training for a 70.3

I completed a dozen races last year to include two half iron distance races. I did not have a training plan or a coach. I did well and had no regrets. I made sure that I was able to get at least one and usually two swims in during the week. I ran 2-3 days a week with at least one long run of 10K or more. I biked a couple times a week minimum, trying to work in regular longer bike rides. I completed a handful of rides of 50 miles or greater and one century ride. Several of my team mates were training for full iron races and I was comfortable training at their intensity and length. The only real issue that I had was figuring out my nutrition. My first half iron race I bonked on the run. It was a very hot day and I fell behind on my nutrition and hydration. I completed the race but, really didn't have anything left in the tank for the run. This was similar for many of my teammates and I believe that the hot conditions caused many of us to fall behind in hydration. A few weeks later I raced my second half and breezed through the course. Totally different experience even though much of the course was the same as the earlier race.

So, if you are capable of making sure that you log your minimum time, it is certainly possible to successfully complete a half without a training plan or coach. In my case I spent many years as a group exercise instructor and strength trainer so I knew what was needed. Your mileage may vary and I'm sure others will chime in with their thoughts.

Edited by sdalcher 2018-01-07 8:16 AM

thanks for the response. encouraging and appreciated.

Why not follow a plan?

I've never really followed a plan. I've done four or five 70.3's and a full IM on what I call "Random" training.

Year round I try to swim 2-3x/week, run 2-3x/week and ride 2-3x/week. If I have an upcoming 70.3 I try and build my bike rides up to at least 3 hours on the weekends and try to build my runs up to 2 hours on weekends also. During the week my runs are 25 minutes to an hour. Swim sessions are always an hour do doing that twice a week gets me through any 70.3 swim.

My rides during the week are usually medium to high intensity. Very little easy riding. Runs are mostly easy.

At least one rest day a week.

I try not to overthink things.

If I ate better and followed a solid plan I'd probably qualify for 70.3 worlds but I'm just having fun.

Doing the above gets my on local AG podiums and gets me to USAT nationals each year.

greatly appreciated. to answer why not follow a plan, i read that stuff and have more questions after i read it than it is usually worth. i would drive you guys nuts on stupid questions.
but more importantly, i work 4 12 hours days so not much training on those days, and those days change monthly at least an sometimes weekly. by the time i get off work there isnt much left for a training session, let alone 2. its better for me to cram on the fri thru sunday stuff and to high intensity for a hour or so after work. that worked well when i was focusing on one event like the century or marathon. but harder when i need to put the time in for 3 events.
also my son will be a senior next year so this is his last summer at home, i dont want to miss that with training all the time or training plans that require so much every day instead of alot on a couple days and shorter stuff on other days.
im very slow in all my endurance stuff, podiums are only for walking around in my world. just not fast. my one redeeming quality is im to stupid to quit. but i am terrified i will train my tail off and then miss the swim time and not be able to finish.

I think it's fine as long as you get in a longer run and a longer ride on your days off most weeks. I HAVE qualified for 70.3 Worlds (twice) and for most of the year, my workday training is in the 60-90 minute range, with a lot of intensity (except sometimes for the run). I do put in some doubles during the workweek in peak training, but I don't think it's necessary if your main goal is just to complete the event in good shape. Weekend workouts are much longer. The one area where this could be problematic--at least in theory, you don't want your long run being a huge % of your weekly run volume. This is less of an issue if you are a fairly experienced runner and not really injury-prone.

Meant to clarify something but haven't had Internet at home all week.... I think there's no need for 5-7 hour workouts to finish a 70.3 in a respectable time. They would be more in the range of 3-4 hours total per weekend day. Even during my highest volume weeks working with a coach to qualify and prepare for Worlds, I don't think my longest workout day reached five hours. (Maybe 4 hours of biking plus 30-40 minutes of running?) When I was coaching myself (and I got down to 5:31 with that, at age 45), I don't think I did any rides beyond 3:15 or 3:30, with a maximum brick run of 45-50 minutes, so nothing beyond 4 hours. That would typically be a Sunday workout. Saturdays are often a long run (no longer than 2 hours) in the early morning (because it gets really hot here), and a 3000-3500m swim workout (which would be about 50-60 minutes total of actual swimming for me) later in the day. So no more than 3 hours of actual training. Maybe closer to 4 hours for that if your run/swim is slower. But not 5-7, I think.

thanks so much for the input. i have no history in endurance sports other than doing some local tris, century, and marathon with no training plan other than just puttin in the time. but 3-4 hour sessions sound alot more appealing than what i did last year. that burned me out, badly. i think i said earlier, i am very very slow, my only redeaming quality is im to stupid to stop. an when i got burned out even that desire got challenged. i gotta figure out how to balance everything.

