Bryce Lewis TR wrote:
The training route that you choose will depend somewhat on your timeline for your 2019 season. Once you have a date picked out for your Half, you are going to want to backtrack on the Calendar to make sure that you can fit the Half Distance Triathlon Base/Build/Specialty leading up to your event. If you don't have an exact date yet, you may have a ballpark idea of when you want to complete your race and you can operate based on that. The reason that we recommend the Triathlon specific plans leading up to your event is because they are tailored specifically to the nature and demands of tri racing, and they also accommodate training stress from running and swimming too, allowing you to easily balance your three disciplines.
Once have the "meat" of your training planned out, you can see how much time you have between now and when you will start the triathlon training progression. If you have a significant amount of time before starting Half-Distance Base, then you could choose a cycling specific plan to help work on your weaknesses.
A good "cycling-only" plan for this time would be Sweet Spot Base. By focusing on your Base, you will build your aerobic engine and provide a strong cycling foundation upon which to build the rest of your training. If you have enough time, you could even go onto Sustained Power Build afterward. Overall, your training progression should look like this:
Sweet Spot Base
Sustained Power Build (if you have time)
__________________
Half Distance Base
Half Distance Build
Half Distance Specialty
Half Ironman Race
I hope this helps, let me know if you have any further questions!
Thanks for the quick response Bryce!
My next 70.3 isn't until late June 2019 - so lots of time to train and build the engine!
Based on that, I will proceed with your suggested plan as outlined below. Would you go far as to suggest I start with the "Traditional Base" or stick with Sweet Spot Base as a starting point?
Sweet Spot Base
Sustained Power Build (if you have time)
Half Distance Base
Half Distance Build
Half Distance Specialty