I didn't try the time-crunched triathlete, but I tried the time-crunched cyclist, and it was too hard to maintain after 4 weeks, and I'm pretty die-hard in terms of keeping with plans. Maybe I just wasn't strong enough, but I was so hammered by the day in day out of fast cycling that I just couldn't do it anymore after 4 weeks. Might be more possible with triathlon, though, as it's mixing it up SBR, and I've done blocks where I've gone hard on every workout when I'm doing low prerace volume after an appropriate buildup.

I've been debating using it as well, but I don't think it saves you a lot of time. You have days off during the week, but than you just combine workouts on another day. So off on Monday and 90 minutes to 2 hours on Tuesday. If you are trying to make it to work or take care of the family, that doesn't really help. At least not me. I am building a workout plan by using this One-hour workouts book to identify key workouts I want to hit during the week and than just build some reasonable easy days in between. I am only focusing on shorter distance stuff, so I am not sure how that relates to 70.3.

For me, it's not so much about saving time (I can find time in the early morning / lunch / or late night when everyone else is sleeping). It's more about "what" to do.

As far as following it, I'm completely ignoring the swim recommendations. I'm not worried about the swim at all. So it's really about the weekly totals for the bike and run, and the intensity mix. I've been working in a bit of intensity on my runs, and I haven't been sore at all, thank goodness. (other than a gimpy lower back, but that's not related to running. It's more about sitting in a chair at work, sitting in a car, etc... Running actually helps it feel better)

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2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly

Thanks mate.

for me, I'm not going to be following to the letter, more like looking at the weekly structure and rejigging it to fit with my schedule and how I know I recover from efforts.

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Swimming Workout of the Day:

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2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly

I bought the book about 6-7 years ago and had such good results that I hired a Carmichael (CTS) coach for an IM in 2013. I had even better results with the coach, and have stuck with him since, getting progressively faster as I approach 50.

It's a great way to train if you're, well, time-crunched. The idea is that if you don't have a ton of time to train, you get the best bang for your buck with shorter, more intense workouts. I run only 3x a week, all quality runs and almost never a "recovery" run, even when training for a marathon. I do tempo work and recovery on the bike to minimize pounding on my aging frame. I'm not sure how many editions there have been, but there's been a good bit of research on the benefits of interval training since I first read the book.

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<The Dew Abides>

Thanks. Nice to hear that the book worked well for you, hoping for the same.

For me, a coach isn't in the cards anytime soon, if ever, due to a) budget and b) I don't care THAT much about my result to spend my money there. I'd rather spend it on vacation time for the family and put into savings for retirement. $200 per month coaching or a tent-trailer for camping trips that everyone can enjoy? That's where my head is, anyway.

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I used it early on and liked it, but I went straight from the couch/weight room to using those plans so it's too hard to gauge any improvements I made. If I am not mistaken I believe those plans are more "specialty" phase. I think they might be best used at 8 weeks out from race day after having done some basic base/build progression. However it is nice to just have something that says "do x/y" today (I am not qualified to determine if "x/y" is appropriate).

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"It's good enough for who it's for" - Grandpa Wayne

Understood. The book's great if you stay healthy, can handle the load, and don't miss workouts. My schedule gets very strange at times, so the coach rearranges things to make it work.

I also use a power meter, and my coach relies heavily on that data . I'm not sure if the current edition of the book covers power, but the 2011(ish) edition did not.

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<The Dew Abides>

They are designed for "8 weeks out" but they specifically talk about stacking plans one after the other in the book.

I don't have a power meter, just using virtual power via Golden Cheetah. I doubt the number I'm using is accurate at all, but it is reasonably consistent, which is good enough for me at this stage of the game. The book does talk about establishing training zones with a power metre and uses those zones in the plan. They don't spend a lot of time talking about power, which is good for me 'cuz my eyes start to glaze over after about 10 minutes.

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Swimming Workout of the Day:

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2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly