I’m signed up for a 100k gravel event in mid-may and my first triathlon (Olympic distance) in mid-July. I’ve done two gravel events before (100k each) and a few centuries. I am an adequate cyclist and swimmer and a slow runner. In august, I’m doing a 160k gravel event.
My question is how to plan the next few months of training such that I’m prepped up for the gravel but still developing capacity for the tri. Then transition back towards the cycling while still running and swimming a bit. Should I combine plans? Choose a few key workouts and cycle them? Add bricks on the weekend? Etc.
I’m a teacher and a dad so I need my training to be pretty efficient. I will have summer off and I’ll have a lot of time available the two weeks prior to the tri in the event location. Prior to the 160k I will have some time in southern NH to ride and train. I have a trainer and access to a pool.
For those wondering, first gravel is Farmer’s Daughter Gravel Grinder, the tri is the Hudson Valley Tri by HITS, and the 160k is D2R2.
This is a tough one to answer, since the bike leg of your Olympic Tri is only 40km so the effort durations don’t match too well. I don’t personally have enough coaching knowledge to answer this, but I think it’d be a great question to submit to our podcast! Just click the “Ask a Question” button on this page and paste it in:
In the meantime, here’s a resource on gravel training for you, although it doesn’t address your Triathlon goals:
These training tips would keep you on pace for you triathlon as well, and ensuring you don’t stagnate in your cycling training. This will be very efficient for you.
LMK if you have other questions and look forward to seeing how your Tri plays out!
Hey, I watched the video - makes sense to me. I live in NYC so a lot of my riding, sort of by default, ends up being sweet spot since the terrain is quite flat.
So, would you say that the demands of gravel (constant pedaling, sweet spot sorts of effort) are fair matches to triathlon demands? I know the course that I’ll be riding and for the most spot it is rolling/flat.
just because it is flat doesn’t mean sweet spot should be your default. Shift into an easier gear and don’t hammer all the time; you won’t continue to grow if you do sweet spot every day.
Similar matches for sure, if you are doing a standard triathlon with a 40k/25m bike, if you can do sweet spot for that hour, you’ll crush it!