Am in Maine so winter riding is limited. I only ride 4 x 1 hr on the trainer in the winter. Swim 30-40k a week and do masters meets... run 40 mpw or so.

There is no off season :D I just swim a lot more and bike less.

---

maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

Holy cow - that's equivalent to swimming 5000 yards every day?! And a ton of running too! So I'm assuming that training comes to 12+ hours per week? Do you do long distance swim races over the summer? I could handle maybe 1/3 of that training. If I swim 10,000 yards a week - in or out of season - that would be a big week for me. But I have the same goal of focusing on getting to be a stronger swimmer, running consistently.

Last winter I focused on improving my swim and I made big gains. I went from swimming 2-3 times a week to 5-6 times a week and took my swimming from 10000-20000m a month to 50000-60000m a month. Over several months of course. I also had a very good swim coach, but this helped me take my best 1500m open water time down from mid 25's to low/mid 22's. While I was doing this swimming I cut back my biking intially to 1x a week and ran 15-20mpw until Dec, then in January added my biking back in up to 3x a week with appr. 5-6 hours/week on the trainer and running 5-6 days a week for 30-35mpw.

This off season I am continuing to work on my swim, primarily on my strength because I am quite small and a bit weak. I am going to work on strength training. I am also going to work on my biking too, but probably not until Dec. I am doing swim meets for the first time ever in my life (1 per month) and working on different strokes. I am also taking a hip hop dance class just to have fun. Right now I am doing around 10 hours a week, primarily swimming, with 1 or 2 easy bike rides, 3-4 runs, and adding in the dance class. And attempting to force myself to strength train. The hours of training will increase around the end of Dec/Jan.

No long OW races in the summer - but I have a swim background - and in the winter I do masters meets so I need to be in decent swim shape for that. A 5000 m workout for me is 80 minutes, at most, perk of being fast is it doesn't take that long.

I'm a college student, I'm single... I have the time to train lots, I enjoy it, so I do.

:D

---

maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

I don't train much compared to the rest of you (typically 6 - 8 hours in season), but I do try to do at least an hour a day 6 days a week all year long. I think that's the minimum you need just to stay fit even if you're not competing. Lots of times, I'll end up missing a workout here and there, but I'll do a 1.5 to 2 hour workout later in the week to make up for it.

I also try to mix things up in the offseason since I get bored easily with a typical swim/bike/run schedule. Last year, all I did was run. This year, I'm going to try 2 - 3 months of the P90X videos with some running thrown in. Then, in January, I'm going to try to do a bike focus (if I don't go out of my mind on the trainer).

Makes perfect sense. I hope my email didn't sound critical. I wish I could train as much but with a full-time job and two children (ages 4 & 5), free time is limited.

Cutting 3 minutes off your swim is awesome! Congratulations! Just goes to show how putting in the yards/meters will make you stronger. Your schedule sounds very much like mine this winter, except I'll swim 3-4 times per week max because of lack of time. I started strength training too, and definitely feel stronger in the pool.

didn't sound critical at all.

---

maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

If you don't mind my asking, what is your strength training plan? I'm about your size and always feel silly in the gym with the big bodybuilder types there. Did you put together your own plan or were you able to find a plan you liked somewhere?

I actually used to work as a personal trainer a few years ago...so I should be embaressed now at what a little weakling I am. ha ha. Right now I just do strength work at home--body weight exercises and band work. Lunges, squats, pushups, exercises with the bands that simulate swimming movements, dips, planks, some pilates moves (hard to describe...), along with some other stuff. Some of the stuff I do or used to do is from the Core Performance book (my old gym used to be "partnered" with them, in a sense, pro triathlete Jessi Stensland even came to work out at our gym for a personal training session once!). I haven't looked at it, but I think there is a Core Performance for Endurance athletes, that might be something to look into...

Don't be intimidated by the big strong people at the gym, just do your thing.

