1. Danny Brewer
Lester
Advanced Grammar and Composition
5 March 2012
Triathlon Training
You are lining up at the start line, your adrenaline is pumping, and you can feel your
nerves rising. Runners to your mark. Runners Set. BANG! All at once your adrenaline propels
you forward and you are sprinting towards the water. A five hundred meter swim, fourteen and a
quarter-mile bike ride, and a five-kilometer run is all that stands between you and your goal, the
finish line.The months of preparation and long hard practice are now about to be put to the test in
your race to the finish.I started running track and field my freshman year as a sprinter and
hurdler.As a sophomore I decided to join the cross-country team to stay in shape for track and
fell in love with running long distances.My junior year I kept running cross-country and track but
also decided to try swim out as a winter sport to stay in shape.When I learned of the senior
project, I started thinking of a way to combine swimming and running, the two sports I liked the
most, into one race, and I found the triathlon.I was never big on biking, but since a triathlon
included a biking portion I started training on the bike as well. Because I was an avid runner and
swimmer as a freshman, sophomore and junior I decided that a triathlon would be a great project
to embark on because it uses both swimming and running and it also provided me a learning
stretch through biking.While on my journey preparing for this triathlon I encountered an injury
known as a shin splint, an overuse of the legs causing pain in the shins, which can lead to a stress
fracture. This injury sparked a curiosity in me. I knew we were going to have to do a research
paper, so I decided to research common injuries that can happen to any swimmer, biker, or
runner, and a way to prevent or treat the injuries.As a physical trainer it is important to be able to
recognize potential injuries and be able to treat them before they become a problem.I chose to

2. research injuries that often occur to triathletes because while I was training for my triathlon I
began to strain my legs to much that could have caused an injury much worse than what had
already happened to me.Now I’m going to tell you about the process I followed to find a project
facilitator,to train for a triathlon and then to compete in one.
My project facilitator is Blake Bearden.Some qualities I looked for in a facilitator were
the abilities to help coach me while I trained for the triathlon and to have participated in one
before.I chose to ask my track and cross-country coach as a project facilitator because he has
worked with me before.Blake Bearden is a qualified facilitator because he has run the Hogpin
17k twice now and placed 4th in his age group on his first run; then with his time of 1:24:34:00,
last year he got 3rd in his age group.Blake started running when he was twenty seven and started
biking when he was twenty- eight; and has now competed in over one hundred races.Within his
first year of running he was able to qualify for the Hawaii half marathon. Then he decided to
compete in a bike race, the Tour of Atlanta, and in the time trials he took 2nd place. After running
and biking Blake decided to compete in a triathlon, and has placed in every single one of the
triathlons he has ran. Then Blake ran the Warrior Dash, a 5k with obstacles to overcome, and
placed 3rd in his age group. Over the summer of 2011 Blake ran his first 50k in four hours and
twenty-two minutes. His personal goal now is to compete in the “Ironman World
Championships.” Blake started his coaching career at Creekview High school three years ago as
a track coach; he now is the head coach for track and the assistant coach for Cross-country.
Now that you have met my project facilitator I am now going to tell you the steps I took
in preparing for my triathlon.I started working on my project by first contacting my facilitator
and setting up days to work with him.Due to scheduling conflicts it was difficult to find days
were we could both meet and train.As a solution to this problem we started meeting after cross-

3. country and track practice.Then after finding a project facilitator and setting up days to train and
talk about strategy for the triathlon. After setting up days I found a triathlon in August to run as a
test to see how well I could do without any training.After completing the trial triathlon I started
training.My training started with me running twice a day once in the morning then again in the
afternoon with the cross-country team.Once cross-country season ended I started working out
with the swim team in the morning then biked or ran in the afternoon.I trained for the swim
portion of the race between November and the end of January then started training on the
transition between the bike and the run. I kept in shape for the triathlon by training with the track
team and either biking before or after school.After the many months of training I signed up for a
triathlon in Jacksonville, Florida, and competed in it.
Though the triathlon was easy to prepare for I did run into some complications in the
process.As I was training for the triathlon I encountered an injury that I had to overcome. About
mid December I got shin splints and had to take a week long break from training so that the
injury would not turn into a stress fracture.Another problem I had was finding a triathlon that
was about the same distance as the first one in participated in. After a couple months of
searching I finally found one in Florida that was just one hundred more yard in the swim than the
one I did in August.
Throughout this project I have realized that there are other careers I want to pursue.By
training and participating in a triathlon I learned that I can overcome any weakness in my body
and mind. I learned that my abilities to work around other peoples schedule increased as I got
further into the project.Through the process of the senior project I have realized that I do not
want to pursue a career in personal training, but instead I will pursue a career in animation
graphics. After high school I will be going to Young Harris College up in north Georgia to do

4. their graphic arts program, but I will not give up on running because I joined their cross-country
team.