I am in week 2 of the 21 week Slowtwitch Olympic training program. I noticed that the program shows the time or distance covered in a workout. When should speedwork drills be added for the swim, bike, and run workouts? And any suggestions on what drills to do? Thank you!
Triathlon Forum
Login required to started new threads
Login required to post replies
Re: question on slowtwitch training program [trinewbee]
[ In reply to ]
Well, give us some info on how far it is to your first event and what kind of event it is. Also, how long have been doing base traiing? What is the duration of your base?
Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com
Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com
Re: question on slowtwitch training program [Tom Demerly]
[ In reply to ]
This is my 2nd tri season, with last year being one sprint and a sprinkling of 5ks. My first sprint this year is on July 11, followed by an Oly two weeks after. I have been base training since October, 2003 and I haven't touched my bike (not even the trainer) since December, 2003. My weekly workouts are swim x 30-90 min x 3-4 as this is my weakness with my 50 yd time @ 0:50 according to my masters coach. I go to masters once a week, and on my own the rest of the week. I run x 20-35 min x 3-4 on the indoor track at 11-12 min/mile). For both I've been careful to remain at 70-75% MHR. Prior to triathlon, I've been moderately active doing kayaking, dancing, hiking, tennis, weights.....Thanks.
Re: question on slowtwitch training program [trinewbee]
[ In reply to ]
Hmmm, this is a tricky one. I am not a coach at all. As you may have seen by my mediocre IM New Zealand performance I probably have little or no business doling out training advice.
There are qualified coaches on this forum. They are better suited to answer this question.
Having said that, I wonder if you need to stick to the base training for now and perhaps raise the volume a little. Concentrating on easy workouts while working on technique (as you've indicated) and bringing up the distance some.
The speed work should probably begin, I guess, about 10 weeks from your "A" race on July 11 is my guess. Now, depending on your goals, speed work for a sprint distance race can be pretty darn intense. You need to be certain you are well prepared for that before you begin or you may risk injury.
for now, a little more base work probably won;t hurt- except that it gets boring.
I will be interested to hear the input of more qualified coaches on this.
Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com
There are qualified coaches on this forum. They are better suited to answer this question.
Having said that, I wonder if you need to stick to the base training for now and perhaps raise the volume a little. Concentrating on easy workouts while working on technique (as you've indicated) and bringing up the distance some.
The speed work should probably begin, I guess, about 10 weeks from your "A" race on July 11 is my guess. Now, depending on your goals, speed work for a sprint distance race can be pretty darn intense. You need to be certain you are well prepared for that before you begin or you may risk injury.
for now, a little more base work probably won;t hurt- except that it gets boring.
I will be interested to hear the input of more qualified coaches on this.
Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com
Get thyself on the bike! It's almost impossible to run well in a triathlon if you don't have good cycling fitness. I'm not saying that you need to be the fastest guy out there on the bike, but you'll need to get through the bike with a minimum of fatigue.
Are you asking whether to do drills or speedwork? For the swim, you should be doing some form of stroke drills and speedwork at every workout. Forget staying within 70% MHR, the only way to get fast is to swim fast. IMO, there really isn't much point in doing LSD swims, especially for sprint and Oly distance events. (I used to be a good swimmer, 10 years ago)
(Caveat, I'm not a great runner, PB for a 5K in a sprint tri - 21 minutes, so take this advice for what its worth) At your current level, there probably isn't that much point in doing any real speedwork running. You'll gain a lot just by gradually increasing your volume of running, and gradually increasing the pace of those runs. Maybe work in some fartlek type of training, ie pick up the pace for a few minutes at various points in the run, but don't structure it too much. If you feel like you're going to keel over any second, you're probably going too hard.
Swimming Workout of the Day:
Favourite Swim Sets:
2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly
Are you asking whether to do drills or speedwork? For the swim, you should be doing some form of stroke drills and speedwork at every workout. Forget staying within 70% MHR, the only way to get fast is to swim fast. IMO, there really isn't much point in doing LSD swims, especially for sprint and Oly distance events. (I used to be a good swimmer, 10 years ago)
(Caveat, I'm not a great runner, PB for a 5K in a sprint tri - 21 minutes, so take this advice for what its worth) At your current level, there probably isn't that much point in doing any real speedwork running. You'll gain a lot just by gradually increasing your volume of running, and gradually increasing the pace of those runs. Maybe work in some fartlek type of training, ie pick up the pace for a few minutes at various points in the run, but don't structure it too much. If you feel like you're going to keel over any second, you're probably going too hard.
Swimming Workout of the Day:
Favourite Swim Sets:
2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly