This may be a dumb question, or a BT question, but All of you self coached people out there, my question is how do you fit it all in??
Specifically, I’m struggling to find time for bike FTP work, long ride, recovery ride, run tempo/speed work, long run and a recovery run all in the space of a week. (Especially in the winter)
Can someone share their schedule that works for them, allowing for adequate progression and recovery? I’m generally training for HIM distance.
Thanks for entertaining a potentially stooped question.
I noticed you mention nothing about swimming so don’t forget that! One of the key points on the TP slide deck is that cycling translates well to running. I’ve (N=1) personally been able to get away with only running twice a week, one interval (800m/mile repeats) and a very easy long run per week. I do all my bike rides on a trainer except one easy long ride outside when the weather is warm. For swimming, I hit up 2-3 master’s swims per week which give me an incredible swim workout in 60 minutes.
M: am swim& pm run (recovery)
T: am bike intervals & pm run (intervals)
W: am swim & pm off or plyo/strength
Th: am bike intervals & pm run (intervals)
F: am swim & pm off or plyo/strength or prep for weekend
S: long run
Su: long bike
Experts may not like this but for me it works well. I can still spend time with my family and get my training in. All pm work is after bedtime. I probably only get 10 hours average during the season also.
This may be a dumb question, or a BT question, but All of you self coached people out there, my question is how do you fit it all in??
Specifically, I’m struggling to find time for bike FTP work, long ride, recovery ride, run tempo/speed work, long run and a recovery run all in the space of a week. (Especially in the winter)
Can someone share their schedule that works for them, allowing for adequate progression and recovery? I’m generally training for HIM distance.
Thanks for entertaining a potentially stooped question.
Here is my basic framework for an end of summer IM:
Monday- swim 4000, ride 2-3 hours
Tuesday- run 1 hour
Wednesday- ride 1 hour on trainer
Thursday- long run, up to 2.5 hrs or 21 miles
Friday- swim 5000
Saturday- long ride, 100-120 miles as hard as possible. Run after, up to 10 miles or 1:15
Sunday- run 1 hour
I do this for three weeks then take an easy week. For 2014 I’ll be trying something a little different as I integrate more running miles.
Winter is similar except I’m running an hour on Mondays instead of riding, the Saturday ride is no longer than 2 hours, it’s indoors, and it’s FTP level intervals.
I noticed you mention nothing about swimming so don’t forget that!
Yes, good point! But I feel like swimming is a different animal in that even on a tough bike or run day I can throw in a decent swim set without a problem. Its the fitting in of the run and bike together that I find the greatest issue / need for recovery.
Ok, so you are not completely gassed / trashed after doing both bike and run intervals on the same day? I feel like if I did a 1.5 hr 90 IF bike in the AM, any intense run workout would suffer in the evening.
M am swim 3000m - pm easy bike 60 mins
T am bike heart rate intervals 75/90 mins - pm run sped intervals 40 mins
W am swim 4000m - pm bike class / ride with Tri club
T am swim 3000m - pm run aerobic run 45-60 mins
F am bike strength intervals 75/90 mins - pm short easy run 30 mins followed by 30 mins weights
S long bike or medium bike into short brick run (summer this is 5 hours winter 3)
S long run (90-120 mins)
I vary it a bit but this does me fine. I usually do some stuff for fun or with the kids too…
Not at all. For 1/2 iron events my weekday workouts would never be that long. I try to focus on intensity during the week. I can get good quality run workouts done in 45 minutes or less. And I never go over an hour on the bike. My weekends are when I go “long”. I’m very average though. I do this for fun only.
This may be a dumb question, or a BT question, but All of you self coached people out there, my question is how do you fit it all in??
Specifically, I’m struggling to find time for bike FTP work, long ride, recovery ride, run tempo/speed work, long run and a recovery run all in the space of a week. (Especially in the winter)
Can someone share their schedule that works for them, allowing for adequate progression and recovery? I’m generally training for HIM distance.
Thanks for entertaining a potentially stooped question.
Training for a HIM (4th). Luckily, I have a gym across street from work. Following a plan - typical week
Mon Lunch (swim) PM - Bike
Tues L - spin class, PM - Run
Wed L - swim PM bike or run
Thur L - spin class PM bike or run
Fri - Off
Sat Long run, Swim
Sun Long bike
Swims tend to be as short as 20 min up to 80 min, avg about 40 min. Spin class more of a leg stretch unless I’m leading it. Then I have to put some effort into it. Sat. is suppose to be long bike, but I tend to switch it so as to keep the boss at home a little bit happier. I also try to get 2 brick runs after the bikes for about 20 min. Minimal time for weights but attempt at least once a week. I also don’t normally get 4 doubles in a week. Usually only 3. Occasionally I’ll work out in the AM either skipping a lunch w/o or evening w/o. Works out to about 10-14 hrs a week. Looking ahead, I think my max week will be about 18 hours.
Just started Tri training 6-7 months ago. I already have a strong swimming background and some road cycling experience. Didn’t run much for 38 years. Signed up for first HIM in April.
