Hopeful Triathlete

He didn't train like that.... thats insane

you da hoe wrote:

OP, do not believe anything this poster says. There is plenty of aerobic benefit and strength that is necessary by long hours of training.

Please tell me where I've gone wrong.

You are correlating volume with increases in speed. If that were true, then elite marathoners would have very high volume workouts. Except they don't. Even if it is only to minimize injury, please explain how they turn elite times on low volume schedules.

Please.

The volume religion has been retold as "the way" to get fast for decades. (BS bragging rights too) It may actually work for some, it really might, but does not work for most.

you are lost with this vague post...

Actually I did train like that. It was during the summer while I was in college, but not taking summer classes. My only job was working for the census. Which paid 1k a week for 4 weeks. The rest of the summer all I did was that training.

In the morning (M-F), I ran with a woman from the cross country team. She was doing her longer run for the day and I was doing my easy run. Afterwards I swam with her roommate, who was also on the cross country team( but was injured). In the evenings I alternated between running with the cross country team and riding my bike which was sometimes with the injured cross country gal or with a group ride at the local bike shop.

Saturdays was a long run with the cross country team. Sundays was a long ride typically with an ex runner gone cyclist ( he constantly was injured running so switched to cycling)

It happened and I enjoyed every bit of it!

Get in touch with Matt McElroy from NAU and see what he's doing now. He was in the same situation...

How do i get a hold of him? Is he good at advice and tips?

I qualified for a pro tri license a few years back while I was running for RoJo at Cornell.

You say swimming is your week point. More than likely your technique is holding you back. Check out Total Immersion by Terry Laughlin books, videos, and consider going to a seminar.

What type of triathlons do you want to do and how do you want to compete?

If your goal is to compete at Olympic distance races, especially as a pro, then you need to put more time in swimming.

If your goal is to be an ironman, the swimming is such a small part that improving your technique a bit is more than enough. Any time you can find should be put into the bike. Do 20 min by 20 minute intervals once or twice a week at threshold whenever you're not in track/xc season.

Thank you for your response. I do think it is probably my technique hinding me. I'll check into his books and videos. I do plan on competing at the Olympic level. Why do you suggest putting so much time into the bike???

Evan Walther wrote:

I qualified for a pro tri license a few years back while I was running for RoJo at Cornell.

You say swimming is your week point. More than likely your technique is holding you back. Check out Total Immersion by Terry Laughlin books, videos, and consider going to a seminar.

What type of triathlons do you want to do and how do you want to compete?

If your goal is to compete at Olympic distance races, especially as a pro, then you need to put more time in swimming.

If your goal is to be an ironman, the swimming is such a small part that improving your technique a bit is more than enough. Any time you can find should be put into the bike. Do 20 min by 20 minute intervals once or twice a week at threshold whenever you're not in track/xc season.

Because if you're talking about iron-man the bike split is such a huge percentage of your time. It yields the best ROI, especially given that your running should be already decent. Ironman isn't draft legal either, so you can't get away with being a weaker cyclist by being a good rider in the pack like you could in ITU/Olympic distance stuff.

0/10 on the post, though any post mentioning Total Immersion is such a blatant troll as to not even count! DO NOT follow this fool's advice. TI is good for learning how to swim slow. You want to learn how to swim fast. TI is not the way to do it.

M. Spitz wrote:

0/10 on the post, though any post mentioning Total Immersion is such a blatant troll as to not even count! DO NOT follow this fool's advice. TI is good for learning how to swim slow. You want to learn how to swim fast. TI is not the way to do it.

0/10 for what?

If you are a durable runner, I would keep running for now, when you start completing in triathlons, than go all in. Maybe for a couple weeks during the summer go all in with triathlon training in order to give your legs a rest. But as someone who regularly had been doing both, running makes you faster. As long as your body can handle the running, make sure to keep it up. If you are competing on a team, that should be your top responsibility.

you already seem to be doing swimming and some biking along with running so there is no real need to stop, but make sure your workouts have a purpose. Some workouts go harder for the fitness, but other workouts make sure to be focusing on technique. I would talk to your coach if you believe he will support you. He might be like half the people on LetsRun and hate anything but running.

I'll do that