A Faster International Distance Race
A step-by-step plan to improve your time at your favorite international
distance race. by Gale Bernhardt
Your Profile: You are an
athlete who has been doing triathlons for a few seasons, and are now hooked.
You've found the joy in multisport and plan to keep after it, for as long
as you can.
Goal: You've been building base fitness since December,
and you want to improve your time at your favorite race: a 1.5K swim,
40K bike and 10K run.
Week
Sport
Mon.
Tues.
Wed.
Thurs.
Fri.
Sat.
Sun.
Sport Hours
Total Hours
1
Swim
60
1.0
6.0
Bike
45
45
75
2.8
Run
60
75
2.3
Week 1: This is your
last week of rest, following your period of base building. You are probably
lifting weights; but weight workouts are not included in the scope of
this article. Prior to week 1, you have been training between 7 and 13
hours per week. You've built your endurance, so you have had swim workouts
between 1:15 and 1:30 long. The main sets on some oh the swim days have
been between 1,500 and 2,000 yards. Your long bike days have been around
3 hours. During some of your long rides, you have been on a variety of
courses, spending time in the 1-4 zones and small amounts of time in zone 5, when climbing hills.
Your longest run in the base period may have been as long as 2 hours.
During some of your long runs, you have been on a variety of courses,
spending time in the 1-4 zones and small amounts in zone 5, when climbing
hills. You take you rest seriously and have cut back on volume to allow
your body to recover, reaping the benefits of training.
Week
Sport
Mon.
Tues.
Wed.
Thurs.
Fri.
Sat.
Sun.
Sport Hours
Total Hours
2
Swim
60
60
2.0
10.8
Bike
60
60
45
120
4.8
Run
60
30
60
90
4.0
3
Swim
60
60
2.0
10.8
Bike
60
45
60
120
4.8
Run
60
30
60
90
4.0
4
Swim
45
45
30
Brick
2.0
10.8
Bike
60
60
120
4.0
Run
60
60
30
30
45
60
4.8
5
Swim
60
Brick
1.0
6.0
Bike
45
45
75
2.8
Run
60
45
30
2.3
Weeks 2-5: Swim: Depending
on the athlete and the amount of time that you have available, you may
be swimming three days per week, adding a Saturday morning swim to the
schedule. If you have access to a safe situation, you will swim 1 or 2
times in the open water during this period of time. You can handle 2-3
breakthrough (BT), or speed, workouts per week. Bike: BT rides may include
some hill repeats or muscular-endurance intervals, where the work to rest
ratio is 3 or 4:1 and heart rates climb into the 5a zone. Run: BTs can
be completed on the track or on the road. If you have speed, but lack
endurance, you'll do muscular-endurance intervals (work to rest of 3-4:1,
heart rates into the 5a zone). If you have endurance, but lack speed,
you will do speed-endurance intervals where the work to rest intervals
are 1:1; heart rates can climb into the 5b zone on the portion of the
intervals.
Week
Sport
Mon.
Tues.
Wed.
Thurs.
Fri.
Sat.
Sun.
Sport Hours
Total Hours
6
Swim
60
60
2.0
10.0
Bike
60
90
120
4.5
Run
60
60
90
3.5
7
Swim
60
60
2.0
10.0
Bike
60
90
120
4.5
Run
60
60
90
3.5
8
Swim
60
60
30
2.0
10.0
Bike
60
90
120
4.5
Run
60
60
90
3.5
9
Swim
60
Brick
1.0
8.5
Bike
45
45
75
2.8
Run
60
45
30
2.3
Weeks 6-9: Swim: Assuming your race is in the open water, it
would be a good idea if you swam in the open water conditions at least
twice before race day. At least one of these swim should be at race pace
for half the distance of the upcoming race. Bike: You should be cycling
a course similar to the race course. If you live close to the race course,
be careful not to ride the course every Sunday and leave your best race
on a training ride. During this period, you are building on the workouts
you did in week 2-5. If your work bouts were 4-6 minutes long, you can
either increase the number of bouts you are doing , or increase the work
time to 6-12 minutes. Run: If you were doing 400m or 800m repeats on the
track, you might increase the number you do or the distance of the repeat.
Week
Sport
Mon.
Tues.
Wed.
Thurs.
Fri.
Sat.
Sun.
Sport Hours
Total Hours
10
Swim
60
45
Brick
1.8
9.3
Bike
60
60
60
60
4.0
Run
60
60
60
30
3.5
11
Swim
45
45
1.5
7.5
Bike
60
45
30
2.3
Run
60
45
45
75
3.8
Weeks 10-11: This is the first two weeks of your taper to race
day. Remember not to panic when reducing volume - you'll keep the intensity.
On Sunday of week 10, do a brick which includes a 6-10-mile bike time
trial and carry out your run at race pace or slightly faster. Or you could
replace the above brick with a sprint-distance triathlon. Week 11 might
include a 10K running race on Saturday. Most of the other workout are
easy, in the 1-2 zones and might include a few accelerations 20-90 seconds
long, with work to rest ratios of 1:2.
Week
Sport
Mon.
Tues.
Wed.
Thurs.
Fri.
Sat.
Sun.
Sport Hours
Total Hours
12
Swim
60
45
Race
1.8
3.5
Bike
60
30
1.5
Run
30
30
1.0
Week 12: All workouts are mostly easy, with a few of those short
accelerations.
Relax and have a great race day.
General Comments: When adding BT
workouts to your schedule, be careful about stringing too many together
in a row, day after day. Some studies have shown that the optimal time
to add another stressful workout is after your body has had 36 hours to
recuperate. Many athletes need more time. Be careful not to drastically
increase intensity and duration in the same workout.