I work 3 days a week, MWF (15-16hr shifts). I am free all day tues and all day thurs while the kids are at school. Sat & Sun are usually occupied by some sort of sporting event with my kids but im still able to fit my training in. I’m hoping someone out there has had a similar schedule and still managed to train effectively. im looking for some examples of how you break down those four days of training.
Didn’t have a set schedule like yours but did train for an IM where due to more ad hoc work and life events I only trained 4 or 5 days most weeks. On those 3 working days is it safe to assume you’ve already ruled out any training? E.g. running/cycling to work, or if working at home being able to sit on a trainer or treadmill at some point in your shift?
Personally I’d do something like:
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Run all 4 days you have available. That’s the discipline that you can’t really ignore or shortcut by doing high intensity work. Follow something like a cut down version of the BarryP training plan, i.e. do 3 medium runs and a long run, keep it all fairly easy pace, increase the length of runs gradually. If or when you get to decent run mileage (minimum 30 miles per week in my experience, probably longer) then you can gradually add intensity if you want. Just don’t add intensity and distance at the same time - keep the mileage steady or reduce it a bit while you see how your body copes with it. No intensity is also fine, just running 30+ miles per week, every week, at a pace that allows you to stay injury free and train again the next day is going to put you in a better spot than most IM competitors
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Bike is the discipline which you certainly can’t ignore since it will almost certainly be the longest leg, but where a time-compressed athlete can get good results from focusing on quality/intensity instead of high miles. With running every day, then how many bike sessions you can fit in depends on how willing/able you are to do 2-a-day training and/or bricks, but at most you’re looking at 3 rides a week I guess. I’d make 1 of them a 2x20 minute interval session, where the 20 minutes are hard, that’s your key session every week. The other 1-2 rides should involve a lot of sweet spot work (84-95% of FTP). You’ll need to do some long rides (I like to get at least a couple of centuries under my belt though I think that’s more psychological than physiological), but not necessarily every week. I’ve found it surprising how well 1-2 hour high quality cycling sessions can translate to performance over 5+ hours. Which by the way isn’t the case with running - no way my body can cope with the punishment of a 26.2 mile run without having done a bunch of runs in the 15-20 mile range. Whereas I’ve gone out and done plenty of 100+ mile rides/races off the back of training entirely at <50 mile distances with no problem. Fit and nutrition are important though - you do need to ensure that your position and fuelling strategy hold up OK when you’re in the saddle for 5+ hours.
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Swimming in my view (others will disagree) is where you take the pragmatic view that with only 4 days/week to train, you’re unlikely to be able to make big improvements in whatever your current swimming speed is. You can’t totally ignore it as you do need to make the cut off, but it’s the discipline where I’d look to do the bare minimum on the basis that the training time will reap you much bigger rewards on the bike and run. If you’re already a decent swimmer then great, look to maintain it. If you’re an adult onset swimmer, then I don’t think you have anything like enough time to significantly improve your swim while also doing enough bike and running work to survive the day. So I’d be thinking along the lines of a single, long swim once per week to make sure you can get through the swim leg but no more than that. Like the bike though, put some quality and intensity in there, don’t just slog out the miles.
I am more interested in how many hours you would want to invest out of those four days. Four days is not a big issue. It would require more precise planning, but hours/week is still what matters more.
Tuesday morning - 5 hr/bike
Tuesday afternoon- 4 mile run, 2000 yards swim (with some speed work)
Thursday morning- 2.5 hr run
Thursday afternoon - 1:00 ride, 3000 yard swim
Saturday morning- 1.30 hr tempo ride/ 4 mile run
Saturday Afternoon - 6000 yard swim
Sun morning- 10 mile tempo run
Sunday afternoon- 1 hr bike/ 3000 yd/swim
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Tuesday morning - 5 hr/bike
Tuesday afternoon- 4 mile run, 2000 yards swim (with some speed work)
Thursday morning- 2.5 hr run
Thursday afternoon - 1:00 ride, 3000 yard swim
Saturday morning- 1.30 hr tempo ride/ 4 mile run
Saturday Afternoon - 6000 yard swim
Sun morning- 10 mile tempo run
Sunday afternoon- 1 hr bike/ 3000 yd/swim
How many hours is that? Since you’ve given swims and some runs in distance it will vary by ability but it could easily amount to 18.5hrs for an average AGer. That’s a lot of hours to pack into 4 days. I know there are many STers who would be prepared to do that. But without the OP having said how many hours he’s willing and able to invest, this seems on the high side to me. Even with 7 days available plenty people do respectable IMs on mostly 12-15hr weeks.
It also seems a little unnecessary and overly time expensive to do every discipline, every day. Making it 12 sessions in 4 days. Bricks will help but it’s still a hell of a lot and I don’t see the necessity.
I would think it makes more sense to go with 3 rides and 2 or 3 swims or perhaps alternate weeks. I’d do one long ride, one threshold session (2x20min or similar) and either a second threshold session or an easy ride depending on form. I might aim for 4 runs but 3 would do if necessary.