Basically the same here. I have zero athletic ability other than the ability to keep going! But HIM and IM are basically about that--it's just a matter of how quickly you keep going and not slowing down too much. The long rides I mentioned do include some intensity--varies but overall the speed/pace for the total ride usually averages out just a bit slower than my actual pace on race day. For HIM, mostly longer repeats of 70-85% FTP (just under/over race effort, which for me is about 75-80%) with some short recoveries. Occasionally some shorter, harder efforts within that if I am preparing for a hilly race that will require the ability to hold a higher power for a short time while climbing, then recover quickly. For long runs, depends on fatigue levels and what else is going on in training. They are generally in Z2, with some tempo work at Z3 on some runs. Honestly have not noticed that the latter is terribly useful--I have run pretty much the same times with and without it. I think just being able to go the distance/time, especially if you have done a long ride the day before, is enough, and you could save the intensity for shorter runs, or if your goal is not time-related, just skip run speed work altogether.

I'm somewhere in between. I read Joe Friel's book, "Triathlon Training Bible" and followed the general principles of pace and time.

I've done both...followed a plan and just put in the miles. I think in the beginning following a plan is a great idea in order to learn what you need to be doing in order to successfully finish your race.

As time goes on and you gain experience I think you can adapt your workouts to fit your lifestyle and be successful.

My first IM I was working 3 (12hr) shift per week as a nurse. I was only able to train 4/7 days a week and I finished my IM.
My second IM I was working 5 (8hr) shifts and was able to train more regularly. This is when I followed a plan and was able to take an hour off my IM time however in hind sight I think experience also helped with that.
My third IM I had a coach who wrote my plan but I found it caused me way too much stress because I wasn't always able to get in the scheduled workouts due to work/family commitments and felt defeated if I didn't do every on the 'plan'.

Now I'm training for a 1/2 IM. I'm loosely following a plan I found on the internet. I am trying to get in 2 swims, 2-3 bikes and 3-4 runs in per week minimum. I go to coached group 'running sessions' twice a week and do my long bikes with a small group on the weekends. During the week I swim/bike solo.

I think what you are doing is perfect...using your short workouts as high intensity quality workouts and your days off as your long days. As long as you are consistent you'll be fine!

thanks, im a op room nurse so you know how hard it is to plan sometimes. appreciate everyones responses. ive re read them many times. on a side note i just finished 13.1 in 130 minutes today.

An operating nurse...we'll I used to take into account that I was on my feet and moving the entire 12 hour shift so you definitely can count standing in the OR as 'training'!

Congrats on your half marathon today! Which one was it?

Edited by canadarn2001 2018-01-14 4:34 PM

just training. ive been sick for 2 weeks so wanted to get a good work out in, been awhile

I have been doing mountainbike races for a few years now. Initially I had no training plans, I would just ride my local trails as often as I could. Then I bought Joe Friel's mountainbike training bible and tried to follow a more structured routine. This coincided with my wife having our first child and less time for riding. My times stayed almost exactly the same.

I guess what I learnt from this is that when your training volume is restricted, training quality is the key.

I still use the Joe Friel workouts for the riding component of my training, the structure makes a lot of sense to me.

Depends on what you want to get out of the experience. If participation is the primary goal, then you can get by with 'just putting the miles in.' If your primary goal is to compete and get fast, you'll most likely plateau at some point and then a plan and measuring data becomes much more important.

I have also done both unstructured and structured training. I think the most important thing is training consistency (not taking large chunks of time off). You can accomplish whether you have a strict training plan or not.

That being said, I think that planning a week or two in advance is sooo much easier on a day-to-day basis. Just know ing what you have to do on a specific day in stead of thinking up your workout on the spot is much less stressful, almost mindless. Having a plan also hold you accountable for completing the plan that you laid out. This can work for or against you, but as long as the amount of training is well thought out and reasonable then it should definitely help you accomplish your goals.

Have you thought about getting a coach to help? I was fortunate enough to find the coach I think is the perfect fit for me. I have a variable work schedule since I work in a hospital. I have weekends and sometimes 12 hr or 8 hr shifts. Then I have kids and activities it's hard to balance it and focus so the most important workouts are done but then they are also scheduled with recovery. I haven't raced yet this season but I saw my ftp rise from 245 to 372 in 2 months of working with BSC multi sport. Scott has taught me that recovering from tough workouts is just as important as doing them. I'm anticipating some major improvements and I'm going to do a lot of firsts this year, planning my first 1/2 marathon, HIM, full marathon. It's a lot to shoot for I'm glad to have a knowledgeable coach to guide me.

Agree--a good coach will ask you for your parameters and work with you within those. I have some pretty major restrictions on when and how I do different kinds of workouts due to my location here (weather, traffic, pool access, work hours). It gets down to stuff as nitty-gritty as, "I can only do a swim workout over 3500m on Saturdays due to pool access." Or "All my riding during rainy season is on the trainer and there are no hills for running."

