In My Opinion - Results Should Be Reflective Of One's Training

Today's post almost happened several days ago after reading an article, that somebody linked on Twitter. After reading the article, it reminded me of a post that I wrote probably about 6 or 7 months ago about training smarter not harder. I waited to post about it till now only because I was not sure what to title the latest rule. Here is the blurb (about some local competitors at a 70.3 race) from the article that got me going.....

" A typical training week for most 70.3 athletes is 16-22 hours with athletes swimming 5-6K meters in the pool, riding 200-250 miles on the bike and 30-55 miles of running. This level of training with a family and work schedule doesn’t leave a lot of “downtime”."

Now I know this rule may upset some but hey, these are my rules!

Rule # ? Don't Be A Mileage Whore (Train Smarter Not Harder)

Now some people will see this as harsh but as a coach, I believe that training volume should reflect your results. I see a lot of the same stuff on Twitter and I often wonder what some people think. I wonder when this will sink into to some of these people and I am curious where they get the time to complete all this as I know I could not and I have very flexible work hours. There is a point of diminishing returns if typical week is the mileage described above. My results in my return to triathlons have been similar to better than what was posted in the article and I have never topped 175 miles biking/ 27 miles/ 6000 yards of swimming or 15 hours in a week. I think some people need to focus on quality versus quantity. A lot of slow miles still equal slow times. Most importantly, this will leave you "downtime" to enjoy life and results (as I do)! 

New Training Totals

Week

Bike - 5 rides/ 150 miles/ 6.92 hours/ 21.7 mph

Run - 4 runs/ 21.5 miles/ 2.63 hours/ 7:21 per mile

Swim - 3 swims/ 3 miles/ 1.39 hours

Total - 12 workouts/ 174.5 miles/ 10.94 hours

2013 

Bike - 228 rides/ 7363 miles/ 343.14 hours/ 21.5 mph

Run - 159 runs/ 1025.75 miles/ 126.05 hours/ 7:22 per mile

Swim - 132 swim/ 124.25 miles/ 59.97 hours

Total - 509 workouts/ 8513 miles/ 529.16 hours

Goals This Week  

Bike - 5 rides/ 150-160 miles

Run - 3-4 runs/ 22-25 miles

Swim - 3 swims/ 2.5-3 miles   

 

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

What am I will I be on?

I will be on my bike 7-10 hours a week, in the pool 1-2 hours a week and on the roads running 2-3 hours a week in 2014......and of course caffeine,moose tracks and beer for recovery! 

Kona 2014!

Kona 1997