Safety in numbers

Great ride with the squad from Front Runners today. Some great work laid down by everyone and a nice bit of final preparation by the folks getting ready for Busso Ironman and Half Ironman in just under two weeks time.

I was realising the morning that the group that comes out every Tuesday is starting to form a nice little bond. With a few exceptions we get mostly the same people every week and they have really developed a good camaraderie. It is a very positive dynamic going on.

This sort of dynamic is one of the reasons that group training can be such a beneficial addition to a training program.

While I think it is always good for triathletes to spend some time training alone, particularly on the bike, I also think it can be very useful for them to spend time training with others too.

Group training has benefits like the aforementioned camaraderie, but there can be other benefits too.

Training with others usually brings with it a certain level of accountability. Great if you sometimes struggle to get yourself to particular sessions. Once you have committed to others that you will be there, then usually it is a great motivator to actually getting there.

Once you are at training, having others around you can be a great driver for performance. Groups tend to push either other on a little. One person might be having a good day and others will often push to match them. This can be a bit of a double edged sword as sometimes people push themselves harder than they should. But generally this drive in performance is a positive thing.

One of the other benefits in training with other people is that often it is simply more fun. In the end this exercise thing we do is supposed to be fun. If we aren't enjoying ourselves long term then chances are that we will stop taking part. One of the ways that we can keep the training enjoyable and, therefore, keep ourselves engaged is by doing it with other people. Training with people brings socialization, mental engagement, and usually some fun banter. These sound like little things, but they can be what make the difference between a session being a fun challenge and it simply being a grind.

Definitely something that is a beneficial addition to any triathletes training routine.