I let my coach know those in advance and she bases my training plans on the structure that allows me to get in quality workouts and recovery within those parameters. I make sure to let her know as soon as possible if there are any changes to the normal situation, such as travel, added work responsibilities, etc. Sometimes she will move the workouts around, or I do it myself, or if it will impact training quality or recovery, she will suggest an alternative.

It's all about your goals and efforts for personal achievement, I should think.

I don't "train" for shorter races. For one, I'm not going to "win". I "train" to keep my weight down and I "train" because I enjoy it.
I don't need to be riding 50+miles to train for a sprint. Or even an Olympic. But, I love riding, so on the weekends, I'll do 50 miles.
I wouldn't say I "love" running, but I love the feeling of having run 8 or 10 miles. And I know I put some cardio and calorie burn into it.

When I trained for my first half, I used the Super Simple plan. And I ONLY did the mileage or the time. Didn't matter if it said "run 40 minutes moderate with last 10 hard". I just ran 40 minutes. Sets in the pool? I just did whatever distance it said. I finished the race faster than I expected and felt great. And I enjoyed every bit of the physical part of training. It mitigated some of the stress/obsessiveness about the training. So, I've continued to do that for that kind of length. The distances more or less fit what I'd been doing for enjoyment/weight maintenance. Now I can "train" for a half with very limited stress levels and a regime that's not altogether different from what I would normally do....except for a couple weeks towards the end.

I used the Super Simple plan for the full course this last summer (my one, and likely only ever full). When it said to run hills, I made a decent effort to run hills. When it prescribed specific sets in the pool, I did my best to do them as called for. Tempo runs. Easy runs. Moderate runs with interspersed increases in intensity. I did my absolute best to do them. Mainly, I guess, because that was part of the bargain I made with myself. If I'm gonna do this thing, I'm gonna go full in. (As full in as you can go for a bucket lister completer using a plan entitled "Super Simple"). Kind of embracing the whole in for a penny kinda thing. Why not capture more of the "full experience" as if I were one of those who take it even more seriously than I do? I think too, I felt like for that distance...I would need to follow some 'expert advice' to make sure I'd finish, finish 'strong' and finish feeling pretty good.

So yeah, I've kinda done both. Albeit at a low level with very limited expectations beyond "finishing" and "finishing strong"....by which I mean feeling pretty good. Like, if I had to go just one more mile, I could do it no problem. 2 more? Probably. 3? Well, it would suck. 4 more? I'd rather not. 5 more? Nope.



Edited by jhaack39 2018-01-23 9:57 AM

I must be on the "finish absolutely destroyed" plan. I can think of very few races of any distance where I would have made it another 100m, much less a mile. A least without some puking. Maybe 200m or so if you chased me at gunpoint....maybe!

bnsafe, my mom was an operating room nurse in the 50s, 60s and 70s. From her past stories, that gig often requires long-term (as in many hours) standing on your feet and being on your game until the operation is over. An endurance challenge, just like long-distance triathlon.

I did my first HIM in 2016 at age 61. I had a sales job that had me traveling and using whatever hotel fitness center - good or bad - to get my work in. I did not follow a training plan. I just swam, biked and ran in some form 6 days a week. Last year I wrapped up my working career and retired in July. I was so busy finishing that up that I took a year off from triathlon. This year I am back in, and will be doing the Coeur d'Alene Ironman 70.3 in June.

I am reading and will be following a new book written by Matt Dixon. He is an IronmanU master coach, a former pro triathlete and runs a training company. He trains age groupers and pro triathletes alike. The book is Fast Track Triathlete. Dixon's premise for writing the book is that very few triathletes trying to manage career and family have the time to do 13-18 hrs/week (or more) of training without suffering in the critical areas of sleep, nutrition, family life, their professional career, or overall stress. He says he can get you competitive in as little as 7 hours / week training for a 70.3 (of course if you can put in 10, all the better). He stresses flexibility in training over the stress caused by rigid training schedules. I heard him interviewed on The Triathlete Training Podcast and really liked what he was saying.

You might check it out. I paid less than $14 bucks for it on Amazon Prime and it was on my doorstep in two days.

Good luck with your race.

Edited by HaydenHunter 2018-01-31 1:13 PM

My general run of thumb:

3 of each discipline a week
Of that, 1 is long and easy, 1 is shorter and high intensity and 1 is medium and utilizes race pacing
Try to get 2 short strength sessions in with stretching and lots of core work
Eat after EVERY workout
Hydrate all day every day

You don't want to stack up a bunch of high intensity work and neglect your aerobic base to go the distance of a 70.3.

And, if you have limited training time, just doing volume will get you there, but may cause issues outside of triathlon life that adjusting your training might take care of and give you more time for life, family, kids, work, etc.