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Limited time, limited endurance(?)
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 2006-06-29 7:55 AM |
Master 1384    Brooklyn, NY |  Subject: Limited time, limited endurance(?)Unfortunately, I have very limited time to work out. My two a day workouts can consist of any of the two but with only 30min-1hr each (if I'm lucky) due primarily to comuting time (the killer). AM 30-40min for either swim or core/weights PM 1hr for running or bike 30-40min (can't bike were I park or I'll be roadkill) Weekends are filled with a second job, work on house, chores we could not do during the weekdays, etc. but much more important than all that is to spend time with our daughter (sadly, also in limited time). I'm extremely lucky to have a very supportive wife too, otherwise, I would simply dream of working out. With limited time, am I cursed to limited distance tris or can I change my work outs somehow to increase the distance? I was able to do an Olypic tri a few months ago but would like to someday do a 1/2IM. I'm not going to win any contracts that I know of so finishing without expiring is my goal. Any suggestions? Can I go harder/faster in my work outs to improve strength for endurance? (I'm sure this will help with sprints but what about a 1/2?) Should I add more weights or do fast reps & sets when I lift? Or am I stuck with: A-Shorter distances and be happy with them? B-Trying a 1/2 one day and hope to crawl to the finish just slightly ahead of the sweeper truck? C-Wait until my family has no use for me anyomre allowing more time to work out? Thanks for any help |
| 2006-06-29 7:59 AM in reply to: #469445 |
Cycling Guru 15134 Fulton, MD | Subject: RE: Limited time, limited endurance(?) There are people who have documented, and are proponents, for doing an Ironman even on only 6 - 8 hours of training a week. They are obviously not winning their age group, but smart focused training and consistency will do wonders. |
| 2006-06-29 7:59 AM in reply to: #469445 |
| Crystal Lake, IL | Subject: RE: Limited time, limited endurance(?) I'm also interested in answers to this, cobannero, thanks for asking the question. |
| 2006-06-29 8:05 AM in reply to: #469445 |
Champion 19812  MA | Subject: RE: Limited time, limited endurance(?) This year I'm doing 2 Olys and the bike leg of a 1/2 IM with other BT women! I considered doing a 1/2 IM on my own late in the season and asked my coach how my workouts would change. No change for week day workouts...main change would be long runs, long bike/run bricks. During the week I usually do 3 workouts during lunch they are 45 minutes or less....and 3-4 other workouts all under an hour which fits into your time limitation. My long bikes are 3-4 hours on the weekend plus a 20-50 minute run. My long runs are shorter right now 4-5 miles, but were in the 7-10 mile range before my last Oly. My question is can you fit a long bike in sometime? My long runs I can fit into week days either early in am or evening. Long bikes don't fit during weekdays. The other stuff I think you can fit in, long bikes would be the issue if I read your post right. |
| 2006-06-29 8:06 AM in reply to: #469451 |
Cycling Guru 15134 Fulton, MD | Subject: RE: Limited time, limited endurance(?) To add onto my post ...... this would be the ideal situation where a good coach can do wonders ..... (gasp - did Rick really just say that???)  |
| 2006-06-29 8:07 AM in reply to: #469450 |
Regular 78 MA | Subject: RE: Limited time, limited endurance(?) I was recently looking for an excuse not to do sprint drills and found some interesing studies on impoving endurance through very short intense workouts. |
| 2006-06-29 8:37 AM in reply to: #469445 |
Coach 10487 Boston, MA | Subject: RE: Limited time, limited endurance(?) Even though shorter/harder sessions “might” help you increase your fitness in the short term it will only be marginally because you haven’t built a strong foundation (base). The reality is that to build endurance you need to spend time doing it. If you have limited time you might have to get creative of how to allocate the time to accomplish this. But before getting into any details I would ask WHEN you are looking to participate in the HIM. A coach in this situation would probably be a great option for you. The main things I ask before committing to help someone with their training are: ask about their athletic background, weekly time available for training, the date of their event, and their goal (placing, finishing, etc) Based on that initial info I then evaluate whether I can help or not considering if their goal(s) are objective and achievable… |
| 2006-06-29 9:36 AM in reply to: #469445 |
Master 2571 Tiger's Den | Subject: RE: Limited time, limited endurance(?) Don't know about longer Triathlons, but I can speak from experience on training for a marathon (just to finish, not worried about time). I ran 2 short runs during the week (3-5 miles) and then a long on Saturday morning (early) building up to 20 miles. That was enough to finish, but not for time or anything. Good luck, I understand about time limitations! |
| 2006-06-29 10:13 AM in reply to: #469445 |
Expert 834 Medina, MN | Subject: RE: Limited time, limited endurance(?) I'm far from an expert here, but one thing I find helpful in answering this same question for myself is that when I read a race report of someone who completed a given distance, to go into their logs and chart their weekly training time for the past 9 months or so. That gives me some ROUGH idea of what sort of race experience you might be able to expect given your limited training time. Since I'm kicking around whether I can train enough for a half IM myself, my gut reaction is that you could do it fine if you could find some time for a longer bike/run on the weekends. Finally, if you don't already have one, consider buying a jogging stroller to take your daughter along on a weekend run. My little ones really seem to enjoy it, and it's a way for us to spend time together while I'm training. Your wife could even bike or run along with you while you run if she wanted, making it "family time". Good luck. -Matt |
| 2006-06-29 4:02 PM in reply to: #469445 |
| Master 1384 Brooklyn, NY | Subject: RE: Limited time, limited endurance(?) Thanks for your responses all. Great advice |
| 2006-06-29 4:15 PM in reply to: #469587 |
| SF Bay Area, Mountain View | Subject: RE: Limited time, limited endurance(?) SuzanneS - 2006-06-29 7:36 AM Don't know about longer Triathlons, but I can speak from experience on training for a marathon (just to finish, not worried about time). I ran 2 short runs during the week (3-5 miles) and then a long on Saturday morning (early) building up to 20 miles. That was enough to finish, but not for time or anything. Good luck, I understand about time limitations! this, i think, is key. you don't need a lot of volume but you need to do the long runs, long distance bike rides and long swims. 4 consecutive hours on the bike are far more important than 4 * 1 hour spread over the week. it's a very different kind of training. the lack of complete days of spare time seems to be the limiting factor for you. i think if you could just reserve the better part of one day a weekend for training (plus whatever short sessions you can fit in during the week) you'd probably manage a HIM in a respectable time. there might be a lot of getting up at 0 dark 30 in your future  |
| 2006-06-29 4:37 PM in reply to: #469445 |
Elite 3498 Chicago | Subject: RE: Limited time, limited endurance(?) as has been mentioned. it's difficult to build endurance, especially with no previous endurance background, with short training sessions. 6-8 hours per week for IM training works best with people who have previous endurance training (i.e. marathon, >24 hr adventure racing, etc) not only does it take VERY long to build solid endurance, months to several years, it also is difficult to build on rides and runs lasting less than 1-2 hours. do what you can, listen to your body, and go long once a week if you can/when you can.
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