Training for multiple races

Unless your sprint races are A races, I would train primarily for the Oly at the end of the year. The higher volume for the Oly will more than likely make you faster for your sprints. Just ease off/mini taper for the sprints.

If you really want to hit the Oly hard, do focus months in the offseason to build up mileage, and then use a good 20 week HIM plan to train for your Oly.

John

John actually gives good advice...If you are an amateur athlete just train through all the sprints (but rest up the days beforehand)...In the tapering for the olympic though its important to keep up the intensity but not overtrain-Do some sprints and try to relax for the last 2 weeks...

Physically you cant change your body in 2 weeks so nothing you do during this period will help you but can hinder you if you overtrain..Good luck!

What are focus months?  One month spent focusing on one sport?

I'm doing that now. First Oly is in 3 weeks. Been training for it all year (4 mos volume building and weights, followed by a 20 week Oly plan). I worked a super sprint, two sprints, and a 1.5k swim only race into my plan.

Edited by braciole 2009-08-21 7:03 PM

Choose what race or two you want to be your A race. Preferably not too far from eachother and train to peak around them. Train for the Olympic and leave yourself time after the sprints to recover but maintain good focus on your Olympic plan. I have done this and raced those B and C level races while leaving some gas in the tank so I could continue training within the next day or two following. Always follow a plan and you'll be fine.

for me they work one of two ways.

during the season i run through cycles where one sport gets more attention for a week/number of weeks, ie will drop the running and biking back to 3-4 times a week tops, and run 7, or something like that.

in the off season i have true focus months. for me this year, mid oct through feb is all about hte run, biking 1 or 2 times a week (by far my strength), and slowly adding in swimming as the winter progresses.

i did that my first year with the bike, last year with the swim, now both of those are where they should be, i just need to become a runner.

its a great way to get in some serious work on one sport while not in season and let you get some progress made that you can hold onto with the much lower single sport volumes you have during the sseason when you ahve 3 sports to work on.

Depends on your goals. You could make one race your A race, and train for that...all the rest are basically speedwork/practice.

I typically do 6-9 multisport events a year, and don't really have an A race, so I just train right through them. Basically, I get in shape prior to the season, and then race my way through it.