 to 44 get older comprises the biggest proportion of its members simply over 30 percent of annual membership base.

\”It\’s an attainable challenge,\” explained Lindsay Wyskowski of USA Triathlon. \”People embrace the game and keep going for many years because even within it you will discover different distances.\”

The shortest distance is a sprint triathlon, consisting of an approximately 1640-foot (500-metre) swim, 12-mile (19-kilometer) ride a bike and 3-mile (5-kilometer) run.

More challenging would be the Olympic distance, typically a 0.9-mile (1.5km) swim, 25-mile ride a bike and 6.2-milerun, which became an Olympic sport in 2000.

The Ironman race, by using a (2.4 mile swim, 112 mile ride a bike and 26.2 mile run), is the most demanding.

Holland said triathlon has cross-training, something all athletes ought of do.

\”Bikers should run and runners should bike. Then add activity swimming, which can be non-weight bearing, and you simply then get a full body cardio-vascular workout using different motor patterns. That\’s a advantage,\” he said.

Dr. Mark P Kelly, a training physiologist at California State University, Fullerton, believed master the triathlons multiple tasks, train the weakest link while the strongest.

\”Absolutely critical in triathlon training is a crossover, or carryover, effect, which happens to be that some training in running can translate to better bike performance, or the other way round, because you\’re training the cardiovascular system.\” Kelly said.

Practicing the transitions is also important.

\”The most common is brick workout, and that is bike and run combined,\” he explained. \”Coming heli-copter flight bike, your legs feel as though jelly to make sure that first mile could be a jolt.

A 2009 study initiated by USA Triathlon put the average income of participants at $126,000.

\”The sport isn\’t cheap,\” Kelly explained, adding that bikes are cost approximately $6,000 as well as the swimming is accomplished in wetsuits.

The triathlon, he believes, is actually a magnet for fastidious, multitasking people.

\”It\’s some ego boost to know you\’ll be in triathlon shape,\” he stated. \”It\’s the sexy sport from the endurance world.\”