Filtering through the Triathlon lingo

Okay, there is a lot to get up to speed on in this world of "All Things Triathlon"


First things first: A Triathlon consists of 3 legs of exercise: Swim, Bike and Run. They are always in that order. Now the things that do change are the distances.

The shortest distance Triathlon is the Sprint, then the Olympic, Half Ironman and finally the Ironman. The distances vary among each type, but not so much. Here's the general breakdown:


Sprint distance Triathlon:
.5 mile swim, 15 mile bike, 3.1 mile run


Olympic distance Triathlon:
.9 mile swim, 24 mile ride, 6.2 mile run


Half Ironman:
1.2 mile swim, 56 mile ride, 13.1 mile run


Ironman:
2.4 mile swim, 112 mile ride, and a marathon: 26.2 run