There are two distinct ways to go faster on race day: execute better so you can race to your fitness, or earn the right to race faster by improving your fitness.
The first option is technically easy, although it does take a leap of faith that proper, judicious pacing will get you the result you want (real-world example).
The second option is decidedly less easy, although we have started to outline the “how to” elements by covering how Work WORKS and how Fitness is in Your Muscles (not your cardiovascular system). With Kona around the corner, the official end of the 2009 tri season is upon us and everyone is starting to break out their calendars, planning charts, and whizz-bang software tools. In other words, it’s time we step back to look at the macro-level of how Endurance Nation outlines a season for an Ironman or Half Iron event.
Keep in mind this flavor of schedule is very particular. It’s only for the busy age-group triathlete with multiple commitments and minimal time who is looking for a high Return on Investment of training time. So this is really only relevant to 98% of you out there.
Note: This graph constitutes a 9-month season, from Day 1 through Race Day.
Key things that should hit you from this graph:
- Total OutSeason training, 20 weeks with an average of 6-8 hours a week, is greater than all the other components of your season. Yes, it’s that important.
- We then give our athletes some downtime. Yes, downtime…we purposely force our athletes to stand down with 1-2 weeks of informal training before continuing with their structured training. Better now, when planned, than later, when your body (or mind) throws in the towel before your “A” race.
- Our General Preparation Phase can be 2-3 months, depending on the length of the total season. Here begin to put the Far on top of the Fast built during the OutSeason.
- Finally, our Race Preparation is only 8-12wks. We ask our athletes to knuckledown and focus on the race. Volume ticks up and we want to minimize the length of this focused period — “keep the volume as low as you can for as long as you can” should be the mantra of the busy age group Ironman triathlete.
What’s so secret about this you ask? Well, for one thing, very few folks actually train like this. The majority bury themselves in hours upon hours of training. Five hour indoor trainer rides over the winter are the norm. They miss family time, they doze off at meetings…and they are ultimately not prepared for race day.
So before you break out your abacus and start doing some serious training calculus for next year, stop and think. Think about the work that will really make a difference in your training. Do some research. Ask around. You may well find something that will change your triathlon training forever…
Interested in learning more?
Please take the Endurance Nation FREE five-part “Rethinking the OutSeason” Email Seminar. We’ll cover these topics above in much greater detail while also teaching you the basics of training with power, pace, annual scheduling, and much more. Join the more than 5,000 athletes who have benefitted from the EN approach to winter training!
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