M: Spin and legwork
T: Swim 3000+ and run 45min
W: Spin and legwork/Core training
Th: Swim 3000+ and run 45min
Friday: Light run or swim
Sat: Long 3hr ride
Sun: Long run
I pick a swim workout to do on either Sat/Sun depending on how I feel.
For many reasons I struggle with pre-planned training programs. In fact, I’ve dropped all organized programs due to the fact that I know I won’t abide by any set plan.
So, instead my plan for 2014 is to once again focus on doing two types of alternating training days. Each day consists of 2 individual efforts performed at some point during the day (sometimes a brick, sometimes not). I insert rest days whenever my schedule or body demands it (usually somewhere between every 7 - 9 days).
Training Days:
Day A: Bike Workout + Short & Easy Run
Day B: Swim Workout + Run Workout
I usually lengthen one of my runs and one of my bike rides each week and make them my long run/bike.
I don’t hit all the workouts all the time, but this plan gets me enough volume and key workouts each week to be dangerous.
miami, fl - that means i can train outside all year but pretty much schedule is like so:
mon - easy run -3-4 miler am - nothing pm
tue - bike am ftp - run pm
wed - swim am - run pm
thu - bike am ftp - swim pm
fri - run am - nothing pm
sat - long swim / long bike
sun - mid bike / run
I try to do a lot of workouts before I have to go to work, or I use my commute as a training opportunity. Ofcourse getting out of bed is the most difficult part, but my experience is that during the day there are so many things that can happen that are going to interfere with your training (unscheduled meetings, overwork, perhaps children, a partner and so on).
Besides that, it also leaves the afternoon or evening for other, shorter workouts. Then again, I have every fridayafternoon off, so I can do the bulk of my longer workouts then. I’d rather get out of bed early then do all my longer workouts in the weekend.
It’s not easy. Usually, something has to give, especially if you have family and a busy job.
Swim: I’m at the pool by 5 am on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. That let’s me get an hour of swimming in and still be at my desk by 630. That’s 30 minutes later than my normal work time, but 30 minute swim is worth it.
Bike: During the week it’s all on the trainer after my son goes to bed. So that means getting started at around 8:15-8:30. Depending on the length of my ride, it definitely cuts into my sleep duration and quality. Longer rides are done early weekend mornings, always finishing by 9-10am. If I’m doing a longer ride, I start early on the trainer and finish it outside once it gets light.
Run: During the week I run during my lunch. That means I have to eat at my desk and work while I eat. On weekends I do a long run on Sunday mornings.
With this schedule I can easily fit in 10-14 sessions a week totalling 10-15hrs. It’s almost completely transparent to my family and job, but takes a lot of extra effort to keep up with other household chores. My primary distance is also HIM, but I followed this while getting ready for 140.6 as well.
If you’re finding it difficult to fit it all in a week why not try a different spacing of sessions?
Why not try a 10 day or 14 day rotation of sessions which may well allow for more recovery time/workouts and allow you to hit the more important ones slightly less frequently but with more focus and fresher.
Weeks work well for a lot of people if it fits in with traditional work and life patterns but if it is not working for you why not change it up?
If you aren’t a morning person then its difficult. I am up every day at 4 during main training periods. Swim at 5AM or run at 4AM. Shorter bikes during the week in evenings with some evening runs. Weekends are long days. Long bike, long run and long swim.
Right now I’m marathon training, so focus is clearly on the run. With a baby at home, it’s still hard to get in 8-9 hrs a week, especially in winter when the daylight hours are short and snow is on the ground.
This has generally been my plan (and will continue through Boston in April)
Sun: Long run w/marathon pace miles (~2-2.5 hrs)
Mon: Easy run (~40-45 min)
Tuesday: Hard intervals on the trainer (~1.2-1.5 hrs)
Wednesday: Medium long run w/intervals (did 10x1/2 mile last night)
Thursday: Swim (~3k yrds) and easy run (~40-45 min)
Friday: Medium long easy run (~90 min)
Saturday: Swim (~3k yrds) and easy run (~40-45 min)
Except for the weekend, all of my runs are after 7:30 at night when our little guy heads to bed. Last night it was 90 minutes on the treadmill at the gym - yuck!
I’ve been able to maintain my bike power on just one ride per week over the past three months. I’ve lost a little swim fitness, but that should return after Boston when I swim 3x a week.
not a stupid question and definitely something that self-coached athletes struggle with. It’s why I hired a coach. Having gone from self-coached to coached, I would say that, assuming you’re getting decent sleep and come into this process with a decent running base, you can probably handle more quality than you think. Make sure you’ve got enough HTFU. I remember getting my first schedules and thinking, “No way I’ll get that done.” But sure enough I get (most) of it in.
Having said that, it’s probably somewhat unrealistic to expect to be able to make dramatic improvements on both the bike and run at the same time. You can certainly make improvement, but there’s some cost. I’m more focused on the bike right now, so my HIT running is limited to just once a week and not that much. Most doing aerobic base running (40mpw).