peeling myself off the couch, planning my third Escape From Alcatraz in early June, and thinking … not exactly a straight Oly distance. 1.5 mile bay swim; hilly 18 mile bike; hilly 8+ mile run including staircases, trails, and deep sand. Looking at my (unspectacular, MOP) past results of ] I’m getting a time/percentage breakdown of, more or less: 20% swim, 40% bike, 40% run. Plotting a training plan, I’ve therefore budgeted my time going forward as: 10% strength; 20% swimming; 35% bike; 35% run. What think? Make sense? Also, thoughts on bike/run training emphases? Given the hilly nature of the course? Aside from obvious: bike and run on hills. But seriously, doesn’t this call for slightly a-typical training? Particularly given that, last year, I cramped up (hamstrings) early in the run. Got have deeper muscular endurance this year.
I don;t know those distances well so I’m not sure your weaknesses, but I think 20/40/40 probably isn’t bad given the longer run and hilly course.
That is a long run however, but cramping up on a run is a sign of a combination of being ndertrained, or biking to hard.
If you comming off hte couch… IMO, for a June race, your already 6-8 weeks behind the curve. If you’ve been on the couch for more tha na few weeks, you might be 6 months behind the curve there.
Off the couch was an overstatement. I was in good multisport shape through October, then focused on surfing and trail running until a few weeks ago, when I started building a triathlon base again. The surfing here in San Francisco is highly demanding, fitness-wise–like serious open-water swimming. So my cycling is really the only sport that got dropped for a few months. Of course, cycling is always my weakest sport …
Run more and run hills and trails.
Don’t forget another 1/2 mile run from the swim exit to T1. Also there is plenty of drafting and it’s hard to pass on the bike course assuming you get out of the water between 30 and 45 minutes.
Not sure if you raced last year, but it was COLD. June is a better time to hold this race than March.
right! good point about that extra half-mile run. and yes, I did race last year (not my PR). Agreed about the cold! I’ve been wondering if that might’ve been a factor in my cramping up (although fitness was doubtless a bigger issue). But I couldn’t feel my feet until about half-way through the bike.