More Is Not Always Better; Train Smarter Not Harder

  

One thing I have learned as a coach, especially working with close to 100 athletes each year, is, as a coach, I need to find the right balance of training volume and intensity to get the most out of each of my athletes. Not every athlete responds the same way to training. I have had athletes run 100 miles a week and qualify for nationals and others run as little as 60 miles a week and qualify as well.

As someone who trains alone a lot, I like to read the tweets and blogs that triathletes post about their training and racing to keep me motivated. I look at some of their totals in volume and I think back to my early triathlon career and think these numbers are higher than what I did when I went 4:31 at Wildflower (5th fastest run split of all athletes) and also qualified for Kona in 95 & 97. As they say, hindsight is always 20/20. I think about my training then and wish I had the knowledge I have now when I was racing in the 90's. I know smarter training back then would have had me achieving my goals of becoming a full-time professional triathlete. I am always shocked that even today, with all the knowledge that is available now due to advancements in Exercise Physiology, that too many triathletes still believe more is better. How many of these athletes are leaving their races in their workouts or never recovered enough to race especially when the race results are not what their amount training shows they should be? Whether it is the 1990's or now, things don't seem to change and always triathletes take things to the extreme whether it be training or nutrition.... gluten free (because it is the cool thing), no caffeine, no sugar, no alcohol, juicing everything, no snacks.  Yes, I am guilty of some of these in the past but I have learned I can race extremely well (3 OA top tens and a top 10 AG finish at Rhode Island 70.3 in my 4 races in my first year back to triathlons) and have a few beers, eat ice cream and have many cups of coffee! I think enjoying these things and training smarter are a big reason I am enjoying races again!

Now that I have said that, I will post my new training totals where they will probably stay fairly close to this over the next 6-8 weeks:

Week
Bike - 5 rides/ 168 miles/ 7.57 hours/ 22.2 mph/ Avg HR - 136
Run - 3 runs/ 21.25 miles/ 2.60  hours/ 7:20 per mile
Swim - 4 swims/ 3.75 miles/ 1.89 hours
Total - 12 workouts/ 193 miles/ 12.06 hours

Year
Bike - 58 rides/ 1698 miles/ 75.82 hours/ 22.4 mpg/ Avg HR - 138
Run - 33 runs/ 155 miles/ 18.98 miles/ 7:20 per mile
Swim -33 swims/ 31.50 miles/ 15.28 hours
Total - 124 workouts/ 1884.5 miles/ 110.08 hours

Goals This Week
Bike - 5 rides/ 165-175 miles
Run - 3-4 runs/ 21-24 miles
Swim - 3-4 swims/ 3-4 miles

My first week of adding speed workouts went very well last week. I completed one track workout (6 x 800 @ 3K pace with 200 jog) and one interval workout in the pool. I was also able to get outside on the bike to add some climbing to my training. Let the warmer weather begin!

People will often ask what am I on to complete my training?

What am I am on? I am on my bike 6-8 hours a week, in the pool 1.5-2 hours a week and on the roads running 2-2.5 hours a week......and of course caffeine,moose tracks and beer for recovery!

That's what I am on!