Question: Can you offer guidelines on determining a schedule for a season? I am
assuming that one trains in the following order; base, intensity, peak,
race, recovery. How many races can I hope to participate in during a
season? 2 or 3? And if one allows 300 to 500 hours of training for a sprint
distance triathlon and 400 to 600 hour for an Olympic distance triathlon;
does that mean that if I decide to run three sprints in a season that I
should be training 900 to 1500 hours a year?
Answer:
Triathlon training yearNo, you don't need to train nearly that much. You can race as much as you can afford to, but racing too often will result in poor perfromance. That of course assumes when you race you put forth an "all out effort" as you will find this can take atrmendous toll on your body.
I would say 6 - 8 hours a week for say 12 weeks, would be more than enough to do fine in a sprint triathlon. This assumption is based on you begin your training without being overweight, not having a inate fear or inability to swim at least a couple of laps in the pool and assuming walking up a flight of stairs doesn't get you winded. I take these things for granted but apparently many people live extremely unhealthy lifestyles, so it is a big deal for them to run a mile or something so apparently training for a sprint triathlon then would become a major undertaking, something like climbing Mt. Everest.
Anyway, 6-8 hours a week, should allow you,
2 45 minute pool sessions, in which you should be able to do 1000 yrds or more. I am an average/below average swimmer and I can do almost 2500 in this time, so this should not be difficult. Just focus on swimming 250 to 500 yrds without stopping for starters. A lot of people will say do repeat 25/50s, but I think most people want to get comfortable completing a swim without stopping. You may of course have to build up from only swimming 2-3 laps at a time without stopping at first. If you don't know how to swim, you must get some instruction/books or this may become a total disaster.
Assuming you could run 10-12 minute miles with no training. You should be able to start of with 2-3 30 minute run sessions a week and gradually build up to running around 2-3 hours a week, which a 8:00/mile pace would give you 15-20 miles a week, plenty.
Bike, the same as the run. Start with 30 minute sessions and build. 30-50 miles a week is fine for basic sprint training. Your long ride need be only 60 - 90 minutes, if training for a sprint.
My real advice. Learn how to run first. Compete in a few 5Ks and develop some fitness and competence. You could learn to bike first, but there are no realisitic opportunities to race bikes unless you are riding well over a 100 miles a week (Bike racing even at the "beginner" level is a much more serious sport, unlike 5Ks, where slow finishers are routinely over 30 minutes) There is really no reason to become a triathlete until you at least have developed a good level of base fitness/skills in one of the disciplines.
You didn't mention where you currently stand from a fitness standpoint or
what your experience is. Have you done a triathlon before, or are you
shooting for your first? Are you in reasonable shape or trying to get into
shape? Do you have a background in any of the three sports? If so, what
are your current capabilities?
All of these things (and others) will affect how you approach a season.
The short answer is no, you don't need to train A hours X B Races. Usually,
you build an aerobic base once at the beginning of a season, then go through
build and peak periods that are specific to each race. The exception is if
a race is considered relatively unimportant to you, then you may train
"through" it in preparation for another race that is important to you. The
number of races you can do is limited only by time, desire, your body's
tolerance to abuse, and the thickness of your wallet.
Check your bookstore, there are a gazillion good books out there that
include training plans for a season. One often-mentioned one is "Training
Plans for Multisport Athletes" by Gale Bernhardt. It does a pretty good job
of walking beginners through the prep for their first race at various
distances (if this describes you). Most seasoned athletes seem to "outgrow"
this book, but I know a lot of newbies that have used it with success to get
through their first season without over or under doing it and (more
importantly) without injuring themselves.
Joe Friel's "Triathlete's Training Bible" is another widely used one that
goes into more detail and walks you through creating your own more
complicated, multi-race training plan that is tailored for an athletes
weaknesses. Of course, you have to have enough races under your belt to
know what your weaknesses are.
