Triathlon Training Plans

While I am not currently training for a triathlon, I am still interested in tri-training, because I plan to resume tri-training in the future, maybe as soon as 2010 ramping up for another IM in 2011.

I just read an article on training volume that sounded interesting. The concept being discussed is why many age-groupers hit "the wall". Jesse explains his theory of the volume required to avoid what he terms System Failure (walking the last 10 miles of the marathon in an IM for example). He states that for a triathlon, the following required distances should be met at least twice in the 6 weeks before race day. These distances are based on your race distance according to the following formula:

Swim – 9/3 of the event distance, per week
Bike – 8/3 of the event distance, per week
Run – 7/3 of the event distance, per week

For someone training for an Ironman, that means that in their final build block before race day, they should have a week with at least 12,660 yards of swimming, 300 miles of biking and 60 miles of running. For me, that would mean about 29 hours (based on my speed leading up to last years IMAZ race). That is a lot of training and does not factor in things like getting to training locations, gear maintenance, laundry and logging all those training hours. Add those in and you have a second FULL-TIME job if you are a working person like me.

All that work for the honor and privilege of a solid race. A solid race IF your nutrition plan is tested and works well for you on race day, and IF the weather cooperates to some degree, and IF you have a good race pace plan and you stick with it. Some of those are in your control and others are not.

That is a very short summary of the article and he goes into much more detail, so if you want more info, I highly recommend checking it out.

Comments

Theia said…
I think the IFs are the most important part. Anything can happen on race day. It's part of what keeps us coming back, though, isn't it?
Stephen said…
@Theia: I think that is a big part of it. The "IF's" and the "Next times" keep pushing me.

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