2015 will be my first year of racing triathlons. My plan is to do a couple of Olympic distance races and build to a 70.3 by the end of summer. I come from a cycling background and 2 cyclocross races per weekend for 12+ weeks was considered normal, but they were less than an hour long. So how often do you race to allow for sufficient recovery?
My plan as of now:
May 16 - HarryMan Olympic
June 14 - Escape the Cape Olympic
July 19 - NJ State Olympic
August - build distance
September 20 - Ironman Princeton 70.3
October - Brooklyn or Survival of the Mills
The recovery time is due to the run portion of the race. Recovery time will be dependent on overall training load… and how strong of a runner your are and where you are in your training plan in terms of recovery.
Personally, I would make Princeton your “A” race and overall focus… and build you base (distance) in Feb-April if possible, then do a final build in August that includes more of race specifc pace work. I would focus on the 70.3, and realize that the fitness gained will make you faster at the shorter distances too.
I’m just saying that you can’t train mainly for Olympic distance then just add more mileage for 4-5 weeks and expect that you’ll suddenly be fit for a 70.3. That being said, a 70.3 and Olympic I think complement each other better than a 70.3 & IM do in terms of training. Mostly the run training requirements. Bike training for all distances I think can be similar until you get the the final build cycles. Swim training, is well, swim training other than a few pace specific workouts.
What are your goals for each race and your current fitness? I would take out the June race and use June as a building month to work on what you need to based on your results at HarryMan. Test your training at NJ State and then build for Princeton. I think the June race could be setting you up for too much down time with taper/recovery when you’ll really want to be training and building for later in the summer.
Of the races listed, EtC is the only one I’ve registered for so far, so unfortunately I can’t back out of that one. I agree that the Princeton 70.3 is my primary goal with NJ State secondary.
My fitness is reasonable but is a work in progress, thus why I’m starting now. I swam competitively in high school (16 years ago) and can still do 100 yds in 1:45 at the end of a 2000 yd workout. I’ve also been cycling for 20 years and can manage a 50 mile hilly ride at 15-16 mph on the road bike. Running is my weakness and where I’m focusing my training energy right now. 2 months ago I would have jokingly placed a 0.0 sticker on my car. Now, I’m in week 3 of Couch to 10K and enjoying it.
Cool, good for you! Do you have any expectations for the races or do you just want to finish? 70.3 is certainly doable, but if you want to be running the entire 13.1 miles after the bike it will take a lot of slow and careful building from where you are now to avoid injury. It’s your decision but you may be better off getting your feet wet in a few shorter races this year and putting the HIM off until next year, especially if you’re committing to the tri lifestyle and not just a one year bucket list thing.
My goal for the 70.3 is to finish, and to run as much of the 13.1 as I can manage.
This is a bit of a lifestyle shift for me. I’ve always been recreationally active, but I’ve never really trained with a purpose and a plan. I intend to be doing this for the next 5+ years, so this year it’ll be about Olympics and finishing a HIM. Next year perhaps I’ll focus on improving my HIM performance.
Also worth mentioning, I’m shedding weight like a bad stock investment. I was 215 a month ago and I saw 201 this morning. I’m hoping for 175-180 by race season. I’m 5’10".
Age makes a difference regarding recovery. That said, I’m 55 and I would be trying to fit at least 3 more races into that schedule. Plenty of recovery time in there, unless the last race is early October.
You might want to re-think HarryMan as your 1’st tri ever.
I did the race years ago and I think the swim was about 53 degrees.
Absolutely no fun at all.
To answer your specific question - I race over 10 times a year (du and tri) and would do more if I could but they tend to take up a lot of time and that infringes other parts of life. Recovery is not the issue with racing lots, losing the weekends for training is as I get in a bulk of my training on the weekends. (but I prefer to race so its fine with me)
Do you enjoy racing? If you do fit in as many races as you can will keep you motivated and you should see progress as well. I agree with others in term of recovery if your training vol is high you should recover pretty fast if vol is lower then you won’t. My personal experience (my second yr of tri): this yr did 4 1/2 ironman, 1 full, 4 sprints, 1 olympic from May-Sept and was fine. At my peak was training 18-22 hrs a week. If planned out properly you can fit a lot in and get adequate recovery. You can do this on your own but at some point a coach will be able to help a lot to. Good luck and have a fun season!
