Once swim season starts up which is in like 3 weeks unofficially for me how do you keep your run and bike training intact through the winter/spring? Over the past couple of tri seasons I feel like i have to restart my bike and run training from scratch, producing not so great improvement. I swim 8 times a week and don’t have a lot of time so what are the best/most efficient ways to just hold some kind of minimum base.
For the record my run needs a lot more work then the bike…I’m looking to know if it would be better to do like 2 short half hour runs per week, or just one longer. Same thing for the bike. I think I can handle like 2-3 hours for these per week so what do you guys suggest? What has worked for you in the past?
as a former swim coach and swimmer who faced these problems and as a triathlon coach who often prescribes specific training blocks in single sports,here is what I would advise.
minimal of 3x per week running about 20-40min. I’m guessing you are swimming doubles 2x per week and swimming 6 day per week. Off day = riding day. Try to ride 2x per week. This should maintain most of your general cycling and running fitness. Do expect a decline in FTP and MLSS in both sports.
When I swam varsity in college, I was so tired after workouts I couldn’t have run or ridden a bike anyway. Not to mention I also had to study, go to class, work, party, and get some sleep. Plus, where I went to school there was five feet of snow on the ground all through swim season.
My advice–swim during swim season and hang up the running shoes and bike–if you are serious about swimming.
thanks desert dude, thats what i was looking for. Thats is my exact swim schedule with lifting and dry land two times a week. I’m sure I wont do that much as Tri-bri said I am pretty exhausted but that never stopped anyone from doing a 20 minute run two times a week (even if its right before practice), and an easy ride on my off day.
Tri-bri i do take swimming pretty serious but i swim d3 and im not winning anything anytime soon, as this is my final year of swimming, and i like triathlons more then i do just swimming.
Is it ok with your coach and teammates if you run and cycle during swim season too?
I tried swimming for my college team this past fall. All I ever wanted in HS was to swim on a college team and when that wish was granted, I found it didn’t work - for a lot of reasons. But I remember the first day we had a double practice, swimming a morning workout and then putting my run shoes on in the locker room while all the other girls were fussing with makeup. “Where are you going?” running “why? we’ve got another practice later.”
I think that was the moment I just realized, this is not going to work.
anyway, hi!!! what’s your favorite event?
love from,
distance freestylist who likes fly too
Hey! favorite event?? I’m between breaststroke and im events, and sprinting is fun to . What school is this where swimmer put on makeup, I don’t believe it?
So well I’m going to give it a try and if it becomes a problem I’ll take it from there. I cant really see this hurting me to much in the pool, I’m going to be sore all the time no matter what I do anyway.
Ok, don’t take this the wrong way but, even as a senior, if you chose to stay on the team this year then your priority has to be the team and not tris. You are a member of the team and have to do what’s best for said team regardless of whether you’re coming in first or coming in last. Heck, you may be on that third string relay that ends up picking up the extra points needed to win conference - you never know! Swimming does feel like an individual sport but it is a team - so be part of the team and put them first.
However, in college I asked our trainer about adding more running into my dryland workout and he altered my dryland so that it incorporated more running and took some of the ooph out of my leg lifting. However, I was a distance freestlyer and not a breaststroker so for you the legs are key and as such they may want you lifting a bunch (and not doing as much running/biking).
At the end of the day, you’re at the very end of your swimming career so if you choose to continue this year do it right and put yourself in there heart and soul. As soon as swim season is over you can start focusing on tris and you can focus on them exclusively for the next 80 some years!
I think you are crazy to think you can accomplish both. If you want to be a triathlete, be one. If you want to swim, then swim. Unfortunately, in season, you cannot do both. The end result is burn out. Once you try to “fit in” more into a busy schedule, then you’ll be cooked.
Make a decision!
You should read “Gold in the Water” about bike riding and breaststrokers!
I swam D3 more than 20 years ago. I watched a lot of guys swim really poorly their senior years. My junior year had not been real good because of injuries etc. So, before senior year, I really thought about whether I was going to swim as a senior. There were plenty of other things I could do with my time besides swimming. After all, even swimming poorly takes up a lot of time. So, I decided that if I was going to bother to swim as a senior, I was going to do it right and leave with as few regrets as possible. In my last swim meet, I swam career best times in every event that I swam, even posting my career best 1000 as a split in the mile.
If you are only swimming 8 times a week, I think there is some time for you to cross train with running and biking, but don’t get too hung up on them. You have the rest of your life for tris, but only this year to swim in college.
ok so these are all good points, and my priority has been and still is swimming this year…for Stevens Tech by the way. I guess the answer to question is there is no real way to hold a “minimum base” without sacrificing other things. Just wanted to see if there was anyone else that does this and how…
You might talk to your coach and the trainer. My daughter swims club and both her coach and I am sure that she went from ok to good is at least partly due to running. She’s only 13 but the coach has them running because they can get better red zone workouts while running (coaches words not mine though I agree). In my daughter’s case she is a very good runner and she made significant improvements both running and swimming during the swim season. However the swimmers who can’t run well didn’t seem to benefit from the running. Mostly because they couldn’t easily run red zone. By that I mean hard as you can for 5 to 10 minutes.
