Triathlon - Training routine advice ?

I have been swimming, biking, and running two times each per week. I run on Mon & Thu, bike on Tue & Fri, then swim on Sat & Sun (only days I can access the pool). I also usually mix in a run or extra bike ride after my weekend swims. Wed is my only rest day. Unfortunately my knee has recently started to bother me so I will have to take a break from running for awhile.

What i'm wondering is what some of you experienced triathletes might recommend a better training schedule. I'm afraid I may be overtraining with my current schedule, and not allowing for enough rest. Being I can only swim on Sat & Sun, i'm not sure how to best schedule my biking/running during the week? My favorite bike rides are on the weekends as they are longer, and with friends rather than solo weekday rides, but weekend rides are not scheduled. Sometimes they happen, sometimes everyone is too busy.

Mon-Fri I work 2nd shift, so after sending the kids off to school (7:45), I start off with appx 30-45 minutes of light weight training/abs(Mon & Thu legs, Tue & Fri upper body). Then I have roughly 8:15-10:15 to do cardio work (obviously runs take less of that time than bike rides). I swim on Sat & Sun from 11:30-12:30 (Sat longer continuous pace, Sun interval swims). In your opinion, what is the smartest way for me to break up my running/biking/weight traing during the week? I'm guessing I should probably have two rest days from any cardio? I really appreciate any help!

I usually only do weight training in the off season. In season work is sport specific strength training (i.e. hills or intervals). Most weeks I do some form of cardio every day. I have 1 day rest for legs and sometimes two. So here I would swim only. I do take full rest days too.

I think part of your problem may be weight training legs and running on the same day. The days I weight train legs I do an easy spin afterwards to help flush the legs. I would try switching these days to weight/bike and see how you feel. Get some protein immediately after you work out for recovery.

I usually only do weight training in the off season. In season work is sport specific strength training (i.e. hills or intervals). Most weeks I do some form of cardio every day. I have 1 day rest for legs and sometimes two. So here I would swim only. I do take full rest days too.

I think part of your problem may be weight training legs and running on the same day. The days I weight train legs I do an easy spin afterwards to help flush the legs. I would try switching these days to weight/bike and see how you feel. Get some protein immediately after you work out for recovery.

My reason for doing leg training on running days was to pre-fatigue my legs to somewhat simulate how my legs might feel during the tri's third leg. To simulate the fatigue of having just swam during the week, I do upper body training on bike days. I don't lift real heavy, more high rep. Legs (2 sets of squats, calf raises, deadlifts). Upper body(2 sets of shoulder, back, chest, arm). Not sure if cutting back on lifting will help, as I have NO pain during lifting ... Maybe it is causing my running trouble though?

It would be easier to split my routine if I could swim during the week, but Sat & Sun are the only days the pool is available. I don't like to consider Sat or Sun for leg rest days as that is the only time I can do group rides which I really enjoy. So I have to fit my leg rest days somewhere during Mon-Fri. I was really enjoying cardio 6 days per week until this knee issue came up, but I don't want to end up with a chronic problem. I went thru that years ago with rotator cuffs ..... bad deal!

Once a week I would do a brick. More appropriately called a transition run. Bike 1 - 1.5 hours and do a 20 minute run off the bike. This is much more beneficial and specific to traithlon. Running after weights is asking for an overuse injury (i.e. your knee issue). You can still take your mid week break from legs. It is a balancing act for all of us.

Once a week I would do a brick. More appropriately called a transition run. Bike 1 - 1.5 hours and do a 20 minute run off the bike. This is much more beneficial and specific to traithlon. Running after weights is asking for an overuse injury (i.e. your knee issue). You can still take your mid week break from legs. It is a balancing act for all of us.

So your saying NO weight training at all for the legs during the season? How about upper-body lifting in-season, is that ok since I can only swim twice per week?

Other than your one "brick" per week, you either swim, bike, or run ..... but never two events in one day?

Thanks again for taking the time to reply!

