Run volume for 70.3

Triathlon Forum
1

I used to be a triathlete and have done 7-8 halves and one full.

Normally between 5:30 and 5:45 for a half, but I have not done a triathlon for 5 years.

I have just been finding my groove with some running and looking to add in some cycling shortly, but I was wondering what sort of weekly volume would be recommended running wise if training for a half. I know it will vary per person and with a lot of other factors but any rough guidelines would be great.

The plan is to get run volume where it needs to be before adding the other disciplines but not sure where I should draw that line!

2

Not that I necessarily agree with your approach here but if that’s fixed, I’d say being able to handle a 25 mile week with a 10+ long run and not feel hammered would work. For most in that general time range you won’t be running more than 35ish miles in a 70.3 plan (maybe 15-35) so that sort of gets you comfortable in the ballpark.

3

Look at your history of what run volume you are capable of doing consistently. (Best 8 week average run volume)

Work up to 75% of that and use that as a starting point.

4

I used to be a triathlete and have done 7-8 halves and one full.

Normally between 5:30 and 5:45 for a half, but I have not done a triathlon for 5 years.

I have just been finding my groove with some running and looking to add in some cycling shortly, but I was wondering what sort of weekly volume would be recommended running wise if training for a half. I know it will vary per person and with a lot of other factors but any rough guidelines would be great.

The plan is to get run volume where it needs to be before adding the other disciplines but not sure where I should draw that line!

my 70.3 PB was done on high run volume and low bike volume. Running 70-80km a week. That was a season where I just did what i felt like doing, so swam and ran lots. No program. Not that I would advise that, but it worked for me. the following season I got a coach at the urging of people, had much balance, but run volume was almost halved and I ran like shit. I know top age groupers and top runners who did similar low run volume and did well and that’s their argument. But everyone is different. 40km - 50km a week doesn’t work for me.

5

The obvious answer is “it depends”. Some people can race a 70.3 on almost no run training, others run 60 miles per week.
To give a number, without knowing anything else about you and assuming that you did not run a lot during the last few years, I’d say 30mi/50km a week. That is, begin with 15mi/25km and slowly (!) build it over the winter to 30mi/50km, increasing a mile a week every week or every other week - as long as you arrive at 30mi/50km 6-8 weeks before the race, you almost can’t be too cautious with the buildup, injury is the worst.

6

I used to be a triathlete and have done 7-8 halves and one full.

Normally between 5:30 and 5:45 for a half, but I have not done a triathlon for 5 years.

I have just been finding my groove with some running and looking to add in some cycling shortly, but I was wondering what sort of weekly volume would be recommended running wise if training for a half. I know it will vary per person and with a lot of other factors but any rough guidelines would be great.

The plan is to get run volume where it needs to be before adding the other disciplines but not sure where I should draw that line!

I came to tri from a running/marathon background, and expectedly favored run volume over bike at first, and gradually shifted to the more typical bike over run volume for a balanced triathlon plan.

I’ve since def become slower in standalone running races, and not just because of age - I was definitely faster as a pure runner on less training hours per week, than as a triathlete with more training hours (but less total run hours), luckily not by a huge amount though.

After about 10 years of doing this sport, I’ve finally made the full transition to my identity as a triathlete, rather than a runner that does tri, which means I’ve embraced the swim, accepted and now trust training plans that emphasize the bike, and am ok with running a ‘mere’ 25-30mpw (30mpw max).

What I’ve found as a result, is that my triathlon run (Oly and HIM) has continued to improve over these past 10 years, with my best result coming in my most recent race where I ran almost the least that I’ve ever run for a successful training block. (Oly in this case). No runs over 90 minutes for Oly training, and max mpw 28.5 in my case, with average closer to 25. I’m now convinced that the good tri training plans, which typically emphasize the bike, are doing it right.

Note that I’m not saying I’m a better pure runner now than I was when I was doing only running events. That’s definitely NOT true. I was absolutely a better pure runner back when I was only doing running and running more volume as a result. But triathlon is about swim-bike-run, and the reality is that most AGers drastically underappreciate the impact that the swim (especially!) and the bike have on their run legs. In fact, the biggest difference I’m sure that I made in getting my best run result was swimming more and building strong swim resilience. (I took cycling seriously too but was already cycling enough, so that didn’t change much.) And on race day, I actually had a lousy swim time given my fitness - followed some swimmers off to a middle buoy that drifted off course, and realized too late that everyone else was just skipping this errant buoy and going right for the next one without the detour, so didn’t remotely swim a PR. But the swim took so little out of me relatively that I could bike well, and then drop a run that was solid - solid enough that I nearly outran my training partner who swam literally 1/3rd the amount I did (which was still 3-4k/wk) and who outran me in every training run by nearly 45sec/mile on Strava.

