Scheduling/planning my training

How far out do you know your own schedule? How consistent is your own schedule?

For me i took one of the plans off this site and put it down on a blank calender. Then I put all my personal stuff on there as well. Some times I miss due to a late meeting or my wife going to yoga. But, it happens.

Then I loaded it all into my Google calender. Now, I can look on my phone and see what the time/distance/workout is for each day.

I basically start each season by working out a weekly plan of when I'm going to do various kinds of workouts. This often has to do with work time commitments, availability of facilities (pool, safe venue for outdoor rides), as well as other variables like weather and traffic. If I was using a pre-made plan, I'd then fit in the workouts around that. If designing my own, first decide how many swims, bikes, and runs I wanted to do. I try to make sure that I didn't schedule things back to back that don't go well together, like hard running less than 24 hours after a hard ride, or swimming after weight training. Then I plug in the specific workouts where they fit best. When I write my own plans I'm usually looking at a number of references for ideas and specific workouts.

If write your plan on a computer (doc, spreadsheet, or the "My Training Plan" on BT, which you have access to with some paid memberships), it's a bit easier to switch things around. Depending on your membership, it's even possible to import BT plans directly to your Training Plan, switch days around, or create a custom plan. It might be possible to import from TP--not sure as I don't use it. I know some people use Google Calendar so they can input training as well as work and family commitments and get a better sense of the "big picture". Might be especially useful if your daily schedule isn' t very predictable. You can even set it up to get e-mailed reminders of your workout "event". My work commitments are normally very predictable (teacher), so for me it's simplest just to put it in a word doc, on the BT site, or even just write it in a notebook. I've done all of those and they work okay.

For reference, here's my current basic weekly plan (for a HIM) and why things are where they are:

Monday PM: Swim workout. Legs tired from Sunday brick, but arms are rested! Pool only available PM.
Tuesday AM: Run with speed work. Normally I'm recovered from the weekend by then. AM is cooler and much less traffic, predictably no other demands on my time between 5 or 6:30 AM! PM: Weight training. It fits in then, as I have no after-work meetings and gym isn't open before 6 AM.
Wednesday AM: Bike trainer workout. Works better than PM as I have a longish meeting after school Wed.
Thursday AM: Easy run.(since previous two days had intensity with bike or run) PM: Swim
Friday AM: Bike trainer workout (not PM as that would affect Saturday's run)
Saturday AM: Long run, sometimes with some tempo work. (Since it's cooler AM, and on weekends I have more time to do a longer run, refuel, and rest up afterwards.) PM: Swim, usually longer, endurance type sets with a bit lower intensity (since pool hours are longer).
Sunday AM: Long bike/run brick. The venue where I ride outdoors is only available then. PM: Strength training. It just fits well into my schedule then. I usually go light on the legs on that day.

Last year I did more double workout days, with more (4 bikes and 5 runs instead of current 3 and 4, respectively), somewhat shorter workouts, but I found recovery was more difficult and I struggled with fatigue and minor illnesses/injuries. For me it seems to work better to do fewer, longer workouts with more recovery time between them. It isn't conventional wisdom, but it works for my body and my lifestyle. It's things like these that you learn to work out when you design your own program.

Hope this is useful.

Edited by Hot Runner 2015-03-25 6:53 AM