You can do leg weights, just do an easy spin instead of the run. You could do upper body and run on the same day. You need specificity in training, so in-season I prefer to use my workout time running, cycling, and swimming. You can do only so many hard workouts per week. So instead of weights, I do hill repeats, intervals etc.

I'm doing Ironman Lake Placid two months from today. So, I do a lot of double workouts. Some together with one being a swim. Some AM/PM run/bike workouts. Some bike/run or run/bike together depending on the purpose of the training.

It comes down to your goals. If you want to increase your endurance, you'll need to spend more time doing aerobic training. If general fitness and some racing is what you want, keep the weights.

While my intention probably is more general fitness with races mixed in, I am definitely interested in improving my cardio as well(i also plan to do some mountain bike racing). This June 18th will be my first tri, so after that I will have a better idea of how serious i'll get into tri's. Weight training is something I have done pretty much all of my adult life, and noticed many benefits from.

But first and foremost my goal is to stay injury-free, and obviously something I have done has gotten me off track. I have never had a knee injury before (shoulders used to be my problem area), so I guess I was assuming since it only hurts when I run, it must have been the running that created the problem? Too much concrete running, too frequent .....? I may try to stick with the local high school track once my knee is better ..... just hate running in circles! I'll also change things up a bit to match some of your advice, and minimize or eliminate lifting during the season.

Couple more questions from your last reply:

Do you feel split workouts are easier on your joints, etc (am bike/pm run), or do you do that due to schedule issues?



You can do only so many hard workouts per week. I'm not clear on what's considered a hard workout versus light workout.

Best of luck on your IM .... and out of curiousity, what's the average number of hours per week you have to spend on cardio for the IM training? Maybe someday ........

Your help is much appreciated!

Switch to soft surface running; it helps so much. I even like running on grass when it's raining; pillows for your feet. Slow but comfortable, you can really get the run time in without damaging your legs so much.

I also agree that weights should be cut back. Twice/week max and not the same day as regular (swim,bike,run) quality workouts. Enter each workout with a purpose and you will know what a hard day is. It's because you say it's going to be! hard-easy-hard-easy will give more gains than medium-medium-medium.......

Switch to soft surface running; it helps so much. I even like running on grass when it's raining; pillows for your feet. Slow but comfortable, you can really get the run time in without damaging your legs so much.

I also agree that weights should be cut back. Twice/week max and not the same day as regular (swim,bike,run) quality workouts. Enter each workout with a purpose and you will know what a hard day is. It's because you say it's going to be! hard-easy-hard-easy will give more gains than medium-medium-medium.......

What's a good example of one of your "easy" days? I understand that this varies for each individual, i'm just trying to get a basic idea.

What I had been doing is making one of my 2 days for each event(swim, bike, run) a longer distance day, with a consistant pace. Then the other day for each event would be geared more towards interval training ... sprint, recover, sprint, recover. They were both hard in a different way? I agree I definitely need to get off the concrete roads once my knee is better!

Thanks

Easy day? Ok I do olympic distance so I will describe what a hard day and what an easy day might look like for that distance. Adjust for your distance and skill.

Hard bike day 3 hours straight
Easy bike day 1/2hour easy spin on trainer while watching tv.

Hard swim day 1500m race pace or 6 x 200m sprints
Easy swim day 750m slow

Hard run day: local 5K or 10K road race or maybe 8 - 10K moderate pace training run.
Easy run day: 20-30min fartlek not including a few mins warmup/cooldown

Rest day: stretch, eat sleep and get some housework done that I neglect.

I agree that you shouldn't go very hard on the weights while you are training. Resistance training is important, but you are swimming. That is great resistance training. I do push ups, sit ups and pull ups on my running days, but nothing that is going to really tire me out too much for the swimming days. In other words, I don't do enough push ups and pull ups so that I am sore later.

My 1/2 IM training was 13-16 hours per week.

IM will peak at about 20-22 for 10-12 weeks. Rest weeks in there will drop the time considerable. So it wont be every week.

Hard workouts as others have stated are weights, high HR (intervals, tempo), or long rides/runs.