May 11, 2021
Triathlete: A person who doesn’t understand that one sport is hard enough.
I actually consider Triathlon one sport. It isn’t just swimming, biking, and running. It’s the art of putting the different disciplines together that makes it a Triathlon.
OK. Let’s get down to it!
I work with athletes who have some crazy full lives, even before triathlon training. It can be done, it just takes some creative thinking. And you, as the athlete, are probably going to need to make some compromises along the way. No, you don’t need to do double workouts every day…I wouldn’t even recommend it. But somewhere along the way you are going to want to start doubling up. So here are a few tips for managing more than 7 workouts a week!
1. Plan ahead
This is the most important tip! Do you need to do a workout before breakfast and after work? Maybe a quick swim in the morning and you run on your lunch break so you are free for dinner with the family? Maybe you drop your kid off at soccer practice and run from there? Plan early, write it down, and get organized!
2. Prioritize
Try to put the more demanding workout earlier in the day and use your second workout as something that is more recovery or skills-based. On super busy days, if I needed to swim and run…I always swam first. That was (and still is) my limiter. I’ve been running a long time…it’s ok if I missed a day here and there as long as I got in my pool time. Remember that secondary sessions are still important, so don’t think of them as optional. But your body will thank you for doing the more challenging workout first before day-to-day life stresses bog you down!
3. Start conservatively
Try just one day of double workouts a week. Whenever you introduce something new, it’s important to increase it gradually. Once your body has had 4-6 weeks of getting used to the stress of the additional workout, you can add in a second day.
4. Mix and Match Appropriately
Try not to do a demanding bike workout and then continue to trash your legs on a hard run. Bike days can be tempo work, followed by an easy run later in the day with a few pickups. Brick workouts also count as a double workout…just use it to practice your transitions as well! Or swim in the morning and go to the track at night. A combination I like is swimming followed by a lower body-focused leg strength session. I also used to like long swim days combined with yoga. I would modify some of the vinyasas if my upper body was tired, but the heart openers in the heated studio always felt amazing!
Training for a triathlon takes a lot of planning, especially as your training volume goes up. Always take into consideration the other parts of your daily life when deciding how to fit another training session into your day. The pieces will usually fit together, we just need to take them out of the box and try different combinations!
Happy Training,
Coach Chris
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