THIS IS STILL VERY MUCH IN A DRAFT STATE!
I started putting this together as a checklist of places and ways to train in triathlon in NYC. This is mostly geared towards people that live in NYC and want to understand their options. I get a lot of questions, from people who just want to do their first sprint tri and then leave it there, to people who are obsessed by it and want to know all the places to do it. The information isn’t exhaustive and where I have no prior dealings with the club I’ve not added any info. If I’ve missed information let me know!
Tri Clubs with lots of facilities
There are a number of triathlon clubs in NYC. It’s not the only way to train so I’ve added in some swim/bike/run-only clubs.
Full Throttle Endurance Training
This is who I primarily train with, and am a part-time coach with them. They are a long established tri team run by Scott Berlinger (ex-gladiator Viper!). They are located in Chelsea Piers at 23rd street by the Hudson River. Their facilities are awesome: 6 lane 25 yard pool that overlooks the Hudson River, an indoor 440m running track (with a 200m inner loop), Computrainers, and a serious wealth of training equipment (it’s USA Weightlifting facility, has a US Masters Swim club, beach volleyball court, basketball courts, climbing wall, etc).
There are a number of coaches and coached sessions:
- 5 morning sessions per week 5:45-7:45am
- 2 sets of 3 morning sessions per week (See website for timing)
- 3 evening sessions per week
- Saturday morning swim session
- Various Computrainer classes (additional $, but also available for non-club members)
Apart from that there are always people going for long bike rides and runs. Previously I trained a lot more by myself but found my quality of training has improved by being in a good social group.
Cost: $288/month (after gym membership)
Facilities: Everything
Full Throttle Website
Chelsea Piers NYC Sports Club Website
Asphalt Green
Asphalt Green are another regular on the NYC triathlon scene and probably the closest rival to Chelsea Piers in terms of facilities. They have the plus of two locations: upper east side and battery park city; lots of group workouts including long bike and runs at the weekend; and a decent cost structure.
Cost: $649 per year (or monthly for gym members)
Facilities: Everything except Computrainers and indoor track.
Tri Clubs with some facilities
Tailwind Endurance
This club is run by Earl Walton and I became aware of it as he is coaching a friend of mine who is a very high level amateur athlete. He runs his facility on 23rd street between 6th and 7th street. The facility is geared towards coached indoor bike sessions although he is a fully-fledged triathlon coach.
They have a number of bike sessions each week and a bike/run workout (with the run portion going outside). Check online for their schedule. Additionally during the summer Earl coaches swim sessions at Palisades Swim Club on 9W. You can bike out there swim, and ride back. Or drive…. 🙂
Additionally Earl coaches a yearly swim camp at St Croix with Olympic gold-medallist Misty Hyman in November culminating with the St Croix open water swim race.
Cost: TODO!
Facilities: Primarily Indoor Bike Training
Terrier Tri
Terrier tri have a decent presence in NYC and do lots of their training outdoors in Central Park. As such the core of their program runs during the triathlon season and not through the harsh winter months. They have indoor swim classes and computrainer sessions indoors however so you can check out their website for details.
I believe they are affiliated with NYC Hydras swim club as you need both a USMS membership and a USAT membership to train with them (for insurance purposes) and you would affiliate yourself with the Hydras in the USMS membership.
Cost: $109/month for group training (also add-on fees for race-specific training)
Facilities: Primarily In-season outdoor training with indoor swim and computrainer sessions
Tri Clubs with primarily outdoor training
TriLife
TriLife is a relatively large club based in NYC that focuses on specific half ironman or ironman races. My understanding is they coach for specific club races. So in a given year the club race would be Ironman Lake Placid, for example, and from there the training for everyone is geared towards the same race. Most of their training is outdoors on the roads. TODO: Indoor/Swim training?
Cost: I don’t have up-to-date info. I remember their pricing being competitive (in my opinion) compared to other groups.
Facilities: Primarily Outdoor Training TODO: Swimming?
Empire Tri
Yet another of the larger clubs in NYC, Empire Tri are seen around quite a lot in NYC. Similar to Terrier Tri, Empire Tri do a lot of their training outdoors during the triathlon season with a smaller scale program during the winter.
