Vision to Tri to the Rescue

What's stopping you from trying your sporting legs in a triathlon? Is it the training? What about the motivation? Or maybe you're just unsure of your bike handling skills, swimming technique or surviving the run after a swim and cycle? Whatever the case may be, if you have thoughts of completing a triathlon this summer and need some guidance getting you to the finish line, Vision Quest Coaching's newest program is just the ticket. The last thing you want to do is drop out of competition before race day--or worse yet midway through the race because you just cannot move your foot an inch further--or arrive without an inkling of what you need to do to set up your transition area or pace yourself through each of the three disciplines. Any and all Chicagolanders new to the sport can whisk these fears away by signing up for Vision To Tri.

This beginning triathlon training program kicks off June 2 and runs through the summer to prepare its participants for either the Pleasant Prairie Triathlon on August 16 or the Chicago Triathlon on August 30. For $395, you'll get three days of training per week focusing on the swim, bike and run, plus time to work on your transition, core strength and flexibility. You'll learn the importance of brick workouts (bike to run training for newbies), how to translate pool laps to open water swimming, strategies for race day nutrition and injury prevention, and more. And you'll run through dress rehearsals so you're ready to knock race day out of the park and not look like a deer in headlights when you go to set up your transition gear or are waiting to start the swim.

Participants also have access to Vision Quest's coaching staff as well as its new Highland Park training facility. If you're participating in the Pleasant Prairie Triathlon, Vision Quest will be on site that day with its tent and providing race day support. And who doesn't like a little gear too? You can sport the VQ name and get some cool tools for your training just for joining: a race singlet, water bottle (how many times have we lost those on the bike?) and Polar heart rate monitor. Plus you'll meet a great group of training buddies, which makes the effort far more fun than doing it alone.

So what are you waiting for? Sign up today so you're not out of luck come race day, and so all of those triathlon terms that seem so foreign now just roll off your tongue by August. Photo grabbed from Vision Quest Coaching. Posted by Kate