Tuesday 12 January 2010

Planning your triathlon training

Some of you have been asking what you should be doing during the week in addition to the Sunday club swim and run sessions. This depends entirely on you as an individual. You should consider each weekly plan as an integral part of a monthly plan which is an integral part of your annual plan. Ask yourself the following questions before you start planning:
  • What is it that you are trying to achieve by participating in triathlon?

  • Have you set a goal(s) for the season/month/week/session?

  • Do you have a race(s) that you plan to compete in?

  • If you have more than one race in mind which race(s) will you make a priority?

  • How much time do you have to devote to training?

  • How much time do you want to devote to training?

  • Could you fit training in as part of a regular daily routine such as biking or running to/from from work?

  • What are your strengths and what are your weaknesses?

  • Are you prone to injury in a particular discipline and why might this be?

To give you some idea of how a twelve week off-season training plan might be structured for sprint, olympic, middle or long distance triathlon take a look at these training plans prepared by Joe Beer of 22oTriathlon magazine. Just click on the distance: Sprint, Olympic, Middle and Long.

Joe Beer will be at this year's TCR Show and doing short 1-2-1 sessions to answer your questions about training, nutrition and equipment etc. at the Tri Clinic Live.

I hope that helps you! Tim (LFTC Coach)