I would consider myself on the light side at roughly 15-17 hours per week.

Typical week is about 3 hours in the pool, 3-4 hours running, 8-10 hours on the bike.

The light side of what? I'm lucky to get 8hrs a week in and I'm FOP.

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_________________________
I got nothing.

forgot to ask also, how many races / year a triathlete does.

I do around 80 races / year round.

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Entrepreneur & pro athlete
http://www.links.lachance.me

4 hrs of running, 3 hrs of swimming, and 7-9 hrs on the bike for about 14-16 total. And I am FOP for my age group.

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"Whether you believe you can or you can't, you are right."

You are either or, can't be both. What's your name?

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_________________________
I got nothing.

Would you like the mean, median, or mode?

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maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

I'm at about 12 in my first week of base, that includes strength training. I'll probably get up to 20-23 in peak months. (4 swims, 3-4 rides, 4-6 runs)

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Owner of Dream Big Triathlon Coaching LLC
http://www.dreambigtriathloncoaching.com/

I'm an amatuer roadie as well. For two years I'm at 3-4 hours tues,wens,thur. With one hour of running per day.

I generally seperate mt cycling in two parts. 2 hours in the morning two hours at night. With a run for lunch. BUT on Tuesdays and Thur I do an extremely fast ride at nights.

But on Saturdays and Sunday's straight 5 hours on saturday and 3 on Sunday. Rest days for me are on Friday and Monday. (at which points I'm generally doing laps at the Rec center)

So 17-20 hours on the bike on avg per week.

Socks

OH!
On rare occasion if I have a slow week I'll try to do 500-700 miles in a week which takes up a lot more time.

12-15 hours: 4-ish swimming, 6-ish running, 5-ish riding.

As for race sin a year: 6-8 triathlons, 4-5 running races, maybe a solo bike and a solo swim race or two.

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The secret of a long life is you try not to shorten it.
-Nobody

I wrote pro/ amateur as I am not on a actual pro team. However, racing my bike is how I manage to pay my bills.

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Entrepreneur & pro athlete
http://www.links.lachance.me

That's good stuff. I'm impressed with how few hours you ride to maintain performance at that 'pay the bills' level, which is going to be very high.

While I definitely do not train anywhere as hard/intensely as you do, I do log more hours than that, and I'm a middling FOP AGer who can't even get onto the podium despite decades of running and ample time to get decent on bike/swim.

I put up 14-15 hours a week in the off-season, and when half-ironman (my "A" race) season comes in it goes up to 18-20 hours per week while holding down a full time job and family. It's amazing how many hours of training you can cram in between 4AM-6AM as well as the half hour lunch hour - my wife barely notices how much I train! I will say that because I do a lot of training in those earlier morning hours, I can't crank up the intensity as much. I still go plenty hard for me, but even with warmup it's still not the same doing interval work at 6AM having just woken up than doing it when you're fully awake.

Crazily, even at 20 hours per week, which feels like a lot of training to me, it really doesn't feel anywhere near maxxing my results in triathlon. Even at 20hrs per week that's only about 7-8 hrs each of bike/run and 5-6 of swim, which is nowhere near what a standalone athlete would do for training hours. I also felt much more tired and beatdown in my prior incarnation as a pure marathon runner running 70+mpw which took 8-9 hours per week, as opposed to now where I log 2x the hours but don't feel as beat up.

I know this is quite low for the races I am doing, but most of my trainning being based with intensity trainning such as MAP work on the computrainer, track workouts, their is always a line where your body starts to be conterproductive.

The other reason is the racing. With 80 races a year, you need to recover as well in between. Anyhow, I have always been amazed by the volume of trainning triathletes are doing.

18-20hours a week + a full time job is amazing!

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Entrepreneur & pro athlete
http://www.links.lachance.me

(US) pros on a pro team don't even manage to pay their bills via the bike.

That's awesome man. I'm basing "light side" on other conversations I've had with people at events. I hear a lot of 25+

To be honest I never really trained before this year. Up until I got my Cat 3 upgrade I just showed up at races and won, since march I slowly build probably averaged around 10-12 with my largest week being 18 hours, and a lot at 8 hours. I don't have a real job just a college student and I'm pretty sure my coach is going to have me doing a whole lot more this season now that I've ramped up a bit and will actually have an off-season.

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Jordan Oroshiba --- Roadie invading Triathlete space for knowledge access

2 hours a week in the pool.
2 hours a week running.
3 hours a week on the bike.
4 hours a week Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.

FOP (2:10 oly is best result (42 yrs old)).

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Civilize the mind, but make savage the body.

- Chinese proverb

I know many US cyclists are struggling and I have never said I was'nt. I have been lucky to have the support of my national federation the last 3 years. The prize money only pays for my food, insurance, etc.

