The Total Triathlon Almanac: The Essential Training Tool and Information Source for the Triathlete and Duathlete [Spiral-bound]

There are three requirements for developing a great training program that actually brings the results we are all after: knowledge, documentation and review.

Knowledge ... First, you need some intellectual knowledge about training techniques from which to draw upon when you lay down the basic framework of your weekly plans. Having a rough idea of appropriate ratios for both the distance and intensity for swimming, cycling, and running will make planning a schedule infinitely more effective than guesswork, the method we used in the early 1980s.

Understanding reasons why a successful season requires different workouts at different times of the year helps you point more effectively to your key events. And seeing how others have successfully blended the three sports can be a living example of how to utilize this basic knowledge.

Documentation ... The second requirement for evolving your personal program is a tool to document what you actually end up doing week-to-week throughout the year. What we plan to do and the reality of what we actually end up doing can be worlds apart. It is also important to log your workouts and how you felt, along with other events that affected them.

Review ... Documenting your personal workout history brings us to the third requirements for a successful training program: And that is to look at the results of your training and then change the program for the upcoming weeks, months, or the season, to reflect how your own body has responded to the training. It is through this constant process of refinement that you become your most valuable resource for success, both in training and in other areas of our life.

Scientific information is the best starting point for creating something that works. But from that point forward, it is up to each of us to become experts on the subtleties and quirks of our own personal dynamic internal ecology.

THE TOTAL TRIATHLON ALMANAC-4 is the best tool for blending all three of these requirements for a great training program. It is a concise resource filled with the essential information you need to construct the framework of a successful regime. It is also an easy-to-fill-in log that gives you a way to chronicle your workouts and your racing results. Then with this personal history stored in the Almanac, you can change your program to create a time-efficient and highly effective personal workout schedule.

I wish THE TOTAL TRIATHLON ALMANAC had been around when I first started triathlons!

Mark Allen 6-Time Ironman World Triathlon Champion

What do Ironman champions Paula Newby-Fraser, Thomas Hellriegel, Mark Allen, Lori Bowden, Heather Fuhr and Peter Reid do in training? How do they build towards their biggest event? What are their favorite workouts? How do they make use of a heart rate monitor? The answers are all here.

The Total Triathlon Almanac-4 is the best-and least expensive-piece of training equipment you will ever buy.