9 excellent triathlon books that will inspire you to do a triathlon

Whether you’re looking for inspiration for your first or next triathlon, need a training guide, or want to build your mental toughness, these 9 best triathlon books can help you get there.

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Thinking about doing a triathlon? These 9 best triathlon books might inspire you to sign up for your next race.

A Life Without Limits: A World Champion’s Journey, by Chrissie Wellington

Have you ever thought, “I’m just not athletic”?

Chrissie Wellington, a four-time Ironman World Champion, did too.

Wellington didn’t do any sports as a kid.

Like many of us, Wellington found athletics as an adult, as a hobby—a way to establish healthier habits—which blossomed into something more.

“Just as my career was taking off, so was my passion for competitive sport.

No longer was it only a social pursuit (although it was still that), a mere distraction from the business of achievement elsewhere. Now it was an outlet for achievement in itself.”

Life’s Too Short to Go So F*cking Slow: Lessons from an Epic Friendship That Went the Distance, Susan Lacke

Susan Lacke’s first impression of triathlons?

“This sport made absolutely no sense. These athletes were actually insane.”

So how did Susan, a cigarette-smoking, binge-drinking non-athlete transform into an athlete?

It’s all because of her boss Carlos, a disciplined Ironman triathlete.

If you’ve ever wondered, “Why would anyone wake up at dawn to swim? Why would any sane person ride and run for hours?”, then this inspiring triathlon book is for you.

Training for a triathlon is demanding enough, but there’s also one more thing to train—your mind.

Your mind can encourage you to keep going or call it quits. But you can strengthen and build your mental fitness in a few ways.

Want to learn more about it? Download this freebie now.

Faster: Demystifying the Science of Triathlon Speed, Jim Gourley

Have you been looking at fancy, expensive new gear that promises you more speed? Before you hit that buy button, you may want to look into this book, Faster.

Faster will give you tips and advice to help you race smarter and faster, without spending all your money.

The Power Meter Handbook: A User’s Guide for Cyclists and Triathletes, Joe Friel

If you want to pace yourself, customize your training intensity, and push your performance, then The Power Meter Handbook will help you achieve your goal.

The power meter is a powerful training tool – one that could make you fitter and faster. With it, you can monitor your training efforts, fine-tune your pacing, and collect race day data.

In short, the information you gather from your power meter and the analysis that follows will help you improve your performance.

You’ll also find suggested workouts for triathlon distances ranging from sprint to Ironman.

The Triathlete’s Training Bible, by Joe Friel

If you’re an advanced triathlete* looking to get the most out of your performance, then The Triathlete’s Training Bible may be for you.

The goal of this book is to give you the knowledge and tools you need to coach yourself.

You’ll learn:

Why you need to master the rating of perceived exertion (RPE)
How and what you need to measure to improve your performance and structure your workouts
How to plan your racing season
The warning signs of overreaching and stress
How to increase your speed and power

*Joe Friel defines an advanced triathlete as someone who’s been in the sport for at least 3 years.

Women Who Tri: A Reluctant Athlete’s Journey Into the Heart of America’s Newest Obsession, by Alicia DiFabio

Alicia DiFabio loathes exercise.

But it’s hard to avoid any talk of exercise and triathlons when you live in south New Jersey, home to Mullica Hill Women’s Triathlon Club (MHWTC) – the largest all-female triathlon club in the United States.

Whether you’re at dinner or over drinks, the conversation inevitably turns to running and triathlon:

“I finished an entire beer trapped between two women painstakingly comparing the routes of their 8-mile run, complete with olfactory descriptions of a cow farm. ”

How were these women so committed, passionate, and alive over exercise?!

Who are these people?

Their triathlon stories, Alicia’s included, are in this book.

You are an Ironman: How Six Weekend Warriors Chased Their Dream of Finishing the World’s Toughest Triathlon, by Jacques Steinberg

Are you one step away from signing up for an Ironman? This book contains triathlon stories of six Ironman hopefuls and might be the inspirational triathlon book that will inspire you to do this challenging race.

“When someone told me they were training for an Ironman, I always thought there’s no freaking way I could ever do an Ironman. I’m always encouraging other people to run in events to train hard so they can compete in races.

But since I left the Army, I haven’t physically pushed myself. I’m tired of being a hypocrite. So I picked the one race I thought I couldn’t finish. “

How Bad Do You Want It?, Matt Fitzgerald

Endurance sports and mental toughness go hand in hand. And, developing mental toughness can help you handle discomfort so that you can move faster, longer.

But how exactly do you train mental toughness?

With one question: How bad do you want it?

The Brave Athlete: Calm the F*ck Down and Rise to the Occasion, Simon Marshall PhD, Lesley Paterson

If you’re a triathlete, you probably demand a lot from yourself. But if you’re not careful, your biggest strength can be your biggest weakness—you’re too hard on yourself.

But with The Brave Athlete, you’ll learn: