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Sprint distance training
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TCR rider
Nov 29, 22 22:04
Post #1 of 13 (1353 views)
Hi everyone.

Quite late in life (50yo) I did my first triathlon, a sprint distance, at the start of 2021 in about 91 minutes. This was after I completed an 8 week tri course at my local tri club involving one session of each discipline a week. I came from a cycling back ground and had reasonable fitness.

This year, I did the same triathlon in about 99 minutes (albeit with a disrupted preparation) and on Sunday I did another sprint distance tri in 96 minutes after an 8 week training programme I cobbled together from the internet.

My “programme” comprised 5 x 30-40 minute sessions per week. 2 swims each week with run and ride alternating on a 2 and 1 basis.

In the races, average times -

Swim 750 meters in 16 minutes
Ride 20km in 40 minutes
Run 5 km in 35 minutes.

The training my club offers is set around long course races which I am unable to commit to due to family (most important to me) and time restraints.

Is it possible to get better on the time and training I have available and if so, where would I start? Or, do I keep doing what I am doing for the enjoyment and fitness.

I would love to crack the 90 minute mark however think with the time available a coach may not be beneficial for the cost involved.

I appreciate any feedback or guidance.

Thank you
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Re: Sprint distance training [TCR rider] [ In reply to ]
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jwmott
Nov 29, 22 23:33
Post #2 of 13 (1330 views)
Sure, in general it could be possible to get better on 2.5-3.5 hours/week training (am I calculating that correctly?) from where you're at.

What is your running background? That stands out to me as an area that could improve quite a bit with some consistent running. What's your swimming background?

Training-wise, some things to consider:
  • Run 2x/week and bike 1x/week as running is a relative weakness compared to cycling
  • If you do bike 2x/week, do just 30 minutes on the bike and run for 10 minutes after
  • Run for 10 minutes before or after a swim (easy if your gym has a treadmill)
  • Possibly swim 1x/week and do an extra bike or run as you have relatively less to gain from swimming improvement as it is the shortest leg. If you feel that you can improve quite a bit in swimming (like you've never swam laps before 2021 and have low hanging fruit) then keep 2x
  • If you can commit 2.5-3.5 hours/week and swim/bike/run consistently for the entire year I'll bet you see significant improvements over just doing it for 8 weeks before the race (if that's what you're doing). Maybe this is too much time to commit, but to me, that's the bare minimum of weekly exercise anyways just to keep my mind happy, so hopefully you can dedicate that time.

Other ways to improve your time (without spending much money):
  • Practice transitions and make them fast. Many people spend waaay to much time putzing around in transition. Minimal or no clothing changes, save eating and drinking for when you're on the move, have elastic laces on your shoes so you can slip them on, etc.
  • Get a trisuit of some sort if you don't have one. Since you have cycling background, you're probably not wearing a baggy T-shirt like I see sometimes, but having tight fitting top and bottom that you can wear for the whole race saves time in transition and aerodynamically.

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Re: Sprint distance training [TCR rider] [ In reply to ]
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kajet
Nov 29, 22 23:59
Post #3 of 13 (1307 views)
You look like someone who could benefit from those carbon-plated supershoes.

Just kidding. You suck at running, at least off the bike. I don't know if you can go sub-90' at 2.5-3 hours a week, but my suggestion would be to do some combination of the below:

1) combine workouts (any combination will work really) to save time showering and dressing, so that you can increase your volume of actual training - the 5 sessions of 2.5-3 hours total must be costing you like 2 hours of logistics if not more,
2) manage your time better; don't tell me you absolutely cannot scrap together an extra hour,
3) run more and bike less,
4) organize your training into blocks, e.g. do 4 weeks with no cycling (especially if races are far away) and focus on your running, then 4 weeks with 2 bikes a week and 1 run a week where your running will be in maintenance mode (hopefully),
5) combine 2 bike sessions into one as 80 minutes could be more beneficial than 2x40' and frequency is less important in cycling than in swimming and running (also gets you the time savings from point 1).
"FTP is a bit 2015, don't you think?" - Gustav Iden
Last edited by: kajet: Nov 30, 22 0:03
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Re: Sprint distance training [TCR rider] [ In reply to ]
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iron_mike
Nov 30, 22 1:21
Post #4 of 13 (1290 views)
controversial opinion, but i think that the importance of doing brick workouts is inversely proportional to the distance of the race. so for sprint training i think it's a great idea to do run training off the bike. if you have the time in a week, consider doing a run-bike-run-bike-run-bike-run type of workout. ride 2 miles and run half a mile and do a bunch of repeats at a brisk pace, something like that.

i think it helps ease the shift from riding to running legs, and helps you speed up your transitions a lot, which as mentioned are proportionally much more important in a sprint tri.
____________________________________
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Re: Sprint distance training [TCR rider] [ In reply to ]
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jollyroger88
Nov 30, 22 2:29
Post #5 of 13 (1278 views)
The beginner plan here Garmin Connect would work well for you. If that's too much, you could cut something off from your stronger discipline
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Re: Sprint distance training [jollyroger88] [ In reply to ]
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jaretj
Nov 30, 22 4:43
Post #6 of 13 (1246 views)
I also think that's a good place to start
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Re: Sprint distance training [TCR rider] [ In reply to ]
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piratetri
Nov 30, 22 6:52
Post #7 of 13 (1196 views)
At your level and history of training you will gain the most from just increasing your training volume. A sprint distance is an endurance event and at the beginner level you are racing at an even lower intensity. So just adding more time running and riding each week will pay off.

See if you can bump up to 2-3 runs and rides per week instead of 1-2. Make each run 30-50 mins at an easy pace (slower than race pace). Ride an hour each time if possible, maybe going up to 2 hours every once and a while. I wouldn't worry about high intensity interval training until your training volume is consistently higher.

Good luck!
Last edited by: piratetri: Nov 30, 22 6:53
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Re: Sprint distance training [TCR rider] [ In reply to ]
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B.McMaster
Nov 30, 22 10:46
Post #8 of 13 (1143 views)
Sad to say - 1 or 2 runs and 1 or 2 rides a week is just not enough to get much better.

A coach is definitely not worth while.

As you know - a sprint is 12 mile ride and 5k run. Given your available time, just make sure that is the distance you are doing. If you can, adding another session is much more valuable than making any of them longer.

If you really can't get to 3 rides / 3 runs a week, then just do it for fun and fitness which is still great.

Your times don't seem that bad for your age and volume.
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Re: Sprint distance training [TCR rider] [ In reply to ]
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jaretj
Nov 30, 22 11:04
Post #9 of 13 (1136 views)
This is just my opinion, we don't know much about you

Your times:
Swim 750 meters in 16 minutes
Ride 20km in 40 minutes
Run 5 km in 35 minutes.

To me you can gain the most time from the run then the bike then the swim. Because of that order, each one is going to be dependent on the previous ones so your bike/run is going to depend on how you feel after you swim and your run is going to depend on how you feel after you bike/swim.

If you pace your swim according to your ability and aren't gassed afterwards, I think realistically you'll only be able to gain 3 to 5 minutes here with your current training.

On the bike (if it's truly 20K) you'll likely be able to gain 5 minutes with more and/or focused training.

On the run with more and focused training I could see someone gaining 5 to 7 minutes with just more running.

Personally with the volume and time constraints you implied, I'd suggest doing the same swim training then doing three 1 hour bike/run sessions a week where you ride for 40-50 minutes then run for 10-20 minutes. That way you could get in more training in nearly the same amount of sessions and time.

Could that fit into your schedule?
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Re: Sprint distance training [jaretj] [ In reply to ]
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TCR rider
Dec 2, 22 20:11
Post #10 of 13 (958 views)
Thank you all for taking the time to reply, I really appreciate it.

There is lots of great info here, in particular increasing volume which will be my first place to see where I can make some more time.

Thanks again, this is brilliant.
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Re: Sprint distance training [TCR rider] [ In reply to ]
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jwmott
Dec 2, 22 21:21
Post #11 of 13 (935 views)
Oh yeah, my advice assumed that you couldn't increase training time/volume. If you can, even by a couple or few hours/week, absolutely that will help more than anything really.
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Re: Sprint distance training [jwmott] [ In reply to ]
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TCR rider
Dec 2, 22 21:56
Post #12 of 13 (924 views)
jwmott wrote:
Oh yeah, my advice assumed that you couldn't increase training time/volume. If you can, even by a couple or few hours/week, absolutely that will help more than anything really.

That’s my first goal, review and find some extra time. Thanks for your help and taking the time. Much appreciated .
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Re: Sprint distance training [TCR rider] [ In reply to ]
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UpTownFunk
Dec 5, 22 10:09
Post #13 of 13 (829 views)
Hi,

I'm 55, a couple resources I've found useful are 1) Guide to Sprint and Olympic Triathlon Racing by Chris Foster, a quick look at his Level 1 Training Plan called for 7-12 hours/week, this includes weight training. 2) Fast After 50 by Joel Friel. Hope this helps and you can enjoy a little training and racing.
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