I try to focus on running and swimming and fit the bike in where I can. Try to have about 25-30 miles per week running and hit masters' swimming 2-3 times per week. I have cold and dark (MI) so I try to do the trainer a bit, but it's really tough.
This year I'm trying to fit in strength training too - we have a gym here at work so I think that's where I'll do most of it.
General strength and core work. Hopefully some simple routines that don't take too long.

I too have a bunch of little ones 5,8, and 10 year old all boys- so extra time is tough. I don't know if its the right way but now until January I will shoot for 2 swims, 2 bikes, 2 runs or some variation -like right now I'm coming off a running injury so I am doing 1 swim, 2 bikes and 3 runs. That doesn't include my core and strength training. I vary the length and intensity of it all and in the winter we ski a bunch so on those days I'll give up one of them. But I shoot for something 6 days a week 1-2 hours each day. Come january its real training. I usually get it done early am or while my youngest is in am kindergarten. I know winter is a big swimming time but since I am coming off ITB issues and that stems a bunch from tightness in my hip, I'm being careful about the extra yards in the pool. Hope that helps!

---

COtrimom

I just reread your original post:

"I'm trying to figure out how to maintain some level of fitness without going overboard and burning out before next spring."

And am going to say this:
the key to building fitness is frequency and consistency
the key to maintaining fitness is frequency and consistency

You said something about trying to run and ride 2x a week - if you can run 15-20 min a day rather than 2 longer runs... better :-) if you have time beyond that for running, make one run longer so when you get back to training you can build off that (per advice of one coach on here I've tried to keep my long run at 90 min when I am not training for anything in particular, because that is a decent run - then if you want to start marathon training it's easy to build on, HIM training you only need to add a little bit). Even with cycling if you could get 20-30 min on the bike 4x a week.. Swimming's harder, more of a time investment to go to the pool...

Or, pick one sport to spend a lot of time in and focus on that but do 2 workouts each for the other sports. That might vary by week for you depending on what your schedule looks like.

just a couple thoughts. am not a coach... but have picked up little pieces of good info from a bunch of people around here.
tc

---

maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

"This off season I am continuing to work on my swim, primarily on my strength because I am quite small and a bit weak. I am going to work on strength training."

I'm saying this very nicely and it is not meant to sound critical, don't hate me:

Swimming is not a strength dependent sport. Even when D1 college teams lift studies show that they get stronger which does not necessarily translate to faster swimming speeds. And they only lift cuz they've pretty much maxed out their pool time. If you truly want to build "strength" for swimming, swim more. You can develop a whole bunch of swim muscle from swimming... I gained my freshman 15 min swimmer muscle going from skinny runt runner to really good little distance fish.

-tc runs back over to the main forum very quickly-

---

maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

I always appreciate any advice on swimming I can get :)

I have been very resistant to doing the strength training to get better at swimming, but my swim coach thinks that is what I need to do to get better at this point. I do still have some technique isues to work out, but a lot of my problem with swimming seems to be lacking power/strength in the water. I tend to fatigue my muscles before I fatigue my aerobic system. That is usually why I have difficulty going faster. I do build up muscle swimming, but it is really hard for me to put on a lot of muscle doing anything.

I have been doing a lot of other strokes lately which has helped my strength so far and am going to try to up my swimming some more.

Thanks for the advice.

This is what worked for me during medschool when winter time was at a premium: November through Feb would be 2-3 runs (an hour or less), maybe 1-2x swim. No bike during the winter aside from an occasional MTB ride on the weekends. Depending on weather, do a long hike or some XC skiing on the weekends. This would add up to about 4-5 hours/week. End of February, Id start adding in some biking, and do a bit more swimming (around 7hrs total). Start with bigger weeks in May. I did 4 HIMs around 5hrs on that in my last season (preggo this year). I find that as long as I maintain regular running, do a quality swim session per week, I don't lose too much fitness and am better off with a nice long off-season, than starting too early and burning out by June.

the key to building fitness is frequency and consistency
Couldn't agree more.

