Training question(duration/intensity)

Triathlon Forum
1

I’m in the process of planning out my 2015 season, with a 70.3 in mid September as my A race. My goal for that race is to break 6 hours.

My questions are regarding training duration, and if that should vary througout the season.

I think that given my schedule, I can fit in 12 hours a week for training, which would be around 6 hours of riding, 2 of running, and an hour of swimming sound about right?

EDIT My math sucks. I meant 6 hours of riding, 4 running, and 2 swimming.

My other question is: Should I put in those kind of hours the whole year, and vary the intensity as I get closer to the race, or start lower(like 8 hours a week) and build that up through out the season. I plan to start the year with lots of aerobic(Z2) work.

Thoughts on any of this? I’m still very new to the sport, and welcome any feedback. Thanks!

2

I think that given my schedule, I can fit in 12 hours a week for training, which would be around 6 hours of riding, 2 of running, and an hour of swimming sound about right?

Your math is wrong. And unless you are former fish, no, an hour a week of swimming is not enough.

John

3

Ah man I totally butchered that!

Meant 6 bike, 4 run, 2 swim.

Jeez…

4

I think that given my schedule, I can fit in 12 hours a week for training, which would be around 6 hours of riding, 2 of running, and an hour of swimming sound about right?

Your math is wrong. And unless you are former fish, no, an hour a week of swimming is not enough.

John

If it’s Augusta, then an hour is good. =)

5

This like many similar questions is “it depends”!

Some want/need that locked down routine, and that’s the only way it’s going to work for them. They have busy business lives, family lives etc . . the training schedule has to be part of that completely dialed in routine.

However, this is not optimal. Improvements will come, if starting from scratch, then plateau and stagnate. Real improvements come when you overload then recover, overload and recover, . . . from a micro and macro perspective. This means some days and weeks will have more training and more hard training than others - there is an ebb and flow to it.

6

Ideally, there would be some variation in hours/week over the course of your season. However, if your training time is artificially restricted to 12 hours per week max even though you could handle much more volume, then you should probably stick to 12/week all season. In this case, the variation in load over the season will have to come primarily by manipulating the intensity variable.

7

I’m in the process of planning out my 2015 season, with a 70.3 in mid September as my A race. My goal for that race is to break 6 hours.

My questions are regarding training duration, and if that should vary througout the season.

I think that given my schedule, I can fit in 12 hours a week for training, which would be around 6 hours of riding, 2 of running, and an hour of swimming sound about right?

EDIT My math sucks. I meant 6 hours of riding, 4 running, and 2 swimming.

My other question is: Should I put in those kind of hours the whole year, and vary the intensity as I get closer to the race, or start lower(like 8 hours a week) and build that up through out the season. I plan to start the year with lots of aerobic(Z2) work.

Thoughts on any of this? I’m still very new to the sport, and welcome any feedback. Thanks!

The amount of time you have is what you have. Your current fitness will dictate if 12 h/wk might get you there, but with almost a year to work with, I think the answer is yes on breaking 6h.

Is the breakdown good? Maybe. Depends on your limiter(s). Your allotment in line with many generic plans. I suspect you could see improvements in run and bike, but your swim will lag. You might be surprised what 10 min a day with stretchcordz can do to help your swim.

As far as intensity, it’s much harder to say. A general-to-specific path might have you doing more very hard short intervals (with recovery) with lots of easy endurance work in the winter and early spring, moving towards more sub-threshold/tempo long-interval work as race time approaches, all while holding the volume steady. Others have you build volume and then back off as intensity increases to accommodate recovery. Which is best? Dunno for you. The most important thing at our level is putting in work and recovering. Sleep and good nutrition are underrated training tools.

Or, hire a coach to see you through and/or devise a training plan. They can map this all out for you. G’luck! -J

8

I haven’t done his HIM plan myself, but a lot of people have trained with Don Fink’s books; I have his HIM book that came out last year, and I’ll probably give it a whirl this season. Has offseason to onseason plans that allow for a proper build. I’d start there and adapt to your schedule/needs.

9

I think that given my schedule, I can fit in 12 hours a week for training, which would be around 6 hours of riding, 2 of running, and an hour of swimming sound about right?

Your math is wrong. And unless you are former fish, no, an hour a week of swimming is not enough.

John

Well, I am a terrible swimmer (2:20/100m) with zero swim background, and I never spent more than an hour in the pool a week (usually 2-20min sessions) during my training, and I did my first HIM last year finishing in ~5:25…This is not a backdoor brag by any means, but it can be done, and yes it likely depends on your current level of fitness.

If I had 12hours/wk I would do OPs time breakdown and vary the intensity as suggested. Taking an hour from one of the others to work on the swim for 2hours is not going to benefit the overall time. If the goal is to break 6hours, its going to be get through the swim, crush the bike, and hold on for the run…

10

Taking an hour from one of the others to work on the swim for 2hours is not going to benefit the overall time

Very short sighted to say the least.