Swim don't change too much, I'd probably add in repeats up to 400 yd no matter what distance I'm racing.
Bike and run just add in some faster aka higher than threshold workouts

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Brian Stover USAT LII
Accelerate3 Coaching
Insta

I'my curious to see what others say as I'm in a similar boat.

Fwiw I haven't changed my swim training a bit (similar to yours but with 1-2 OWSs per week), haven't changed my run training yet as historically my body hasn't held up well to speed work (but might throw in one day a week), bike training has changed a lot: 2x20, and 5x10, basically no long Z2 work which used to be >50% of my volume.

This is kind of what I figured. I think I'm going to keep run volume about the same. Maybe take it down to 30-35mi/wk as I add in some speed work. Likely 1 day/wk of tempo or faster short intervals to work on turnover and threshold. I am a slow runner, but do pretty easily hold 8:15/mi pace over 3-4 mi. I'd like to see that drop to about 7:30, just not sure if that's doable in a month.

I agree with the bike intervals. Has to be just hard, mash the pedals, FTP+ efforts. I'm also planning to nix long z2 efforts as I don't have any rides longer than 20mi in a race until presumably next year.

Don't throw the baby out with the bath water. A long weekend ride would still keep you strong.

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@floathammerholdon | @partners_in_tri

Just as a point of info: assuming short rest is about 5-7 sec on 50s and 10-12 sec on 100s, I think most swim coaches would classify long sets of 50s and 100s on short rest as endurance training, b/c you're trying to swim at your 1500 m race pace, or perhaps your half iron (1900 m) or full iron pace (3800 m) if your sets are long enough. These sets are definitely not "high intensity" in swimming terms, as that would be sets more like 5 x 50 on 3:00 and 5 x 100 on 6:00 where you're getting a lot of rest so you can swim close to an all-out rested 50/100 on each repeat. This is much harder than it sounds:)

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

Cool. So I do some of that also, more like 20x50 on equal rest or on 1:00 rest. I guess what you're saying is even longer rest for even harder efforts. So assuming I swim 3x a week, one day should be more like 1500-2000 with super intense efforts on long rest? The other two days can be longer x50 or x150 efforts on shorter rest. The combo should equate to stronger, faster swimming? My position is always better as speed improves too but I'd guess that's a normal occurrence for folks.

So I am the world's worst swimmer (see my thread ) but 1900m vs 1500m is not really different. Seems swims can stay the same.

Doing 25-30mpw on BarryP has served me well for sprints and olys. Run n the low 7s for sprints and mid 7s for olys. Do a few 1 mile or 1/2 mile interval once a week or so but nothing serious.

In your run plan, assuming at 30/wk you're at a 6-3-9-3-6-3, what pave are you knocking out your long run at?

Mainly i was just making a point of information but ya, if you really want to improve your speed in the water, you have to do some short, long-rest, intense swimming to improve your top end. I think you kind of have to swim acc to how you feel, since on a given day when you had planned to try to swim short fast repeats on long rest, you may just not be able to get there, e.g. you just can't make your body go that hard, which is to the point of being gasping hard for breath at the end if you're doing it right. So, you might give it a go for a few very hard repeats on each of your 3 swim sessions. The bottom line is that your all-out 100 time governs how fast you can swim 1500 or longer, since no one can hold their all-out 100 pace for 1500.

Also, can you swim the other 3 strokes, or 1 or 2 of the 3, decently??? Sometimes when i can't get going on my freestyle, i'll swim some short fast repeats of a diff stroke, or of IM, and then i go faster on subsequent freestyle repeats. Also, as has been said many times here on ST, swimming the other strokes greatly increases your feel for the water by exposing you to diff water pressures on your arms/legs in diff positions from your basic freestyle.

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

Yes on dustances.

I pace by heart rate but most if my non speed day runs - including my long - are between 830 and 900. Long run probably closer to 850.

they say there should be no difference between a 70.3 training plan and olympic plan. You can see this with success of itu athletes doing some 70.3's in a season, and still hitting the podium

That's a fair assessment. But isn't an Oly race much more about speed and a 70.3 endurance? I mean, for me 70.3 was endurance, lol. I can see for some, professionals certainly, how 70.3 is a speed race. But even for a first year, MOP AGer like myself, the Oly distance seems like a drag race compared to 70.3. I feel like I can pick a blistering pace and just hold on in an Oly.

