So I am training for IMLP, however I have had to study to write the Bar for the past two weeks, and will also have to do so for two more weeks. Consequently, I have a whole month of pretty low training volume (maybe 10 hours/week)
But the bright side is that I have 6 weeks until Lake placid (form the date of my last exam) and 5 of those weeks I have off completely!
I am planning to ‘cram’ as much training into the four week period as possible (I’ll taper for two weeks).
I know everyone is different, with different recovery periods etc. But I dont have enough experience, particularly on the bike, to know when I am overtraining.
I am looking for advice on signs that you are overtraining (other than injury…that one I can usually clue into!), and/or what kind of training volume someone looking to hit a 6:00-6:15 bike split should reasonably be able to handle. Most of my riding is in a hilly area (gatinuea park).
The run is my strong suit, so Im not too worried there, and the swim im just going to get through somehow!
To the OP, my advice: If you only have that time, just focus on getting your volume up. As someone’s sig line says, “speedwork is icing on the cake…” While that is probably a “run focused” comment, it works for the bike. Don’t worry about intensity training. Just focus on building your endurance by reasonably upping your bike mileage each week. You have five weeks off, use all that time. Several hrs a day in the saddle at low - moderate intensity will build endurance and not present too great a risk of overtraining. Put in some climbing too.
It’s kinda hard to overtrain the bike. You can get in 2 long-ish rides on both weekend days, and perhaps a shorter, more intense ride mid-week. Maybe 2 of those.
Hills are your friend. Learn to love them, so raceday will feel “easy” by comparison.