For my first 3 years involved in Tris, I'd really only train from about April - Sept. Then in the off-season (notice that the off is about as long as the on) I'd just kind of do whatever I wanted. Run a bit, swim a bit, take a spin class here and there. While I did progress from year to year, it was slow.

Then, I decided I really wanted to get better at Tris. After my last race in early fall, I only took a couple of weeks goofing around. Then, I tried to be consistent and have a plan.

I don't think you need a ton of hours, but you need some thought. Sport-specific blocks are great. Also doing more meaningful workouts is really important. Rather than take spin classes, I followed a periodized plan using my bike trainer, etc.

---

----
Suffering on the the bike is always more fun than suffering on the run.

"I tend to fatigue my muscles before I fatigue my aerobic system."

We all do :-) your aerobic system can go pretty much forever (you might need some gels so you don't get hypoglycemic).

The more time you spend in the water the more "fatigue resistant" your swimming muscles will get. Awesome to do other strokes.

---

maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

Training, and being active, is all year round. It's just the volume and intensities that vary. Definitely keep up all three disciplines but recreational pace until January.

Disclaimer: I am neither running nor racing anymore, but I will provide data from when I was actively competing and also ranked in the top 10 in my age group by USAT for a couple of seasons.

In Season Volumes: Swim 3x week for one hour. Bike 3-4 times per week, varying from 100-200 miles per week depending on whether I was doing an IM that year or not. Run 2-3x per week. IM run volume 35 miles per week, non IM run volume 20 miles per week (good enough for very competitive olympic distance).

After the last race of the season (September), everything would throttle down to relaxed intensity and much lower volume. Always swim 3x week for one hour. Mountain biking 3-4x per week September to December for total of about 8 hours biking per week; then with snow and ice, indoor 2x per week one hour and outdoor MTB on roads 2x week for another 3 hours total. Run 2-3x per week on trails and low intensity, maybe 20 miles per week.

January. It's all business. Serious indoor trainer 2x week for one hour each session (all I could ever stomach), plus MTB on winter roads or winter trails for another 2x week for total of about 3-4 hours more riding. Swim 3x week for one hour with more intensity. Run 2-3x per week but start modest speedwork once a week.

March. No more bike trainer, no more MTB, trying for 3-4 week road riding at least 100 miles per week, hopefully 150 miles per week depending on weather. Same swim 3x week for one hour. Same run 2-3x per week but with serious trackwork.

April-June. First race of the season often in April in Florida where my grandmother and great aunt lived. (St Anthony's before it became too big.)

To me, the cycles are important. The off season for me was always from sometime in September until early January. I did my workouts but whatever I felt like at a relaxed intensity. It was always important to me to have workouts in all three sports plus maybe some weight work if I had time. January I got more serious. I made sure I rode the trainer at least twice a week with my serious bike, plus two more outdoor sessions. By March here in New England, it's usually possible to take the road bike out and so I would.

I would suggest you lose your HRM and wrist watch and just do some training each week in each discipline, from now until January. Have some fun and don't be serious. The workouts are just to keep you fit but not race-shape. In January you can start building up the intensities as appropriate.

BrokenSpoke

Right now about 10-16 hrs a week. I am on fall break so about 17 hrs this week. I think the biking mileage off-season is crucial. I bike about 3X per week, Run 3X and swim 3-4X per week with 2X per week of weights.

IMHO I wouldn't worry about maintaining fitness and work on my limiter until next year. If its swimming, hit the pool at least 4X\week (lots of drills will do wonders when it comes time to build your fitness next year). If its running then start building frequency by running 5-6X\week (even if its only a couple miles a day to start with)...with running consistency and frequency is your biggest friend. Fitness comes quickly and will always be there for you if you have the right base to build on...its the small things that get overlooked during the season that you should work on.