Does anyone know of training plans - ideally ones I can just use with TrainingPeaks - for running-specific goals (aka “PR your 5k”), but built for triathletes who want to continue to bike + swim regularly? All I can find are running plans with “crosstrain” days that are super non-specific about what kind of cross-training, at what intensity, etc. (Basically, I want a tri plan for a run-specific goal.)
My tri season is over for the year but I kinda wanna kickass at the Turkey Trot this year. TIA!
Send me your email in a PM with your best Sprint Tri splits. I can send you a personalized 12-week workout plan that is run focused with a goal to set a NOV PR and still keep in an out-of-season triathlon base for a Sprint. Or if you triathlon race focus is longer, let me know and I’ll send that plan instead. No charge.
Does anyone know of training plans - ideally ones I can just use with TrainingPeaks - for running-specific goals (aka “PR your 5k”), but built for triathletes who want to continue to bike + swim regularly? All I can find are running plans with “crosstrain” days that are super non-specific about what kind of cross-training, at what intensity, etc. (Basically, I want a tri plan for a run-specific goal.)
My tri season is over for the year but I kinda wanna kickass at the Turkey Trot this year. TIA!
I was a competitive runner for over 30 years before I started to train for my first Triathlon. Since crossing over to triathlon I have broke all of my running PR’s over a 5K distance. I was a sub 17-minute 5k runners before I had knee surgery my junior year of high school. After college I spent about 2-3 years trying to get under 18-minutes again. I got really close but never could crack 18 flat. At age 37 I did my first triathlon. I trained 8-months for a 70.3 race and when I did it I felt that I was in the best shape of my life (even though I was 7th out of 8 in my age group). A week after the race I did a 5K race on a whim. The 70.3 race had destroyed my body and my legs were still sore and torn. I thought my time would be around 22 minutes, but I ran a 17:52. I thought it might be a fluke, but I have broke 18 minutes at almost every 5K I have done since I crossed over to Triathlon 10 years ago. I even got a Strava best estimated 5K at a sub 17 time the first time I raced with high stack height carbon plated super shoes.
For a 5K would suggest doing the Furman Institute three day a week half marathon “Run Less Run Faster” training plan. It has a track workout with intervals every week, a tempo run every week and a long run every week. On your off day from running, I would find a three day a week FPT builder bike training plan, and I would swim at least twice a week for an hour or more each session.
I cut about 30 seconds off my 5K in 8-months when I was training for my first Triathlon. Since then, I have shaved another 20 seconds off my 5k from consistency in training over a decade. I have progressed faster on pure triathlon training than running specific training plans. The carbon plated super shaved the final 20 seconds off my 5K time.