First Winter

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2005-08-31 6:33 PM

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Member
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chicago, il
Subject: First Winter
Dear All,

This will be the first fall & winter since I started training for triathlons. I just did the Chicago Sprint Tri and have the Lake Geneva Sprint Tri a week on saturday.

After that however I will be looking at a long Chicago winter of working out before next year.

I intend to start the season off with a sprint and then do 3 or 4 olympic distance events and then a sprint to finish the season.

I used a modified version of the 3x balanced sprint this year and liked it, but am looking for advice of whether to use one of the programs over the winter or whether there is a better way to train during the winter.

I thought about doing a 13 week sprint program Oct-Dec then do a 20 week Olympic program to take me through to May when I anticipate my first race.

Any comments/suggestions?

Thanks
Luke

2005-08-31 6:51 PM
in reply to: #238451

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Master
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Harvard, Illinois
Subject: RE: First Winter
I would take some time off to let your muscles, tendons and ligaments heal. I always take a couple of months off at the end of the season just to let the body heal.
2005-08-31 8:20 PM
in reply to: #238451

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Coach
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Stairway to Seven
Subject: RE: First Winter
I would take a break and change things up a little, focusing on strength for a bit, and goign back to base building. I havn't read it, but apparently the triathlete's training bible has a lot of good info. The Ultimate Ride also has info on winter training.
2005-08-31 8:21 PM
in reply to: #238465

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Veteran
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Seattle, WA
Subject: RE: First Winter
It will be my first winter too (though I still need to get through my first race on Sept. 11). I come from a running background and living in Seattle I have always run year-round. I was also planning to do something similar--after my race start over with a Sprint training plan probably go through it twice before the new season. It seems though like there are a number of people who take time off. I think it might be because they are really putting in a lot of training hours during the season? For me, I need to stay in the habit of daily workouts (with one rest day a week). I hope to start the new season with a good strong base.
2005-08-31 8:27 PM
in reply to: #238451

Expert
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Miller Place, Long Island
Subject: RE: First Winter
I am in the same boat as Hp...

but mostly, I just wanted to post here so I will get emailed the updates to find out what you all have to say abou that.
2005-08-31 8:34 PM
in reply to: #238451

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Coach
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Stairway to Seven
Subject: RE: First Winter
I meant take a break from the 13wk/16wk sprint programs, etc., and not to actually take time off. I'm not an expert, but it just seems tedious to do 2 cycles of a sprint plan over the winter and then repeat them (or a longer one) when it comes itme to race. This would be boring for me in terms of training variety.

The ultimate ride has a lot of good info for biking specifically about what to do in the winter, "there is no off season," is the basic training idea, but you need to focus on what goals you want to achieve, rather than just doing a plan because it will fill in the time.

Sorry I can't be more specific, but partly that is because I don't have a winter plan for myself just yet. I plan to get the TTB and read it cover to cover in the next 2 months.



2005-09-01 8:11 AM
in reply to: #238553

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Member
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chicago, il
Subject: RE: First Winter
hpadkisson,

Exactly my feelings about the layoff - I'm still working into this and don't think I need the rest after my workouts this year. I need to train consistently, keep the rhythm going and continue to work on my base in each discipline, then at a certain point work into a program to work up to my first races of the year.

Good luck Sep 11th

Luke
2005-09-01 8:56 AM
in reply to: #238569

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Member
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chicago, il
Subject: RE: First Winter
Thanks AdventureBear,

I agree the programs may get boring, but I wonder if designing my own plan form scratch, with my limited experience, would enable me to achieve my aims for this winter.

I think I will get the book and using a basic program as a starting point, mix some additional ideas in.

Thanks again
Luke
2005-09-01 11:08 AM
in reply to: #238451

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Lethbridge, Alberta
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Subject: RE: First Winter
I just finished my first season and I'm wondering about this too.

