Hi everyone. New to the forum, glad to be here.
I've been a swimmer for many years and got into triathlon a few years back. Right now, I'm swimming in college and have done a couple Ironmans with a PR of about 10:30.
This year I believe that if I do a better job of structuring my training, doing a better job of balancing focused workouts with active recovery, and periodizing over the course of my season (end of Feb through the first week of October), I'll be in line to make some serious drops. My two big races are a 70.3 in June and an Ironman in October. I've done a lot of reading on the subjects, but in application, for myself personally, I still have got some questions that I'd really appreciate getting some advice on.
1) It seems like the two big schools of periodization are "linear" and "reverse". To me, linear seems to make the most sense for people doing shorter races, while as distance increases, getting more specific would just equate to more long aerobic training. So from here, it would appear that reverse periodization, on the macro scale, would make more sense, and would probably line up better with my race schedule. Hit it hard early, and build volume as I go. I'd like to think that after 6 months of swimming my base would be strong enough for my body to absorb the training load, but I don't want to risk overtraining/injury if my body isn't ready to handle it. How should I structure my season?
2) Much less specific, but what are the biggest things that you think would help someone like me make some big drops, especially for the ironman distance. Training, recovery, lifestyle- whatever you've got, please let me hear it.
Thanks a lot everyone! Glad to join the community
I've been a swimmer for many years and got into triathlon a few years back. Right now, I'm swimming in college and have done a couple Ironmans with a PR of about 10:30.
This year I believe that if I do a better job of structuring my training, doing a better job of balancing focused workouts with active recovery, and periodizing over the course of my season (end of Feb through the first week of October), I'll be in line to make some serious drops. My two big races are a 70.3 in June and an Ironman in October. I've done a lot of reading on the subjects, but in application, for myself personally, I still have got some questions that I'd really appreciate getting some advice on.
1) It seems like the two big schools of periodization are "linear" and "reverse". To me, linear seems to make the most sense for people doing shorter races, while as distance increases, getting more specific would just equate to more long aerobic training. So from here, it would appear that reverse periodization, on the macro scale, would make more sense, and would probably line up better with my race schedule. Hit it hard early, and build volume as I go. I'd like to think that after 6 months of swimming my base would be strong enough for my body to absorb the training load, but I don't want to risk overtraining/injury if my body isn't ready to handle it. How should I structure my season?
2) Much less specific, but what are the biggest things that you think would help someone like me make some big drops, especially for the ironman distance. Training, recovery, lifestyle- whatever you've got, please let me hear it.
Thanks a lot everyone! Glad to join the community