The USC Fight On! Tri is a sprint-distance triathlon held in March. It features a .62-mile swim, a 15-mile bike ride and 2.5 and 4-mile run options. Many people who participate in this event join the University of Southern California Triathlon Team to get ready for the event, but you may also train on your own.
Training team
The USC Triathlon Team isn’t just for college students. Faculty, staff and alumni can join the team and gain triathlon training as well. Team members have a variety of athletic backgrounds, ages and experience levels, from folks who’ve never owned a bike to experienced triathletes. Joining the team nets you coached workouts, access to stationary cycling classes and, at higher levels of membership, access to special clinics. USC Triathlon is affiliated with the West Coast Collegiate Triathlon Conference, which organizes sprint-, Olympic-, half-Ironman and full-Ironman distance races on the West Coast, so training isn’t limited to the sprint distance featured in the USC Fight On! Tri. WCCTC races typically are held from September through May.
Guidelines
The USC Triathlon Team has numerous safety guidelines for members to follow. On swims these include entering the water only under a lifeguard or coach’s guidance. On bike rides, helmets must be worn. For both bikes and runs, guidelines call for obeying traffic laws, maintaining your equipment, carrying identification, a cell phone and adequate money to make a phone call. For all three types of workouts guidelines mandate recognizing and understanding your limits and not working out if you don’t feel well. Notifying event leaders of your participation, proper nutrition, warm-ups, cool-downs and checking with a doctor prior to participation are listed under the program’s general safety guides.
Schedule
A typical practice schedule includes an hour of indoor cycling followed by a 10-minute run on Monday morning and an hour of technique-based swimming Monday evening. On Tuesday morning and evening, you’ll have an interval running workout. Wednesday, expect an hour-long cycling workout and a 10-minute run in the morning, followed by a hard swim in the evening. You’ll perform brick training on Thursday morning and a long run on Thursday evening, followed by an easy-paced recovery swim Friday. Race simulation or brick workouts are scheduled for Saturday and Sunday.
Training Solo
If you are not affiliated with the USC, or don’t want to join the triathlon team but want to participate in the race, you can train on your own. BeginnerTriathlete.com recommends being able to consistently do a 20-minute swim, a 30-minute bike ride and a 20-minute run 13 weeks out from any sprint triathlon event, such as the USC Fight On! Tri. At that point you will start building more distance into your swim, bike and run for the next 10 weeks, adding no more than 10 percent to each type of workout per week. For example, you’ll build from a 15-minute swim and 20-minute run Monday during week one, to 30 minutes of swimming and running each on that day at week 10. Week one involves a 35-minute bike ride on Wednesday, which becomes a 45-minute ride by week 10. On Thursdays you start with a 20-minute run and build to 45 minutes. Your 30-minute Friday swim becomes a 35-minute session. The 40-minute bike ride on Sunday becomes a 60-minute session. After week 10 you start tapering your workouts back as the race approaches.
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