Training Plan Questions

Hi Joseph!
Seems that you have already a plan... good. Your Olympic Distance is a good goal to reach and I am sure if you follow your training plan you will totally get there. The time between the OD and the Half Ironman Distance is good too.

First you should concentrate all your energy to train for the Olympic Distance. Following a training plan will help to reach your goal.
I would personally not put much weight on the Sprint you are planning do do. Just see it as a hard training race with good transition training in it....

It seems that you are very entusiastic about this sport. GREAT !!! Me too... but here is something to think about. Sprint is good for start, Olympic is more to work on (weekly training scheulde - 6 -10h) and Half Ironman is double the training of OD....
I wanted do do a Long Course after colmlpleted 2 OD last year. One of my much more experienced club members made me thinking...
He said: I am sure you could finish.... but think about how. Half Ironman Distance will be ''maybe'' this year on my plate. Will decide later in the year after my second scheudeled OD if i am ready to sign up, or should wait for next year. I know its hard, but be hornest to yourself.....

Anyway, If you really have to do your Long Distance this year.... go for it.

Again, it is good that you have already entered the tri spot with a sprint.... congratulations. Next step is Olympic Distance. Train for it hard and follow the plan you chose. It will bring you there....

Take the Sprint after as a training. Don't train extra for the sprint... you should be on a level you can make it. And please, dont put much weight on it......

Next stop Long Course (Half Ironman Distance).... Listen to your body, and follow the training plan. If everything feels good: Do it! If not , wait! It's that simple.

To your question if you should keep up your running for the half marathon distance... Congartulations for your first Half Marathon!!! Thats great

Maintain your capability to do that distance and maybe do a little bit more distance as in the training plan for the OD. Just not to loose it, but be careful. When the plan says do a 6 mile rum... you maybe do a 8 mile. You will figure out! Just dont train for the Half Marathon Distance Run and the Olympic at the same time.... Look what the plan says and do a little bit more.

Hope I could help you and wish you all the luck you need.
Keep free from injuries.

Cheers,

Chris

Training plans aren't set in stone. I would definitely modify the run portion to reflect your current fitness level. If you just completed it, make sure you give your self some time to recover from that race before you get back on the road hard again. The swim jump from 1.5 to 1.9 won't be the biggest challenge. The challenge is going to be going from 40k to 90k in the bike.

Your schedule is very doable.

+1 to not worrying too much about sprint race training. Focus on the Olympic and you can bridge up to the 70.3 with the time you have.
++1 with regard to the bike. IMO, the longer bike ride is the biggest challenge going from Oly to 70.3.

It isn't bad advice to consider whether you want to make that jump to 70.3 this season. I took 3 seasons to get to 70.3 and while I could have done it sooner, I'm glad I did it slowly. Everyone's experience is different though.

I haven't done the first two races you mention (though I think they're both done by Without Limits, which is a great outfit). I volunteered at their Summer Open last May and got a $100 entry into Harvest Moon (a great deal for a 70.3).

Harvest Moon 2014 was a great race. My bike training was interrupted a bit during the summer and the last part of the bike course has some climbing that can sap your energy if you aren't careful. The run is usually my strongest discipline but for me it was a total slog. For the record, I did not have a smile on my face at the end! Here's a link to my RR if you're interested:

http://trited.blogspot.com/2014/09/harvest-moon-triathlon-race-repo...

Good luck and enjoy your races!

Thanks for the advice everyone.

1 week in to the 16 week olympic training plan and cycling in the gym for an hour is mind numbing. I am thinking about trying a spin class. I also set up a bike trainer in the basment and maybe that will be better. Hopefully we will return to our mild winter here in Colorado and I can get outside (although I love and we need the snow).

I swam my first mile the other day. I have been experimenting with the pull buoy and it has been helping as my form is terrible. I am going to look into the masters class at my gym.

I have been running over the amount in my training plan to try and maintain some of my half marathon fittness. I'll back off if this starts to affect me negativley.

This is definitely doable!

I only started last year and ended up doing 70.3 6 months after I started training, somewhat by accident because I live in a country with very few tri races so there wasn't much to chose from.

Regarding the run fitness. Not sure what your plan tells you, but instead of long distance running which you somewhat already master, you could mix it up with interval runs. They also contribute greatly to your HM fitness and pace, but also do very good for your shorter run pace.
1-4km of L4 runs with a couple of minutes recovery runs in between, maybe mixed with some L3 runs, will do you wonders for pace as well as maintain you for HM. 1 hour will be sufficient.

For swim, look up total immersion swimming in youtube. Great insights on how to improve your form there.
I went from not being able to swim more than 70m, to doing 2km in a month. Then improving my pace in a year from 2.45/100m to now 2.10/100m over 2km just by trying to focus on the details that they share.
Obviously I am not a podium guy, but my swim is actually now my strongest if compared to the average times in my races.
That said, if you can go to a class that is obviously by far the better choice!



Edited by knuta99 2015-02-24 12:34 AM