17 Triathlon Terms Every Triathlete Needs to Know

New to the sport or a seasoned triathlete here are 17 triathlon terms every triathlete should know

There are many misconceptions about triathlon and some of those come from the expansive vocabulary that comes with training and participating in a triathlon. From training terms to lingo you’ll hear out at the race site, the world of triathlon truly does have a language of its own. So we have put together a comprehensive list of the most commonly used triathlon terms every triathlete needs to know. Knowing terms like Brick Workout and Dolphin Dive will have you graduating from a novice triathlete to a pro in no time.

Time to Speak Triathlete

1. Aid Stations – Strategically located stations to help you replenish during the race. They usually have water, hydration drinks, and depending on the distance, can also have gels or chews. See where the run course aid station is located at The Rookie Tri.
   

   Rookie Tri athlete getting body marked on race morning.

2. Body Marking – In a race, you will be required to wear your race number on your body, the upper arm, and the back of the lower leg. Before a race, there will be designated “Body Markers,” volunteers who write your race number on your body with either a permanent marker or applying a temporary tattoo peel-off number.
3. Brick – back-to-back workouts of the tri disciplines. Traditionally, a bike and run, smushed together like on race day. But it can really be any combination of two of the disciplines.
4. Cadence – Also, known as RPM, or revolutions per minute, cadence means the rhythm of your swim stroke, bike pedal stroke, or run turnover as your feet hit the ground. Measured in “revolutions” per minute.
5. Derailleur – A system on a mountain bike, road bike or triathlon bike made of up sprockets and a chain with a method to move the chain from one to the other to cause the shifting of gears.
6. DNF – Acronym for “Did Not Finish” (the race).
   

   Perfecting the dolphin dive into Decker Lake.

7. Dolphin Dive – a way to enter the water in a swim start where the water is shallow in order to start swimming right away.
8. Fartlek – The definition of the Swedish word Fartlek is ‘speed play’ in English. Involves training at different paces and speeds within one training session and can be applied to all three triathlon disciplines; swimming, cycling and running.
9. Ladder – an interval workout with progressively increasing then decreasing distances at each interval. For example, run fast for 400m, jog for 200m, run for 800m, jog for 200m, run for 1200m, jog for 200m, run for 800m, jog for 200m, run for 400m, jog for 200m. (BeginnerTriathlete.com)
10. Open Water Swim (OWS) – swimming in a natural body of water (lake, river, ocean, bay). If open water makes you nervous, here are 6 tactics to calm your nerves. This is the start or triathlons and aquabikes.
11. Podium – the first 3 competitors in each age group. I “podium’d”. Boom!
12. PR – Acronym for “personal record.”
13. Race Number Belt – A belt where you can attach your race number. This is helpful for putting on your number after the swim. You clip the belt around your waist with your number to the back (on the bike), and then when you run, you rotate your number to the front.
    

    Professional timing gives you accurate results as soon as you cross the finish line!

14. Taper – The period of time before a race where you slow down the frequency and intensity of the workouts in order to give your body time to recover and rest before the event.
15. Timing Chip – Handed out your race packets and worn around your ankle during your tri. When you pass over certain points during a race, the timing chip registers your time for the official race results.
16. Transition – Two time periods within a triathlon. T1 is the period of time between the swim and bike; T2 is the period of time between the bike and the run. Transition is also the physical area in the race where you will transition from one sport to another. Ready why you should add training for transition.
17. Wetsuit “Legal” – a triathlon where the water is cold enough to wear a wetsuit, as often set forth in the USAT rules. Wetsuits can be worn over a one-piece or two-piece tri suits.

Hopefully, you have a better understanding of some of the most common, essential triathlon terms used by athletes. Soon you will be joining the ranks of thousands of people from all over teh world we have completed a triathlon, including some name worthy celebrities! Try them out during your Rooke Tri training and you’ll be ready to chat with the pros!