General Discussion Triathlon Talk » Run is slower and Tri Off Season Rss Feed  
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2014-10-19 6:20 PM


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Subject: Run is slower and Tri Off Season
Been doing Tris for 2 seasons now and with all the Swim and Bike training days my run has suffered from when it was just run specific. I use to run just under 7 min pace 5k and around 7:45 10ks. My runs during Tri events are closer to 8:45-9:00 minutes with knowing legs are more tired after swim and bike. During Tri training I would only run 2 times a week with every other week having a long run and no track work vs 6 days a week and a long run/ track work every week when it was run specific.

Question is I have 2 Marathons coming up in end of Nov and beginning of Feb and want to feel good about the runs pace/times. With very limited Tri events in the Winter is it usual to concentrate mostly all on running in off season (live in Fl so winter running not a problem) with doing very limited swim/bike? Concern is in doing that my next Tri season starts in March and even though the March Olympic event will be at a hilly course time will not a big goal, but is it easy to get back into the swing of swim/bike with limited off season training in those disciplines?


2014-10-19 7:32 PM
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Subject: RE: Run is slower and Tri Off Season
Two runs a week sounds low to me for tri training. Stand-alone running races are important to me so I tend to do more run training at the expense of swimming and biking - this is true during the race season as well as off season. Not saying this is the best approach. Other approaches are to focus on your weakness. Or on the area where you think you can make up the most time. It can be difficult to choose if you have goals that conflict. However, my guess is that marathon training during the winter will help rather than hurt your tri times.

If you are doing marathons I don't think you have much choice - you need to start ramping up your running.The difference between your 5k pace and your other paces suggest that your endurance for longer races needs work.

Are you familiar with running calclulators? E.g. http://www.mcmillanrunning.com/
My 5k pace is similar to your and my other paces line up pretty nicely with the Macmillan predictions. Here are my paces based on my races this summer..
My 5k run pace is 6:57 min/mile
10k run pace is 7:14
10k run / Olympic tri 7:33
I doubt that the calculator would give a good marathon distance prediction in my case - I just haven't put in enough running miles to run a good marathon.
Don




Edited by donw 2014-10-19 7:33 PM
2014-10-19 7:56 PM
in reply to: Tripleplay44

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Subject: RE: Run is slower and Tri Off Season
That's very person specific. Some people can flip right back into a groove after time off in a sport and others almost have to start all over. Having said that, if you really want to do a marathon, you don't want to skimp on the training. Marathons are tough races and without the proper conditioning, there is a good chance you will crash and burn. You're going to have to make choices. It is likely that you won't lose all of your muscle strength and technique for swimming and biking, but you can count on some.
2014-10-19 7:57 PM
in reply to: Tripleplay44


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Subject: RE: Run is slower and Tri Off Season
Yes, if you do run only training for awhile, the bike and swim will come back when you start training all three again. Takes a couple months to get most of it back for my personal experiences.
2014-10-20 7:07 AM
in reply to: Tripleplay44

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Subject: RE: Run is slower and Tri Off Season
I struggle with this pretty much every year as I usually train for a run only event (half marathon) throughout the fall. Everyone's different, but particularly for a longer run event, you'll probably find that biking in particular will really take it out of you in terms of your ability to handle run speedwork and higher mileage. You may also have less energy or enthusiasm for hard swim training when running higher mileage. What works for me is not to give up bike and swim training entirely, but do relatively less of them, while still maintaining some intensity. This makes it much easier to get back into shape for tri season.

During a run focus I typically still swim 3X a week (same as in tri season) but often one of those is a less intense, recovery-type workout. Swimming can really be helpful in a marathon buildup because it can help your legs recover, especially after a long run. If you're a strong swimmer, then 2X a week is probably enough to keep up technique and some basic fitness, especially if at least one of those sessions contains some threshold/race pace efforts.

As for biking, I've experimented a lot with it and found that for me, 2X a week is most realistic. This usually consists of one interval sessions of about an hour with lots of hard riding, and a longer ride of 2-3 hours at a moderate pace. Any more and the quality of my running really suffers; any less and I end up starting from zero with the bike, which is my weakest event.

My weekly training during a run focus looks something like this--might be helpful as a reference. I'll peak at probably 45 miles a week, with a long run of about 16-17 miles.

Monday: Swim only day, usually in the 2000-3000m range.
Tuesday: Run speedwork (intervals or tempo), strength
Wednesday: Easy run
Thursday: Bike intervals on trainer AM, Swim PM
Friday: Easy run, strength
Saturday: Long run, often with some fartlek or tempo running thrown in, PM swim (3000-3500m range)
Sunday: Long ride. Right not it's rainy season so often indoors--2 hours with some tempo type efforts thrown in. Occasionally join a group for an MTB ride instead. Easy run sometime during the day (before, later in the day, or as a brick). Strength.
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