So, you have done a triathlon, what now?

You have done a few of these multisport events; you have mastered the art of stringing together a swim, bike and run, and now want to get a little bit faster. What do you do next?

You now need to put a little bit of planning into your training.

HOW TO STRUCTIRE YOUR TRAINING YEAR

SET THE GOAL:

First you need to set your season goals. Maybe it is to do that race you did last year, and be faster, or maybe it is to complete a longer distance triathlon, the choice is yours. Your goal must be measurable. (How will you know when you are getting near your goal? How will you know when you achieved your goal?) The goal must also be self focussed. By this I mean if your goal is to beat that girl that beat you in the last race, for example, that is something that is outside your control. You cannot control how much training she does, you can only control YOURSELF, so make your goal person centred – I.E about YOU! Your goal must also be stated in the positive. For example it must not start with I will not….!

ESTABLISH TRAINING OBJECTIVES:

What elements of your training do you want to focus on? What needs more improvement? What are your strengths? Maybe you want to work on longer runs, or perhaps higher threshold bike workouts, or maybe swim technique.

PLAN YOUR TRAINING HOURS:

Next, decide realistically how many hours of training you will be able to do per week, minimum and maximum. I train for around 12 hours a week, usually twice a day. Some people can fit more in, personally I cannot. An increase in training hours must also be done gradually.

Training is usually periodised into easy, medium, hard, and recovery week. That is why you must decide your minimum and maximum hours you think you can manage.

PRIORITISE YOUR RACES:

Are you training for just one race? Do you have a series of races you would like to do? Plan which one will be your main race, or A race, and which will be less important. B races are secondary, and C races are ones you will just train straight through, and mainly use as a training exercise.

PLAN THE PHASES:

The training year is broken up into

• base phase – longer slower foundation type training, usually winter. 12 weeks or so
• build phase – starting to inject the pace into your sessions, usually the month or so before the season starts. 6 – 8 weeks
• Peak – race season. Usually starts 2 weeks before the target race(s)

Plan on a calendar, when the phases of your training will be, and block them in. Then set the weekly hours. Usually the recovery week is lightest, then a gradual increase for 3 weeks, to complete a 4 week cycle. Some people like a complete rest day, some prefer ‘recovery’ which would be more like very easy light training. The choice is yours. Personally, I quite like the once a week ‘rest’.

In the base phase you are building endurance (longer swim / bike /runs and weights) whereas in the build you begin to add force (speed specific structured turbo sessions and sprint / fartlek work plus perhaps muscular endurance) whereas in peak phase you are working at an anaerobic level, top end speed.

EXAMPLE WORKOUT SESSIONS:

INTERMEDIATE SWIM SET (technique and endurance focussed)

WARM UP 200m easy

TECHNIQUE

25m TORPEDO DRILL (arms by sides, roll and breathe as normal 3 or 4 counts each side)

25m full

REPEAT X 5

100m BACK STROKE

25m TWO STROKE DRILL (2 left arm strokes, breathe, 2 right arm strokes, breathe)

25m full

REPEAT x 5

100m BACK STROKE

25m TRIPLE CATCH UP (bilateral breathing with catch up swimming)

25m full

REPEAT x 5

100m BACK STROKE

ENDURANCE

5 x 100m at a good pace, each as fast as the first

(20 sec rest)

2 x 200m at a good constant pace

COOL DOWN

200m easy

1 HOUR TURBO SESSION (muscular endurance)

10 minute warm up

60, right leg
1 min recovery

60 rev, Left leg
3 minute recovery

12 mins BIGGEST GEAR (HR 80%)
3 mins easy

17 mins @ HR 75%

60 rev right leg
1 min recovery

60 rev Left leg

5 mins easy warm down

3 x 400/800/400 COMPOUND SETS OR SUPERSETS

warm up run 10-15 mins

run 400 meters at nearly full pace,
slow down to goal 5K pace for 800 meters speeding up to nearly full pace for another 400 meters.

Take no recovery between the distances, but recover for 5 minutes between each compound set. This workout is excellent for building lactate threshold, VO2 max, running economy and finishing speed.

cool down run

For more free example workouts, or to contact me for more information / training / coaching advice, visit http://www.ryding2health.co.uk

Enjoy!