Long story short, 25-30mpw should be good for Oly and even HIM events (maybe slightly more for HIM events), but just as important to that is sufficient fitness and training on the swim and the bike. I’m convinced now that what the ST experts saying is right - the run isn’t really all about your running ability, it’s equally about your swim and bike fitness, and that more running won’t help you as much if you don’t have those two pieces sufficiently trained.

7

It comes down to do you want to complete the race or compete? I’ve personally found I’ve had my best 70.3 results when I’m running 35-45 miles every week and my long run is 90 min plus. I usually cap the weekly long run when solely focusing on 70.3 at the two hour range, which is around 16-17 miles. I feel that 70.3 racing is still based around speed, and you need to have some faster run sessions mixed in each week.

8

I feel the same after completing my first 70.3. Looking back at my training plan, my longest run was 2 hours/16 miles and that week was a bit over 30 miles. My plan had a good mix of long runs + shorter runs with some Z3 tempo built in. If you want to be competitive, I feel like you need to include speed. I ended up turning in a 1:38 HM, and felt like the training was a good mix of speed, tempo, and long runs without going overboard in one particular area.

9

I’m a “senior”, so consider that.

I got back into running about six years ago, shooting for HM. I got my mileage up to 40m/50m per week and was making good progress in speed increase over the HM, reducing my time by 45 minutes over the last nine months - before switching to tri.

I used a “masters” plan for my first tri (70.3) that had about 25m-30m of running with a good mix and long run ending around 10 miles. I can’t say how good the plan was because I tripped on broken concrete in the first mile of the run and had back spasms after two miles.

For some reason I decided to switch plans from a different provider and the running was what I would consider almost non-existent and the biking was similar. The running was only 12m-15m a week with “long runs” of 6m-7m. I was concerned about the lack of running in the plan and they assured me it is a proven system. In my second tri (another 70.3) I hit my bike power exactly on plan at 76% NP and 73% AP. I felt very good going into the run, but at mile 7 I died. The provider said it my nutrition, but I took in about 10%-15% more calories on the bike then they recommended and the recommended on the run. I did do better overall, but I didn’t trip in the run. So, I can’t really tell if it was the plan, nutrition or something else.

But I can say a big part of tri training and execution is confidence in your plan. I may never complete a tri as fast as I did my second one, but I won’t do a plan that I have no confidence in anymore. I believe confidence is a huge part of any athletic endeavor.

Find a plan or make a plan that you are confident in, even with limited knowledge, and stick to it. If that’s 15 miles a week running, great. If it’s 25, great. It’s 50, great. Pick what you think will help you the most. But as others have mentioned, keep in mind mileage increase, especially in the run, throughout the training needs to be reasonable so you don’t injury yourself.

10

IMO, if you want to have a ‘good’ on a 70.3 you need to be able to run a multiple slow half marathon as part of your regular training (without been broken for few days).

Not sure how many hour/weeks that will take, but it’s a multi-months process to get there (not a magic 8 weeks prior to the race)

11

How is your bike? The HIM/IM run mostly depends on how fresh you feel off the bike.

If you blow it all on the bike it doesn’t matter how much you run train.

Personally for IM I would say use all your run hours and put it to more biking, but HIM is run faster so you need some run training.

I think it is more speed than volume related. If you want to pace 8:00/mile on the HIM you need to run 7:30/mile on a 10 mile long run or open half mary.

I wouldn’t waste time beyond 35mpw unless your bike, swim, and transitions are dialed in.

12

Look at your history of what run volume you are capable of doing consistently. (Best 8 week average run volume)

Work up to 75% of that and use that as a starting point.

I think this is good advice. Depends on your running background, training volume, and goals.

For my 1st 70.3 I averaged in the 40-50 miles/week range. I was doing 15-20 hours/week & have a running background where I’ve done 80-100+ miles/week in marathon builds. Some pros are prolly more like 60-70 or more. I probably ran a little more than I needed to but like running. I couldn’t run much more than that to get in everything else.

20-30 miles/week is probably fine for most age groupers. 4ish runs. 2 short/easy (4-6 mile range), 1 workout day (6-10 mile range), 1 long (8-14 mile range). Low end would be 22. High end would be 36. Obviously the more you can do (within reason), the better you’ll get at triathlon.