I’m looking for a 16 week 70.3 training plan with a lot of the focus on running. Did my first 70.3 in oct 2011 and was happy with the swim and bike, but all throughout my training I felt the run was somewhat pushed to the background. It was a 16 week plan I got from triathlete magazine.
Any recommendations are welcome,
Thanks
Read BarryP’s posts. You don’t need a plan as much as you just need to run often.
x2 on BarryP’s posts. Here is a link to them:
http://forum.slowtwitch.com/gforum.cgi?post=1612485;search_string=runtraining;#1612485
This helped me more than anything else. I build my own run program based on this and then supplement the biking and swimming workouts from opentri (Mike Leirandi).
Saying things like all you have to do is run often completely ignores any type of run development beyond the easy run. You have to do the easy stuff to start with but move beyond that. Running faster will raise your speed at VO2max and functional threshold.
Saving faster running for 4 to 6 weeks of the season is just lazy planning.
Read some books about running, even Matt Fitzgerald’s book with training plans will get you some run development. Expect up to 2 quality runs a week after 6 weeks of prep.
Daniels will give you a lot of ideas with his cookie cutter plans in the back. Endurance nation will give you some speed sessions that will help develop your run. My coach Mike Plumb gives up to 2 quality runs per week when you are ready.
Don’t stop with the easy runs, run often if you can, run fast if you want as long as you can complete all of your weekly workouts.
I would highly recommend Endurance Nation HIM plans. Give them a look, I am sure you will find what you are looking for. There is some very, very solid running there along with very strong biking.
RWT a 1/2 ironman, your ability to triathlon run is predicated by your bike fitness which is predicated by your physiological ability to race for 5 hours, which you can really only get on the bike. I’ve had very good 1/2 iron runs running only 20 - 22 mpw.
BeginnerTriathlete.com has an option for a Gold Membership which will let you create a custom plan using your fitness level, # of workouts per week, etc ($85 for 6 months of access).
For an extra $35/mo, you get unlimited access to their coaches.
Running is fairly simple, but you need to think about it as a year round thing, not just the 16 weeks before your race. However much you’re running, you need to increase gradually between now and your race. Don’t just jump in and do double the weekly mileage you’re doing now. Check out barryp’s plan. It’s a great place to start.
Generally, running is simple, and you shouldn’t need to worry about doing too many fast track workouts or anything crazy. You just need to run more. Frequency trumps duration (6x4 mile > 4x6 mile). On days when you feel good, you should do progression runs totally on feel, where you start easy and gradually build the pace throughout. The only other thing you need to worry about is a long run. For most folks that’s 90-120 minutes done either easy or as a progression. For most age-group triathletes, the half marathon in a 70.3 is done closer to their easy go-all-day pace than it is to their threshold, so you need to worry about improving general endurance and economy before worrying about threshold, v02 max, etc.
I’ve been using TriathlonGeek and MarathonGeek for the past few years and have really enjoyed their training plans from a balance and variety standpoint. Definitely worth a look if you want something new.
Thanks, The running is one thing and I am also looking for a different training plan than last years, just to change it up. I appreciate the responses.
Another +1 for my plan. ; ^ ) Okay, it was easier to write that than to write out the plan.
A lot of people seem to like it because I did my best to try to explain how it works, and how to tailor it to your specific needs. There’s a link to it in my sig-line.
There are 3 phases to the plan.
What you do in each phase will be dictated by a) your fitness level and b) your race distance goal. Most of that only really effects phase 3.
Let me know if you have any questions. I think its worth a read even if you plan to follow someone else’s plan.