Do you mean adding one outside ride in addition to the plan, or just do one of the workouts of the plan outside?
@anon20047708@Power13 I find that strategy interesting, but as others have said, I’m not going to overthink things. I’ll just stick to the plan and I’m sure I’ll do fine. If I start changing things without much experience, I can overtrain and injure myself very easily, so I’ll leave that strategy to people with more experience. Besides, I find that the running volume in the low and mid vol olympic plans is not that much (at least in the beginning) and I can progress from there.
One question I forgot to mention: what do you guys think is a realistic expectation for a FTP increase from now until the race (its only in March of 2021, so about 8 months)?
There’s absolutely value in 1-2 sessions per week- if you’re really new to swimming, it’s going to get the ball rolling ang give you something to work with when you are able to get to a pool and utilize a coach. going from nothing to something is a big stimulus in itself and you’ll see some decent noob gains from that alone! I also thing the value of open water swimming is really underemphasised- I know a lot of athletes who spend hours in the pool, yet have their stroke fall apart outdoors or swim considerably longer than the actual course because they’re not used to sighting or not having a black line to follow. Being able to find a good pair of feet to draft off of will serve you well until you’re at the really pointy end of the swim leg!
Definetly agree with sticking to the TR plan though- it’ll take you though a full progression which is a benefit in itself, and you’ll come out of it knowing a lot more about yourself as an athlete and what you respond to. At the end of the day there’s a lot of people around to tell you the “best” way to train, but as an AGer I think the best plan is always going to be the one that you can execute the most effectively given your circumstances.
I started with 166w at 2,3 w/kg, and after 6 weeks of FTP builder in Zwift, went to 197w at 2,9w/kg.
If I can stick to the plan, those 2-4% increases every 6 weeks would line up with my expectation of 3,4-3,6w/kg. But I guess there’s only one way to find out
One other thing, do you think I should redo the ramp test in TR before I start the plan? Last one I did was on Zwift last week.
I don’t see the harm in that- the ramp test isn’t super stressful and at this point your FTP is probably increasing pretty rapidly. Also kudos on the 2.9 W/kg, that’s a great place to be starting!
The TR and zwift ramp test are slightly different. It doesnt hurt to redo on the platform you will use the most. I think most TR plans start with a ramp test anyways.
This is true. But you really want to aim to 3 to 4.
Once pools are open, try to squeeze as many swims as possible.
Free on Saturday afternoon? Swim.
Bored on Friday night? swim.
The good thing about swimming is that is usually low impact. It pairs very well with running. I run after most of my swims (except Fridays - when I do recovery ride).
Fully agree with @JoeX - whatever you do, do it consistently and plan for time off/sickness…
The whole discussion of how to plan run and swim with a different plan Than TR really depends a lot on your goals for the race. I have personally had great success with the TR plans, including run and swim, that got me to a HIM of 4:43. I found it comforting that I didn’t need to fiddle much with the run or swim workouts myself. The run/swim portions are better than their reputation on this forum. For my first race I wanted to do (A) finish and nail all transitions (B) learn the logistics of racing and (C) beat my buddy. It would have been overkill to spend lots of time adapting or hiring a coach etc.
Goals like w/kg are so arbitrary. A better goal could be, follow the plan with 90% of sessions completed. Or: developing healthy eating habits while training. Or: keep having a social life despite triathlon.
The process goals are easy then, for example, do 3/4 bike sessions per week, etc etc
You have time so why don’t you start low volume see how it goes and eventually move up to mid volume.
Absolutely, I found swimming more frequently was the thing that made the biggest difference for me. Fortunately as a beginner a lot of there’s a lot of return on doing easy, technique focused swims so that’s not too difficult a proposition. Probably how I met most of my tri friends too!
Absolutely, I’ll try to focus on the process, not on the outcomes (which are out of my control anyway).
My goal for this first race is mainly to finish strong and lay a foundation of knowledge and base fitness to keep training and racing for many years. So I won’t focus too much on times.
I just compared the Low and Mid Volume plans, and I think the mid volume fits me better. It has 3 runs, 3 rides/WO and 3 swims, with the ocasional brick run. That sounds good to me, specially because the swim portion will be very light until pools open.
What I’ll do is just take one of the longer bike workouts and do it outside once a week, and just listen to my body if I start to get very fatigued. I think it’s a good plan.
Just an update, I did the new FTP test, and the result was 183w (lower than the 197 I tested last week on zwift).
Just compared the tests, and the main diference was the cadence. In the previous test I kept a cadence of around 95 rpm, which dropped to 85 in the last full step (max HR 179). This time I kept a much higher cadence at 110-115 rpm, and 95 in the last full step (max HR 183).
I thought that in the previous test I was limited by my legs and had more room to go with the cardio, but I guess I took it too far with the cadence increase, and ended up with a much lower result as a consequence.
Now I don’t know what to do. Should I keep the new result? Retest? Keep the previous FTP? I guess I should have kept the cadence at a more “natural” level. What do you think?
This becomes more and more of a factor as your volume increases, but it’s relevant at all volumes:
For me, consistently the biggest thing I either mess up or don’t optimize is out-of-workout nutrition. I’m not trying to necessarily tout one nutritional strategy or another, but personally I’ve found that high carbs ccause me to response really positively. Looking back at the year I peaked in volume, I know I wasn’t staying on top of it. I was able to complete most workouts, but it constantly felt like a slog. When you’re hitting volumes and efforts you haven’t, you really don’t want to also be dealing with pour fueling.
Put it this way, I’d rather accidentally gain 5-10lb over 3-6mos of training while nailing every workout than maintain or lose 5lb while consistently failing workouts. That’s particularly true since you @jmdcovas don’t really need to lose weight. Intentional weight loss while training is its own separate discussion, but yes, it’s hard to do. In short, fuel the workouts well and fuel outside the workouts.
Ok… lots of great advice here. But a lot
Of is being given for a “more than beginner”. You literally just signed up for your first race. But I’ve got some seasoned advice to give you for your first one.
Finish. Make your own plan and STICKING to it. Train to make sure you can complete the distance of each discipline. (Build the vine slowly and incrementally with a recovery week every 4 weeks where you do easy stuff or hardly anything.) Once you’ve gone and done the first race and you want to sign up for another one, then let’s talk structured training.
Caveat: I wouldn’t ever give this advice to someone raving a full or half for their first race. But I would also recommend that they never do one of those distances for their first race either.
Yes, that’s my goal. I signed up for an Olympic distance so it could be challenging enough to motivate me to train and improve, but accessible enough so I can finish it with a smile on my face. So that’s the goal. Finish, and do it with a smile. And motivated to keep doing it for many years.
