From swimming to biking and biking to running, triathlons are a physical challenge. Junior Austin Hindman has done it many times before. On top of running cross country for Lafayette, he also participates in triathlons. Starting at age five, he has been competing ever since. Hindman takes inspiration from his father who used to compete in the Iron Man competitions.

“I’ve actually won Junior North American Championships. I also was on the US Junior World’s team, and just making the team is a highlight in my triathlon career,” Hindman said.

The season runs from March to the middle of September; however, it sometimes spans all the way to October. His next triathlon wont be until either February or March, but a large part of the sport is the preparation. The training process is very intense and time consuming.

“There is a lot of training. I have to put in a lot of weekly hours for all three sports. I swim about four days a week for about an hour and a half. I bike from two to four days a week. During the summer, I bike about 120 miles a week. Then usually I run about 30 miles a week. Two of those days are intense speed workouts,” Hindman explains.