One suggestion I read somewhere was to use the extended time to do focused periodization. This would only apply if you already have a good overall base. Do just the most basic skills maintenance in everything but one sport for a while and use all your extra energy/recovery resources to do an intense, periodized buildup in that sport. Hopefully that will provide breakthrough gains in that sport. Rest up a bit and start again with another sport.

For myself, I'm thinking of using a very watered down version of that. I still need to improve my base endurance and skills across the board but I may try focusing more on one sport or another every few weeks. Just resting for a bit right now though.
2005-09-01 11:28 AM
in reply to: #238863

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Member
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chicago, il
Subject: RE: First Winter
Micawber,

Sounds like a good plan. Will keep things interesting trying to improve substantially on the one sport but keeping the momentum & building base on the others.

Good Idea!!

Thanks
Luke
2005-09-01 12:03 PM
in reply to: #238451

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Veteran
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Arlington Heights, IL
Subject: RE: First Winter
Ahh, yes, I too am familiar with the woes of the harsh midwestern winters and how they make workouts difficult.

There is a great year-round olympic training plan in the book "Training Plans for Multisport Athletes". It assumes you are starting the offseason in October and that is where the training plan begins. I will be going on this in a couple of weeks.

Edited by hk94 2005-09-01 12:03 PM

2005-09-01 12:22 PM
in reply to: #238451

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Member
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chicago, il
Subject: RE: First Winter
Will look at that book - oct is when I will start so that would be good to look at.

Thanks very much
2005-09-01 12:58 PM
in reply to: #238451

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Coach
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Boston, MA
Subject: RE: First Winter

After you very last race of the season take a couple of weeks off. Do very light workouts or try other activities (no swim, bike, run) just to catch a mental break.

IMO the best way to choose a training plan during the off-season is to know your goals long term (A races) for next season. That will give you something to look forward but most important it will give you an estimate of time that you will have in between. After that determine how much time you will have available each week and THEN you can choose the right plan to follow. It is also good to determine specific things that you should work on and focus more time on that. Ex. if your strength is running and limiter is swimming maybe you should shoot for doing more swim workouts during the winter and less running.

2005-09-01 12:59 PM
in reply to: #238451

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Champion
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MA
Subject: RE: First Winter

This will be my second winter...but last winter I didn't do as much as I could have. I now have a coach and he says winter is the time for vast improvements. You should work on improving skills and also strength training specific for triathletes.

I'm excited for this winter to do some different workouts, work on my limiters and to try and to improve my skills especially in swimming and running.

2005-09-01 2:22 PM
in reply to: #238451

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Member
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chicago, il
Subject: RE: First Winter
Thank you all - getting some good ideas from your experiences.

Luke
2005-09-01 2:42 PM
in reply to: #238451

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Veteran
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Burbs north of Chicago
Subject: RE: First Winter
Luke,

Thought I would chime in to say thanks for posting this thread. I am in Chicago and have been training all summer for the Lake Geneva tri. I have lost a bunch of weight and have caught the bug, don't want to lose the momentum, but I know my body could use some rest. This will be my first winter. I have not done enough reading on the sport yet but have heard a thousand times about the importance of strenghthening the core. I plan to try to do some research on the best plan to accomplish core strenghtening. My biggest limitation is time.

Good luck in Lake Geneva.

2005-09-02 12:10 AM
in reply to: #238451

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Coach
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Stairway to Seven
Subject: RE: First Winter
All,

Regarding the idea of taking a few weeks to build up in one sport, then swtich to another as opposed to doing 2x workouts in each sport per week... I have heard this once before even for training for a specific tri.

What book discusses this idea? I've kind of "cheated" this summer by focusing mainly on biking, at the expense of improving my running, but hte gains have crossed over, and even though I'm only swimming once every 2 weeks I find I have not lost any significant ground. Even running I'm doing only once a week and I'm still making improvements, alhtough slower than if I were running 3x per week. Bottom line is just that mountain biking is a blast.

Anyway, I'd like to read up more on this method of training because it's clearly helping me, even though it may not be the fastest road to improvement in my weak areas (running!!!!) ((used to be biking, but not anymore. ))

Suzanne
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