What is the ‘official’ unofficial fourth discipline of triathlon?

Outside of the three sports of triathlon, there are a lot of other aspects of training and racing to which triathletes need to devote some focus. There is nutrition, you need to practice transitions, you have to sleep and recover well, a strong mental game is imperative for sustained success, and of course you should spend some time in the gym. But which of these is the fourth discipline of triathlon? Are any of them more important than the others, or do they all carry equal weight? We’re here to find out.

Nutrition

You have to fuel well to race well, and the longer the event, the more you need to focus on nutrition. Depending on how fast you are, you can potentially get away without a nutrition plan in a sprint triathlon (although even in short races you might suffer a bonk if you neglect your fuel), but anything longer and you are going to have to think ahead to make sure you get enough calories and carbs on race day. If you don’t fuel optimally, you will have a poor (or outright awful) race, and it won’t matter how well you’ve trained for the other three main disciplines of triathlon.

Transitions

You might think that transitions can’t be that important. After all, they’re only a small portion of the race, right? Well, depending on how quick or slow you are, they could be anywhere from 30 seconds to minutes long. That’s OK if you’re just racing for the fun of it or simply to finish, but if you have any time or competitive goals, you could ruin your chances at a PB or age group podium with one bad, sloppy transition.

Strength training

You’re already training three different sports every week, so why do you need to hit the gym, too? Strength training is an integral part of every triathlete’s program. It will not only help lead you to faster results in the swim, bike, and run, but it will also strengthen any weak areas and muscle groups you have that, if left unexercised, could end up getting you injured. An injured triathlete is a triathlete who isn’t racing anytime soon, which is why strength training is so imperative.

Recovery

You’re used to training hard and training often, so it can almost feel wrong to take rest days. Even so, you need to take easy recovery (or all-out rest) days on a weekly basis to give your body a chance to bounce back from the hard training you’ve been doing. On top of these rest days, you need to prioritize sleep. If you don’t sleep well, you won’t recover well. Same as with strength training, if you ignore your recovery, you will eventually end up hurt, and that means no racing for a while.

The mental game

Triathlon is very physically demanding, but it requires a lot of mental strength, too. You are guaranteed to face mental blocks and hurdles in training and racing, and if you’re not tough enough, you’ll back down from them and quit. The only way to be truly successful as a triathlete is to work on your mental game. That way, when those hurdles come your way, you’ll be able to soar over them.

The verdict

Sorry, but we can’t actually pick an official fourth discipline of triathlon. All of these are so important in different ways, but they all share at least one similarity: if you neglect them, you will set yourself up for failure. So, since we cannot tell you that one of these is the fourth discipline, we will put them under a “fourth discipline” umbrella. They all combine to form a group of things that—while not part of traditional training—you must focus on to have success in triathlon. Dedicate time and energy to each of them and you will give yourself the best chance to do well at your next race.