Training volume

[Susan Otcenas]

I've been working with a coach since November. I have a half iron on my schedule in June and two ultracycling events planned (one in July, one in September).

Anyway, when I talk to other triathletes about about my training volume and distances, I often get "wow, with that kind of volume, you could be doing ironman!" or they are surprised I'm doing this much volume this early in the season.

So, my question for those of you who work with a coach is:

How many hours are you putting in each week on your triathlon training? Distances?

My training these past few months has been 9-12 hours per week (excluding core and strength training).

3 runs (1 long), 2 trainer rides, 1 LSD outside ride, 2 swims. 8 workouts over 6 days, 1 rest day. Plus I'm supposed to do core and weights twice a week, but I often end up skipping them because there are only so many hours in a day...

[Wahine]

Susan - that's really close to the kind of schedule that I follow when I'm really focused and training like I should. That's not unreasonable for an HIM in June and definitely your volumes will be higher with the Ultra stuff too. If I am training the way I want to be, this time of year I'd be putting in 10 to 15 hours per week.

Having said that, I coach a lot of people and set them up with a lot less volume depending on how prone they are to injury, fatigue, time constraints and how much base they have. You have lots of base so that shouldn't be an issue.

Could you get away with training less and still finish Pacific Crest? Absolutely. But if you have the time and your body can take it, you'll do better on that kind of a schedule.

[Susan Otcenas]

Could you get away with training less and still finish Pacific Crest? Absolutely. But if you have the time and your body can take it, you'll do better on that kind of a schedule.

Thanks, Wahine. That's been my thought too. I don't want to just finish. I want to finish strongly and know that I will be really really prepared. I've done tris where I trained just barely enough to do the distance and I really suffered in them. When I've been well trained, they've been a joy, and my results show the difference.

I think the most important thing for me will be to listen to my body and make sure I'm not becoming over-tired. The thing I have to work on most is making sure I get enough sleep. It's hard for me to get to bed early enough for all the early morning training I do. I function best on 7-8 hours sleep a night, and I don't always get that.

[tribogota]

I have a minimum of 600 mins per week. This week looked like this.
4 days swim = 10,500 m (one day endurance, one day technique, one day velocity, one day mixed)
3 days cycling = one day velodrome, intervals, one day 90k, one day hills and intervals, total of about 180k for the week.
4 days run = one day 7k up hill, one day stadium stairs (about 45mins), one day 12k slow, one day 30 mins fast
a total of 450 crunchies
some stretching.
most weeks are SOME variation of this. The ironman team trains longer bike rides than I do, no velodrome, longer runs, and longer swims.