JM

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Entrepreneur & pro athlete
http://www.links.lachance.me

So far this year I've averaged 140 minutes a day or 14:20 a week. Some weeks are higher, some are lower. That is about as much as I can handle but then again I'm 45.

I am 62 AG, so pretty much out of real competition.
But per week I log: 4 hr OWS, 4hr ride and 4hr run by doing an OLY bout every other day as my training. I race bout once a month here in Miami.
I thought I was training a lot til I read this thread. Now I see why I don't improve as much as I'd like.
Wish I could pay my bills by riding my bike like cyclist87 as the bike is my favorite event since 1970.
(80 races a yr (6+ races a month) seems like a lot of races. Just sayin)
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2011 Broward County 60-64M Sprint Tri Champion
2011 1st place 60-64M Race Troops Sprint Tri
2012 1st place 60-64M Spring Training Sprint Tri
2013 1st place 60-64M Bone Island HIM
2013 1st place 60-64M Tri-Miami International Tri

8.06 YTD: 1.07 swim, 5.13 bike, 1.86 run.

4 sprint Tri's, 1 Oly Tri, 3 sprint Du and AZ S/C (not sure which distance that would be considered - they call it short course, but its not very short.), a few 3 - 6.2 mile running races.

Won my age group in all the Du's - not so good in the rest

midpack: 5 hrs. Sprints only.

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__________
"At the end he was staggering into parked cars and accusing his support-van driver of trying to poison him." A description of John Dunbar in the 1st Hawaii Iron Man

I did my first Ironman this year, and was averaging 20 hours/week, but bumped it up to 26-27 hours/week for my peak weeks. Right now I'm doing about 8 hours/week, and feeling really lazy about it. I do best with 12 hours/week.

Since coming back from ITB syndrome in May I've been able to build to 16-18 hour weeks without and issue. FOP at local races, I'm doing Rev 3 Venice this weekend so we will see how if the hours have paid off. Though it seems there will be just short of 400 people racing and a lot of the local races get upwards of 1000.

I'm an pro/amateur slacker and I train about 12 hours per week.

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Find out what it is in life that you don't do well, then don't
do that thing.

What exactly is a pro/amateur?

Just looking at the last 2 years, I averaged 13 hours per week in 2011 as I was racing 70.3 and for 2012 I have averaged 14 hours per week training for two Ironman races.

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-Of course it's 'effing hard, it's IRONMAN!
Team ZOOT
ZOOT, QR, Garmin, HED Wheels, Zealios, FormSwim, Precision Hydration, Rudy Project

During IM Training season (3 or 4 month cycle) I average (true average of hours divided by weeks) 15 hours. Near the end I am hitting 19 hours several times, at the very end before taper, I will hit 19 three weeks in a row.

The whole time I have 3.5 hours per week swim
I build from 30 miles of running per week to peak of 60
In regular weeks I will ride 7 or 8 hours, in big bike weeks I will ride 12 plus.

I am probably borderline MOP/FOP, I have gone 10:24 at IM before but am shooting for 9:45 range at my current fitness. Best 40k TT is just under hour, best 5k is just under 20 min (both not tapered/rested).

I think if I can maintain the ablve level of commitment through another training cycle, I have some pretty good improvements remaining. I am at FTP of 240 and weight 140 lbs. I have only had a power meter for a few months, so now that I know what I am doing, I am certain I can raise that FTP some more to make more gains.

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Ironman Certified Coach

Currently accepting limited number of new athletes

14 hours/week
5 running
1 swimming
3 biking
5 yoga, but also kayaking, hiking, weights, etc.

2 olys, 1 dua, 50M, 50K, and 3 marys ytd as I have generally transitioned away from a triathlon to run focussed events.

I live in Chicagoland so biking hours includes spin, but in general only 5 months have any cycling. I am cycling 40% less than my IM years, but my running is at similar levels.

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Swim - Bike - Run the rest is just clothing changes.

I'm very similar to Lighterair and FFmedic in the sense that during a typical build week I am at between 17-20 hours. Remember that when you take out the 4-5 hours of swimming, it certainly brings guys like us more in line with what you are doing.

I've written about this on the forum before, but I'll say it again here, IMO what it comes down to is very simple, and this is the advice that I follow myself and often give to others: train as much as possible. Take stock of everything going on in your life; both physical and mental stressors, and work to train as much as you can while still fostering positive adaptations. Someone that can nap daily and has little stress outside of training is much more likely to benefit from 20+ hour weeks than someone who is juggling this with a demanding job, family, etc. I know that personally, having been into endurance sports for just over 2.5 years now (starting with marathon running, into duathlon, and now triathlon this year) even when I don't have much else to worry about, my body seems to adapt best at under 20 hours. I can over-reach a few times during a year, but any more than that [volume wise] seems to be detrimental rather than helpful.

More is more, so long as you are adapting to it.