I would think this would be the minimum:
Tuesday - Swim + Bike Interval + Brick run Thursday - Long Bike + Brick run + StretchCordzSaturday- Swim + Bike Interval + Brick runSunday - Long Run + StretchCordz
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Tuesday morning - 5 hr/bike
Tuesday afternoon- 4 mile run, 2000 yards swim (with some speed work)
Thursday morning- 2.5 hr run
Thursday afternoon - 1:00 ride, 3000 yard swim
Saturday morning- 1.30 hr tempo ride/ 4 mile run
Saturday Afternoon - 6000 yard swim
Sun morning- 10 mile tempo run
Sunday afternoon- 1 hr bike/ 3000 yd/swim
How many hours is that? Since you’ve given swims and some runs in distance it will vary by ability but it could easily amount to 18.5hrs for an average AGer. That’s a lot of hours to pack into 4 days. I know there are many STers who would be prepared to do that. But without the OP having said how many hours he’s willing and able to invest, this seems on the high side to me. Even with 7 days available plenty people do respectable IMs on mostly 12-15hr weeks.
It also seems a little unnecessary and overly time expensive to do every discipline, every day. Making it 12 sessions in 4 days. Bricks will help but it’s still a hell of a lot and I don’t see the necessity.
I would think it makes more sense to go with 3 rides and 2 or 3 swims or perhaps alternate weeks. I’d do one long ride, one threshold session (2x20min or similar) and either a second threshold session or an easy ride depending on form. I might aim for 4 runs but 3 would do if necessary.
I calculated it out to be about 17.5 hrs.
I guess I consider that schedule to be the goal to build up to. Not the average.
But if one did manage that volume consistently, I think one could get pretty close to their potential.
I work 3 days a week, MWF (15-16hr shifts). I am free all day tues and all day thurs while the kids are at school. Sat & Sun are usually occupied by some sort of sporting event with my kids but im still able to fit my training in. I’m hoping someone out there has had a similar schedule and still managed to train effectively. im looking for some examples of how you break down those four days of training.
Curious what you do for a living. Are you an ER doc?
thank you for your insight. on the days that ill be working I wouldn’t have the time to fit in in any workouts. my alarm goes off at 3:45am and I usually don’t get home until 9ish. I was already thinking that 4days of running would be the most important aspect of my training, so I am glad to see we are the same page.
Float RN, I prefer the longer days so I can work less… if I work a normal 10-12 hr shift I just sit in Philly traffic for upwards of 2hrs. leave at 9pm and it takes 30 mins.
I’d nix the IM plan and go either 1/2 or Oly style, get better quality by not beating yourself up those 4 days by massive mileage that could in itself, take days to recover from. Likely would be performing better at the shorter races if you do it right, than cramming in Ironman training in 4 days. Not what you want to hear but it is overall a healthier approach targeting the shorter stuff with a schedule like that.
I work 3 days a week, MWF (15-16hr shifts). I am free all day tues and all day thurs while the kids are at school. Sat & Sun are usually occupied by some sort of sporting event with my kids but im still able to fit my training in. I’m hoping someone out there has had a similar schedule and still managed to train effectively. im looking for some examples of how you break down those four days of training.
i don’t see that schedule as necessarily an issue since you seem to have plenty of available training time so it just means you have 3 days a week of recovery which is not such a bad thing as it means you can really get in quality training on the other 4 days. i’m quite in favour of making hard days really hard and then following with a really easy day - on days and off days rather than doing a bit every day. the catch though is that working 15 hour+ shifts doesn’t actually sound like good recovery.
assuming though that you can recover well on your work days, you’re then looking at double training sessions the other days. without getting too specific (and not knowing your current abilities), i’d be looking at 1 day a week where you target quality in each of the 3 disciplines in your first session of the day, then a 2nd session of more endurance/volume in a different discipline. then i’d make the 4th training day an endurance brick combining at least bike-run
How do you feel physically the day after working 16 hour days? I stand 10 hours a day and it takes a toll on me.
I work a 48 on 96 off and train when my kids are in school. If you message me I can send you what I am doing it may help you may not. The short of it is day one swim bike day two swim run day three long bike day four long swim long run. @swimbikerunsmile on Instagram
I would quit swimming and running and focus on the bike… It’s way more fun, races are cheaper… And you don’t have to swim. Or run.
I would quit swimming and running and focus on the bike… It’s way more fun, races are cheaper… And you don’t have to swim. Or run.
Or he could quit swimming and cycling and focus on running…It can be way more fun if you like it, races are cheaper…And you don’t have to swim. Or cycle.
But presumably, he wants to do triathlon and that’s why he’s asking about triathlon…
You don’t have to do any of the constituents of triathlon - swim, cycle or run. They’re all optional. I don’t understand your suggestion.
No specific formula here, just some ideas:
I’ve had a lot of success (relatively speaking) with a formula of consistency + key big workout days. If you blend those two aspects, you should be fine. Use some days for distance, some days for tempo or speed. You can use some of the longer days for a mix of shorter workouts like this: 1 hour swim, 1 hour bike, 1 hour run, 1 hour bike, 1 hour run… enough rest and food in between workouts that you can maintain decent intensity but still get in a lot of volume without destroying yourself.
Is it possible at all to use a bike trainer at work (break room?) or get in some lunges, etc, in a hallway? Just curious.
Also, don’t neglect rest. A 16 hour work day isn’t exactly a day off. Make sure your nutrition is balanced. Save time for family – don’t neglect them or your own sanity.
God bless!
Ray
Saturday: long ride (build to 5 hours), short run (say, 4-5 miles or 45 min) in succession
Sunday: AM 60’ ride, long run (build to 15-20 miles) in succession, try to get in an easy, short swim later in the day
Tuesday: AM 90’-120’ sweet spot interval ride, afternoon short run then a swim
Thursday: AM long swim, PM 8-10 mile tempo run
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