On your HIM training, speed and strength and high end aerobic training was likely put aside in favor of endurance and that's where your focus should be. Forget about the long rides for the next training block, train short, intensely and with a high frequency. The article below may also help

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THE SWITCH FROM LONG COURSE TO SHORT COURSE


My last article was about those athletes who are stepping up at the triathlon ladder, athletes that are new to the sport, and are seeking new challenges, so the 70.3 and Ironman distances is a natural path for them.

However, I often come across athletes who are doing the other way around. They have trained and raced Ironmans for a few years, and be it for lack of time or any other reason, they feel like training and racing short course races is an appropriate choice at that moment.

But how can one make the most out of this experience, fitness and background in long course races? How to race faster if most of the training you have done in the past, were the long workouts, especially on the weekends?

There are some key aspects that those athletes should know if you want to step down to sprint triathlons and Olympic Distance tris:

Race tatics:

At an ironman race, the average age group athlete is racing the course, not other athletes since at an IM, if you are stronger on the bike you can put on 30min on someone, but also lose that much on the run.

Short course is different. Everyone is so close together for the whole race, that you are racing each other and not only the course. This is why race tatics plays much a bigger role and you should consider and use it to your favor.

There will be some parts of the race that can have a huge impact on the final placing, such as swim start, transitions, and mental games. Some of those aspects can be trained, some others not.

Swim start is one of the parts that you can train for and a good example on tatics. If you are racing against hundreds of athletes in your same wave, at an OD race, when the first swim buoy is only 500m from the start, then everyone is suppose to turn left, you want to get to that buoy as close to the front pack as possible, since there isn't enough space for everyone, if you are left behind, the turn around the buoy will be very slow, you will find yourself behind people swimming breastroke, and after that it will be very hard to catch up to the front group.

So the swim training is something that can be really different from the IM training, you need to be a faster 400m swimmer, than just hang on that pack, while for a long course race, there is no need for speed at all in the water, all you want to do is to swim the course as efficient as possible, that is, at a decent speed, but saving as much energy as possible for the rest of the race.

Technique Skills:

Long Course races is mostly about fitness, pacing and nutrition. You can still be a decent Ironman athlete even if you can't corner or downhill properly on the bike, the fitness will make up for that, especially at the average age group level. Short course is a different story, since a mere 5 minutes in your total time, can cost you a podium place in your age group.

Race specific training:

Due to time limitations, ironman athletes spend most of their weekends doing the long workouts, 4 to 6 hours on the bike and 2h plus on the run can be the norm on an ironman plan.

With short course training is no different, you want to improve your racing skills and fitness when you have time and other athletes to train with. I usually prescribe a little and hard bike/run brick every weekend for my athletes, and get them to race as often as possible, any sort of race will do it. Road running, aquathlons, duathlons and even "training races" such as group rides or group open water swims. Each race is a learning opportunity.

Have fun at the short course races!
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Full article here: http://www.ironguides.net/...rse-to-short-course/

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Vinnie Santana, Multisport Coach
http://www.ironguides.net
* * * Your best is our business. * * *

Do you know the difference between your HM and 10k pace? I don't think its as big as you describe.

What was your time in the 70.3 A race that you did? Do you know your threshold pace/power/hr for all 3 disciplines? If you know those it should be easy to slightly shift things towards the Olympic Distance races.

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"Train so you have no regrets @ the finish line"

My stand along HIM pace, last time I ran one (last November) was 9:40/mi. I'd assume I've picked up a fair amount of fitness since then though. On a 4-5mi run, if working reasonably hard, I can hold 8:15-8:30 relatively easily. So in a race setting, I would imagine that if I was able to leave it all on the course, I could run 8:15 for a 10k off the bike.

It was my first 70.3 and I did not track heart rate or power. I honestly just wanted to do the race. I swam around 1:40/100. My bike was around 20-22mph average. My FTP in trainer road is only 215 right now. I have a lot of work to do for both bike and run in the coming off season by way of major bike improvements. I flatted and struggled to get a newer tight tire off the rim. 30 minutes later I buried myself on the bike for the last 20 miles and over ran the first 5 miles of the 1/2 marathon, averaging sub 9:00 miles, which was not in the game plan. I didn't totally blow up, but I dropped to an average of 10:30/mi for the race. Fun experience, shitty race and not much info to gather because I didn't even follow my own plan after the flat.

I'm hoping to make some major off season improvements and continue to lose weight (at 225 now down from 250 about 6 months ago) which will help my power numbers and my run pace certainly. But that's not totally the point here I suppose.