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*********************************************
Brad Stulberg
Author, Peak Performance
http://www.BradStulberg.com

12 hrs, almost even split between the three sports with a slight advantage going to the swim

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-Jason
______________________________________________
Is that all you've got? Are you sure?

Damn that is a bunch, what is your personal/professional life surrounding that?

I think I could benefit from more bike/swim volume in my training, but I would have a problem staying married/employed. If I had kids it would be a whole other world I think.

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Ironman Certified Coach

Currently accepting limited number of new athletes

I do around 13 hours per week on average with peak weeks being 18-19 hours, the breakdown of hours per discipline varies depending on the weather, but i would say bike>run>swim for me, and that also reflects my strength in each area according to my OA/AG ranks post race for each.

FOP, have only competed in Sprint/Oly so far; 5 triathlons this year and 4 run races.

As opposed to train as much as possible I would frame the issue more as train as consistently as possible.

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-Of course it's 'effing hard, it's IRONMAN!
Team ZOOT
ZOOT, QR, Garmin, HED Wheels, Zealios, FormSwim, Precision Hydration, Rudy Project

2005: 11.9 hours
2006: 12.5 hours
2007: 13.75 hours
2008: 12.06 Hours
2009: 12.90 hours
2010: 11.33 hours (injured Jan - March, lots of 0's)
2011: 13.36 hours
2012: 14.0 hours


As bryan said - i don't focus so much on actual volume, but more on making sure I do something every single day, preferably something twice a day.

Bryancd wrote:

As opposed to train as much as possible I would frame the issue more as train as consistently as possible.

Completely agree, and thanks for pointing this out. If you train "more than possible," you are likely to get hurt, sick, etc. Consistency is key. My other golden piece of advice re; training is when folks ask about what program they should follow; it's the one that allows you to be consistent! So long as the basics are there in terms of the training program being technically sound, there is no one "perfect" regimen; it's the one that an athlete can stick to, again, both physically and mentally.

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*********************************************
Brad Stulberg
Author, Peak Performance
http://www.BradStulberg.com

I'm a 33 AG. I managed to finish 70.3 slightly below or above 5hrs with 10 hrs (max) a week. Usually broken out as follows:

2 hrs Swimming
5 hrs Biking
3 hrs Running

I've often wondered this. Is average a good measure - is it the time that is really focused on IM, or just the average hours per year?
Heres my average leading up to my first ironman. Prior to this have always ridden, hadn't ran consistently for over 16 years, hadn't really ever swum for more than 3 months a year.
In 11 months its about 650 hours, or ~ 13 hours a week. But 13, or average, is a poor indicator I think as threre is periods of low volue (0 hours and build up is from an injury after I had a coach for the first few months - after that I coached myself) and high volume (28 hours). This gave me a 10:14 finish for my first IM.
I personally don't think average tells the story as it ignores base and bears no relation around the IM push (for me anyway).

Ive just hit 660 hours this year, ~ 15 hours a week. Thats seen me improve my 70.3 time from 4:50 (so I went 2 * 70.3 pace + 25 mins for first IM) to 4:24.

Last year: The last week shown is the week before IM week.

I work full time, no kids, wrong side of 40.

I am usually around 18-20 hours including yoga, foam rolling, and whatnot...

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I am a newbie to ST please be patent with my idiocy!
Skin Sake Athletic Tri Team

770 hours is a 2 hour per day athlete or 14 hours per week athletes.

The easiest way to figure out the reality is to take your annual hours and divide by 52. This is how many hours per week you actually do (most people take their maximum week and say that is what they do, especially when it comes to run mileage). For example if you are 51 kilometers per week runner (30 miles)....then you should be 2650 kilometers per year. Most people who claim to run 35-45 miles per week never actually surpass 2000k per year.

For the last three years the average (over the year) weekly totals:

2012: 0h 26min per week...so far (was able to squeeze out a 4:46 half in NH)

2011: 0h 49min per week (2 race wins out of 4)

2010: 0h 45min per week (3 race wins out of 5 races)

2009: 1h 2min per week (it was a good training year; 4 race wins out of 6 races and a sub 2:00 ID)

I am able to finish FOP in regional races and consider myself luck to stay as competitive as I am with such a dirth of training.

Stephen J

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I believe my local reality has been violated.
____________________________________________
Happiness = Results / (Expectations)^2

I am on the extremely low side. 6 hrs average and 8hrs is a big week for me. I consider myself FOMOP (front-of-middle-of-pack). I do Xterra's, sprints, Du's, 1/2 Marathon (2 this year) along with other running races ranging from 1 mile to 5 miles. I have a full time job, 3 kids, and a wife who needs time to be active too. I will be 39 in a couple weeks. I was a bike racer before wife and kids and that was 15+ hrs a week. I took up this multi-sport thing because it is easier to train for. A 30 minute ride is useless, but a 30 minute run is a good workout. I do this to keep me busy and out of trouble and so I can eat more than all my lazy co-workers.

