by Marco Koschier

Training in Moscow sounds like an adventure taking into account that Moscow has a population of approximately 15 million people. Triathlon is no mass sport in Russia and IM falls into the “exotic sports" category.

The climatic conditions are "continental." That means a long and cold (down to -30C) winter (see my last article) and a hot summer (up to 40C), however spring and autumn practically don't exist. Air pollution is also a factor.

There is no triathlon community that I know off here in Moscow. I'm alone out there -- always. While there are Olympic-distance races in Russia, there aren't any in Moscow. For ironman I have to travel especially far to participate in the European races -- first I need get through Russia (a big country), then it's a matter of traveling to the race in whatever country. That's a lot of time zones.

Here's what the training options look like:

• Swimming: The infrastructure is great so it's easy to find a pool, however the entry fees are very expensive.
  
  
• Bike: Ignoring the weather conditions that do not leave much room for outdoor cycling, the main “killer” is the fact that bike riders are not considered "part of traffic" -- car drivers just don't care about cyclists. After my third crash, my wife refused to let me ride outside. The solution: CompuTrainer... always. I do a two week camp every year in Austria or Cyprus to get some road Ks in the legs. Bike mechanics are quite good, but the challenge is finding out where they are.
  
  
• Running: There are lots of parks and sidewalks, however you have to be careful when crossing a road because pedestrians are not granted any rights by car drivers (it's the same treatment as for cyclists).

A key planning issue is commuting because Moscow is notorious for its permanent traffic jams. Thus my favorite pool is one metro station away from home and office, running starts/ends at home and, like I mentioned above, bike is always indoors. Doing all that keeps dead time from commuting to a minimum.