How do amateur athletes that train for multiple cycling and running events plan their years? For example an A and a B race in both sports, for a total of four events in the year. Not multi-sport events like Tri.
I could see a lot of approaches, but I am curious to hear others experience. I realize there is no right answer and am more interested in approaches for different scenarios and lifestyles. My goal is to enjoy both sports competitively year round understanding that I won’t perform as well as I could if I focused on one.
Let’s say my A races are a marathon and 100+mi gravel event, and B races are a half-marathon and a fondo…
Scenario 1 - Cycling A/B in late spring with Running A/B in late summer.
Scenario 2 - Cycling A / Running B in spring and the reverse in Summer.
Scenario 3 - Sequentially throughout the year, e.g. Cycling A, Running B, Cycling B, Running A, offseason.
I’ll accept any and all advice that doesn’t involve Tri, jk jk. I’m really curious how training for multiple sports changes when the goal events are not multi-sport. I’m looking at doing low volume plans in both sports simultaneously and my gut tells me that aligning two peaks a year in both sports would be the most enjoyable. I’d consider a triathlon plan but I want bike racing fitness not time trial.
Tip 1: Keep doing both disciplines year round, switch focus at most.
Tip 2: 2x hard days a week across disciplines, max 3.
Tip 3: Sweet spot is not Hard.
Tip 4: Bike training carries to run but run doesn’t carry to bike so a bike focus week might only have one easy run, but a run focus could have three bikes.
I would align events based on the likely weather and how you train. I run hot so a run focus in a hot mid summer isn’t a great idea. If you prefer riding outside then a cold spring won’t be ideal.
I’d say that as long as your A races are at least 8 weeks apart, you shouldn’t really have any issues.
I’ve used TR to train for running events by simply adding them to my calendar as the cycling discipline that best resembles the type of run I’m going to be doing (half-marathon might be close to a 40kTT, marathon might resemble Gran Fondo, etc.)
In terms of sequencing your events, I’d first prioritize whatever events mean the most to you. If they align in a way that seems acceptable to you, then I’d say go for it!
Otherwise, if they all have a similar weight to you, It would probably be fun (and maybe more logical) to have one A race in the spring and one in the late summer/fall similar to your “Scenario 2.”
This way you’re always focusing on training both sport types, but will have a slight priority on one of them during each part of the year.
If you aren’t already familiar, it’s really important to get running volume in consistently if you want to stay in shape and avoid injury, so spreading your events out to incorporate a little bit of everything everywhere might help to keep some solid consistency between both sports. This is a great way to be really well-rounded year-round.