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Contemplating a multi-sport comeback

devashish_paul wrote:

The easiest way to figure out the reality is to take your annual hours and divide by 52. This is how many hours per week you actually do (most people take their maximum week and say that is what they do, especially when it comes to run mileage).

x10000
It seems like every sub-elite triathlete is boasting 30 hours of training a week. I would hazard a guess that not many elite triathletes can honestly make that claim. What does this number really mean? Is it an average over the whole season, the build phase, the race season? Did they count the off-season, taper weeks, sick time? Like as not, the number bandied about is more like peak volume. Or it includes all kinds of questionable "training" activities (stretching, physio appointments, ice baths, yard work...). But it sounds a lot cooler to say "I train 30 hours" than "Itrainupto30hoursbutsometimesaslittleas10ifI'mtaperingorrecovering."

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CodyBeals.com | Instagram | TikTok
ASICS | Ventum | Martin's | HED | VARLO | Shimano | 4iiii | Keystone Communications

X1001

The average is the average including tapering/vacationing/winter months etc. When Bryan says he average 14 hours a week, that is a true average. I would bet he had several 18-20 hours weeks in there to hold the average up in spite of tapering and recovering.

For what it is worth I think that a true average of 12-13 is quite substantial. After all how many people really spend nearly 2 hours a day training YEAR ROUND.

I'm one of the guys who does over 770 hours per year, but I get a ton out of bike commuting. If I take that out, I'm below 500 hours per year. Anyway, as of this week, I'm at 720 hours or so. I don't think I will hit 2600K of running this week (basically 30 miles per week).

Anyway, the entire "I train x hours per week" is like the guys who "work" 60-80 hours per week. I think these people count everything remotely related to training or in the case of work, every moment in the week that they are actually doing work, at work, thinking about work, commuting to work, having lunch at work, having coffee at work, dreaming about work.....I count on getting 5 hours of productive time out of team members per day and the key word is productive.

Correct, and my math sucks, it should be 12 hours per week in 2011 and 13 hours per week YTD for 2012. Now that it's post race season, volume over the next 2 months will likely be closer to 10-11 tops so even my 2012 average will be closer to 12. I'll just go with 12 and call it a day. :)

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-Of course it's 'effing hard, it's IRONMAN!
Team ZOOT
ZOOT, QR, Garmin, HED Wheels, Zealios, FormSwim, Precision Hydration, Rudy Project

Good point.I thought about training at least 20 hours this week. I'll have to revise my numbers.

Off Season/Base Period; 10-12
Pre Season/Build: 14-18
Peak: 16-20

If you train 20 hours per week, you better be doing 1040 hours per year. You might be out training Thomas Hellriegel in that case :-)

Swim: ~1.5-2 Hrs
Bike: ~4-6 hours
Run: ~4 hours
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Total: ~9.5 - 12 hrs

I'm aiming for one 70.3, four Olympics, one sprint, and two half marathons for 2013 :)

Pretty much this ^

Actually I only include swim, bike, run in my calculation. No strength training, core work, stretching, foam roller, ect.

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-Of course it's 'effing hard, it's IRONMAN!
Team ZOOT
ZOOT, QR, Garmin, HED Wheels, Zealios, FormSwim, Precision Hydration, Rudy Project

12-18hr when work is crazy which is usually race season, but in the off season 18-24. Don't think I have ever gone over 24 and do about 2-4 tri races, 2-3 running, and 1-2 open water races. 3-4 swims, 3-4 run, 3-4 bike.

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http://www.nathanveldhoen.com
http://twitter.com/NateVeldhoen

Average 9 hours per week from spring to now.

Swim 3500 meters/week
Bike 100 miles/week
Run 22 miles/week

53 years old. Top ten in my AG at halfs - 5:03 -5:10 range this year for halfs and qualified for Vegas.

Hope to go under 11:30 at IMAZ with biggest week this year at 11.7 hours.

in my first year of training i am at 5.5 hours/week avg. i am at around the top quarter to top third AG in most of my races (sprints and olys).
i am hoping to bump that up to 7 hours/week for 2013, if my knees can hold up (not doing so hot these days).

As of tomorrow, weekly average (calculated from all logged workouts in the ST training log/current number of weeks completed this year) is 7.59. Managed to win my first Oly in a time of 2:03:xx. At least 3 complete zero weeks (after the season), some other low low training ones as well. Logged >13hr last week and will probably be up closer to 15hr by Sunday. I'd like to get into consistent weeks of 10hrs or more. Looking back at my summer training I was terribly inconsistent moving from 13hr to 7hr weeks then down to 6hr then back up to 13hr, gotta fix that.

8-10? Peak about 15 for my first IM next month....

Job, wife, kids...

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