During the main season group training is focused towards specific club races so that everyone can follow a similar training schedule. Runs and bikes are outdoors in Central Park during the week with longer rides at the weekend. Swims are at Riverbank state park in the upper west side (138th & Hudson River).
Cost: $~400/12 weeks (~$133/month) for group training
Facilities: Primarily In-season outdoor training with indoor swim
TriLatino
TriLatino is a smaller club and unsurprisingly by the name is focused towards getting Latinos into the world of multi-sport. I don’t believe that precludes others getting involved with the club though! Again they do bike/run training outdoors primarily in Central Park and then have a couple spots for swim training. They have a mix of packages: marathon, triathlon, triathlon-plus. Unfortunately I couldn’t figure out the difference between the triathlon and triathlon-plus packages but they have a form where you can ask for general information on their website.
Cost: $475/$775 for Triathlon/Triathlon Plus Programs. (Not sure on duration)
Facilities: Primarily In-season outdoor training with indoor swim
Gold Coast (technically Hoboken)
For a while I lived in Hoboken and worked in NYC so including them in the list. This is by far the cheapest option I’ve come across. The team is run by its members so is not generally led by coaches. They have regular outdoor bike/runs throughout the week and continue as long as their demand into the winter. There is a masters program at Steven’s university in the middle of Hoboken which I think costs ~$50/month.
Cost: ~$25 per year
Facilities: Primarily outdoors. Indoor swimming at Stevens, track sessions outdoors at Weehawken.
Bike Clubs/Groups
CRCA
CRCA is a long-established USA Cycling bike club that runs a series of races in Central Park throughout the bike season. It costs $40/year once you have your USA Cycling membership. Once you have those two things you can race in central park fairly regularly for $5 a pop. They also have some crits and races outside the city (e.g. Bear Mountain Spring Classic). Bike racing is perhaps a little more crash-prone than triathlon so if you’re new to bike racing make sure you do the complimentary skills handling sessions that the club runs throughout the year.
Cost: ~$40/year + $5/race (or $100 for membership and all races)
CRCA Website
CRCA
CRCA is a long-established USA Cycling bike club that runs a series of races in Central Park throughout the bike season. It costs $40/year once you have your USA Cycling membership. Once you have those two things you can race in central park fairly regularly for $5 a pop. They also have some crits and races outside the city (e.g. Bear Mountain Spring Classic). Bike racing is perhaps a little more crash-prone than triathlon so if you’re new to bike racing make sure you do the complimentary skills handling sessions that the club runs throughout the year.
Cost: ~$40/year + $5/race (or $100 for membership and all races)
CRCA Website
Rapha Cycling Club (RCC)
The Rapha store in the meatpacking district is frequented by many cyclists and is a landing spot for many roadies who land in NYC. They have groups rides on a regular basis that are available to all, as well as a cycling club. If you join the cycling club you can race in the CRCA series as an RCC rider. One of the huge benefits of RCC is that when you travel to other cities they will loan you a bike to ride.
Cost: TODO
Rapha Cycling Club Website
Gran Fondo NY (GFNY)
Although not a club as such, the Gran Fondo is probably the biggest cycle event that hits NY each year. Between their bright green jerseys and weekly group rides it’s hard to ignore the group.
Cost: $250/race + free group rides
GFNY Website
Run Clubs/Groups
NYRR
NYRR is the group that brought the NYC marathon to the world and a whole bunch of other running events each year. They have regular runs in the park with various paces for all abilities and are definitely the biggest running club in the city. There are many affordable races throughout the year.
Cost: ~$40/year
NYRR Website
Bike Fitters
EnduranceWerx/FitWerx
Bike Studios
Swim Clubs/Groups
Swim Locations
Pools/Beaches/Lakes
Brighton Beach
Far Rockaway
Hamptons/Montauk
Jersey Shore
Sandy Hook
Lake Welch/Lake Tiorati
Mountain Lake
Bike Routes
Hamptons Ride
GWB->Bear (via Park)
-> Bear via 9W
-> Bear via inland (route 23)
-> Beyond bear (north and east)
-> Harriman state park
Central Park
Prospect Park
Tired Legs Empty Mind 