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Living in Montreal, Kathy Tremblay can't train outside for much of the year. But despite climatic restrictions, the 26-year-old has soared into triathlon's elite over the past two years. A foot injury kept her off the podium during World Cup events this year, but she expects to be fully healed and ready to win in Beijing next month.

Ms. Tremblay goes into the Olympic Games as the country's top-ranked female triathlete and is 21st in the world.

My Goal

"To win, of course. I want to get as close to the podium as I possibly can."

My Workout

"I swim six times a week, bike three times and run four or five times. Running, I'll go between five and six kilometres every practice, never more than nine kilometres, otherwise I'd get injured.

"On the bike ... over a week, I'll do about 200 kilometres.

"Massage is also a big part of the training. I need that to recover. I get it about once a week. It's part of the training like everything else."

My Lifestyle

"I love partying, but that's a bit of a problem because I'm usually sleeping by 8:30. If I go to bed at 9, that's pushing it. I'm not drinking beer or anything like that. I'll usually wake up at 6:30 or so.

"I love to eat. Generally I stick to vegetables and really good meat. ... I just like to have a good diet."

My Motivation

"Every bit of training I do is like putting a dollar in the bank account that's eventually going to pay off."

My Workout Anthem

"All my music has been loaded into my Oakley sunglasses. I don't even know what's on there - rock and alternative, mainly."

My Challenges

"My main challenge is that I live in Montreal. We had an awful, awful winter here this year. It makes it tough to get outside, so I bike in a studio where I have train- ers. They make me suffer so hard.

"In February, we went to train in Tucson. My first race was a disaster. I was training too hard in Tucson and completely collapsed.

"I also have this thing my boyfriend calls my 'stress cough.' I hadn't had it for two years, but at the World Cup in Vancouver this year, it was really, really cold [swimming in the ocean]. [With] all the stress at the race, it started up again.

"I also have to think about injury. I hurt my foot recently; I have to make sure I don't reinjure it."

Tips for non-Olympians

Mix it up

Ms. Tremblay is a full-time Olympic athlete who trains 25 to 35 hours a week, but she employs a few simple tricks everyone could benefit from, according to Barrie Shepley, Canada's first Olympic triathlon coach and president of Toronto-area fitness firm Personal Best.

Above all, Mr. Shepley says, embrace cross-training. "Instead of doing the same activity every day, we would all get more benefit and less injury and boredom by utilizing a variety of cross-training activities we enjoy. You could be specific and swim one day, bike the next day and run the third, or you could add in kayaking, Stairmaster, a yoga class and then a nice hike or bike on the weekends. You should never run every day, as few of us have the bone or ligament structure to support the impact of daily running, but daily exercise is the secret to lifelong weight maintenance and strong cardiovascular systems."

Set goals

Ms. Tremblay's goal-driven training is something most people should adopt, according to Mr. Shepley. "Readers will find they are more motivated when they have a goal that keeps them focused."

Mr. Shepley says that goal can be anything from losing 10 pounds to preparing for a five-kilometre charity run to getting your cholesterol level down a few points.

"My experience is that goals drive behaviours."

Get the massage

One final bit of advice: Massages are not for wussies. Ms. Tremblay treats them as an integral part of her training. "[All] of us have misaligned bodies from sitting in cars and [at] work desks," Mr. Shepley says. "Our bodies can benefit from regular massage, chiropractic, physio and yoga or stretching. A big key to Kathy's hard training is her consistent and wise regeneration - good sleep, eating well, stretching and massage or chiro. Each of us should incorporate this into our weekly regime."