For the 5430 Long Course Triathlon (half-iron distance. 1.2mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run) I'm using a training plan from Beginnertriathlete.com
Admittedly, I didn't look t a lot of plans (I probably should have looked at more) but I've been pretty satisfied with this one. It was recommended by several people and has fulfilled the three requirements I felt were necessary.
First of all, it fit my schedule. Some plans take up a lot more hours than others. Between work, research and trying to have something resembling a social life, I only had X number of hours to give each week and I didn't want to burn myself out.
Secondly, the insentiy and bulk of the workout seemed hefty enough that I felt confident that if I did the workouts, i would be in good shape for the 5430. While I didn't want to overtrain, having run several marathons, I didn't want to undertrain either. I wanted a plan that would leave me feeling confident come race morning and this one did that.
Third, the plan seemed to place a strong emphasis on the swim and the bike. I'm a stronger runner than a biker or swimmer, at least, I'm more familiar with running. So putting a strong emphasis on the swim and bike, two areas I was much less familiar with, was very important to me. Confidence and comfort on race day are huge factors in my opinion and I needed a boost more there than in my run.
The plan itself is 20 weeks long, 4 blocks of 4 weeks and 2 blocks of two weeks. The author, Scott Herrick of Alpine Multisport, has posted similar articles on preparing for everything from a sprint for beginners to a full ironman for beginners. he provides some benchmarks for whether you should undertake the plan or not. Scott recommends that you only do so if you can consistently swim 40min, run 60min and bike 90min and outlines the plan as something intended for the time-crunched beginner (like me).
Some ket notes, Scott left out any weight/strength sessions from the plans, believing that the time, for the time crunched triathlete, would be better spent on the bike, road or in the pool. I intended to add in some strength sessions, but rarely had the opportunity to do so effectively.
Each period included goals for Race Prep, Training, Nutrition, Mental Health and Efficiency
so that I wasn't just training, but training intelligently.
Each week had Weekly Goals outlined (sometimes in more detail than others) and a summary of total time spent on each discipline.
Each day of the plan specified a workout, a time or distance and an intensity level on the 1-10 RPE scale as well as tips or points of focus, such as working on fluid intake on the run or bike or practicing transitions from swim to bike.
Praise:
So far, the plan has been what I was looking for. It challenged and pushed me without overwhelming me or making me wonder if I would be able to finish the race or even the training cycle.
Critiques:
I don't have much to compare it to so it's hard to critique the plan. However, I think it would have been nice to have a little more running in the plan.
This is bearing in mind that I still have 5 weeks to my race. I may feel differently about things once the race is over and I'll probably address the plan again then.
Admittedly, I didn't look t a lot of plans (I probably should have looked at more) but I've been pretty satisfied with this one. It was recommended by several people and has fulfilled the three requirements I felt were necessary.
First of all, it fit my schedule. Some plans take up a lot more hours than others. Between work, research and trying to have something resembling a social life, I only had X number of hours to give each week and I didn't want to burn myself out.
Secondly, the insentiy and bulk of the workout seemed hefty enough that I felt confident that if I did the workouts, i would be in good shape for the 5430. While I didn't want to overtrain, having run several marathons, I didn't want to undertrain either. I wanted a plan that would leave me feeling confident come race morning and this one did that.
Third, the plan seemed to place a strong emphasis on the swim and the bike. I'm a stronger runner than a biker or swimmer, at least, I'm more familiar with running. So putting a strong emphasis on the swim and bike, two areas I was much less familiar with, was very important to me. Confidence and comfort on race day are huge factors in my opinion and I needed a boost more there than in my run.
The plan itself is 20 weeks long, 4 blocks of 4 weeks and 2 blocks of two weeks. The author, Scott Herrick of Alpine Multisport, has posted similar articles on preparing for everything from a sprint for beginners to a full ironman for beginners. he provides some benchmarks for whether you should undertake the plan or not. Scott recommends that you only do so if you can consistently swim 40min, run 60min and bike 90min and outlines the plan as something intended for the time-crunched beginner (like me).
Some ket notes, Scott left out any weight/strength sessions from the plans, believing that the time, for the time crunched triathlete, would be better spent on the bike, road or in the pool. I intended to add in some strength sessions, but rarely had the opportunity to do so effectively.
Each period included goals for Race Prep, Training, Nutrition, Mental Health and Efficiency
so that I wasn't just training, but training intelligently.
Each week had Weekly Goals outlined (sometimes in more detail than others) and a summary of total time spent on each discipline.
Each day of the plan specified a workout, a time or distance and an intensity level on the 1-10 RPE scale as well as tips or points of focus, such as working on fluid intake on the run or bike or practicing transitions from swim to bike.
Praise:
So far, the plan has been what I was looking for. It challenged and pushed me without overwhelming me or making me wonder if I would be able to finish the race or even the training cycle.
Critiques:
I don't have much to compare it to so it's hard to critique the plan. However, I think it would have been nice to have a little more running in the plan.
This is bearing in mind that I still have 5 weeks to my race. I may feel differently about things once the race is over and I'll probably address the plan again then.
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