I don't think it's giving me as good a workout as pure running. I've always maintained that running is the best aerobic exercise, because in order to do the thing that we call running, you have to be in the aerobic zone. Whereas on a bike, you can slow right down but still think of yourself as cycling. In the pool, you can go for a gentle swim that barely raises the heart rate, but it's still swimming. Yes you can take walk breaks in a run, but then you wouldn't claim to have run continuously. So on the bike, I suspect that I'm not pushing myself as hard as I could. And in the pool, I'm limited by my technique, and what I think is pretty poor upper body strength (not surprising; I've done very little to develop it in the last 20 years).
I'm still in my first few months of two new sports. I think this period is just the various joints and muscles (and my mind) getting used their new roles. I think it will be a while before any noticeable physiological changes occur.
But my goal was always to test the hypothesis that tri-sport is better for the body than pure running. For the body, it seems yes. For the mind, the jury is still out...
2013: Tri-ing something new
