General Discussion Triathlon Talk » Does the base required for a 70.3 make you faster at shorter distances? Rss Feed  
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2013-09-16 2:03 PM

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Subject: Does the base required for a 70.3 make you faster at shorter distances?
Am I going down the wrong path or not?

I've finished my 2nd season and have 7 Olympic distance events under my belt. I'm wanting to primarily focus on getting faster at this distance.

I also would like to complete a 70.3 distance as a bucket list item (and someday a IM off in the future).

I find I am much more dilligent about training when I have an event I'm committed to and so I'm considering tackling the 70.3 in the April timeframe. My thinking is that it will force me to build a bigger base over the winter and it will hopefully help me improve in the OLY distances later in the summer.

Is this sensible? Or am I making assumptions that are incorrect?

My biggest area of weakness is my run and one of the key things (that I understand) improves run speed is upping the mileage. A Half mary this fall and the HIM I think will give me tangible goals to attack this thing.



2013-09-16 2:11 PM
in reply to: dprocket

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Champion
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Subject: RE: Does the base required for a 70.3 make you faster at shorter distances?
All triathlon distances are endurance events so if training for a 70.3 increases your training load, you should be able to improve across all distances.

This does assume you'll do some race specific work in preparation for the short course races once you're done the 70.3 but in the general phase, training for a sprint doesn't look much different than training for an IM.

Shane
2013-09-16 2:20 PM
in reply to: gsmacleod

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Subject: RE: Does the base required for a 70.3 make you faster at shorter distances?
More training = More better
2013-09-16 2:50 PM
in reply to: dprocket

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Subject: RE: Does the base required for a 70.3 make you faster at shorter distances?
It has for me. I have been mainly training for 70.3 and 140.6 this year. Did my first half in May and have my first 140.6 in October. I did a sprint on a whelm and came in second in my age group. I had never come close to placing until now. On my recovery weeks I do Olympic distance bricks on the weekend and I feel great when I am done. After my half in May i was sore for days, now training for Ironman, I did a half distance brick yesterday and I can't even tell I workout yesterday. It hasn't affected my swim though because I really don't focus on swimming. I am 1:50/100m swimmer and I am good with that.
2013-09-16 2:55 PM
in reply to: iruptacopula

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Subject: RE: Does the base required for a 70.3 make you faster at shorter distances?
This is running, not tri related, but marathon training has made me faster across the board
2013-09-16 3:00 PM
in reply to: dprocket

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Subject: RE: Does the base required for a 70.3 make you faster at shorter distances?
I don't think you need to add the HIM to your list for next year, unless you really want to do it.  I looked at your logs, and you simply need to run more often, a lot more.  Set an early season Sprint or Olympic race as an A race, and continue to build off the base you establish from the HM - just because they have shorter run distances doesn't mean you need to train less.  Get in a good year worth of running, and you'll enjoy the HIM that much more when you're ready to race it.


2013-09-16 3:02 PM
in reply to: trishie

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Subject: RE: Does the base required for a 70.3 make you faster at shorter distances?
Originally posted by trishie

This is running, not tri related, but marathon training has made me faster across the board


+1

I got a 5k PR 2 weeks after my marathon. I beat my old 5k time by over 90 seconds. In my experience, more mileage does usually help...especially for running.
2013-09-16 3:08 PM
in reply to: The Chupacabra

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Subject: RE: Does the base required for a 70.3 make you faster at shorter distances?
It's an old article - not really an article, just a blurb. But, this is training for 1,500 meters (less than 1 mile)!

http://www.fitsugar.com/Going-Middle-Distance-Olympic-Hopeful-Train...

Olympians run 80 miles a week to compete in something that's over in about 4 minutes. So, the answer is: Yes, adding time on your feet will make your faster at all distances.

and the Olympic is a 10k - which is definitely endurance
2013-09-16 3:10 PM
in reply to: adelsud

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Subject: RE: Does the base required for a 70.3 make you faster at shorter distances?

The first year I started training for IM exclusively, I participated in several shorter races just for fun and PRed all of them.

S/B/R more = faster.

2013-09-16 4:16 PM
in reply to: dprocket

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Subject: RE: Does the base required for a 70.3 make you faster at shorter distances?
Sure did for me. Did Olys for 4 years with little improvement. Trained for a HIM and did an Oly 2 months prior. Knocked 14 minutes off....-3 swim.....-7bike....-4 run.
2013-09-16 4:33 PM
in reply to: dprocket


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Subject: RE: Does the base required for a 70.3 make you faster at shorter distances?
Yes, it does.

The situations where it might not, are if you're an pro or elite, and are near-maxxing your endurance, and your top-end performance is more an issue of very specific top-end speed since you're no longer purely endurance limited. (Macca got worse at short-distance racing even after winning Kona.) Of course, this means very little to the 99.9% of us which are endurance-limited even at sprint distance.


2013-09-17 4:59 AM
in reply to: 0

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Subject: RE: Does the base required for a 70.3 make you faster at shorter distances?
I think it depends on your background in the various disciplines and the nature of your training. In my case, I didn't find this to be the case. I found my biking at the shorter distances was slower when I trained for the HIM. I struggled more in shorter races, maybe since I wasn't doing enough work at sprint pace to accustom myself to it. I'd hoped my run would improve, but I didn't really have any breakout results at either sprint tri (about the same splits) or open 5K. My swim pretty much stayed the same.

To be fair, endurance comes pretty naturally to me while speed does not. I also have a big endurance base in running. Plus I am 44, so I'm just fighting aging in my stronger events. I've really only found improvements (and pretty modest ones at that) from adding intensity. However, a prerequisite to that is being able to handle it without getting sick or injured. If you don't have an adequate endurance base to start with, building up to the training volume for a HIM might help lay the groundwork for you to be able to handle higher intensity once you focus on shorter races again. (I saw pretty substantial speed gains on the bike about nine months AFTER the HIM, after a de facto bike focus for several months.) Of course, this assumes you stick to the training plan, stay healthy, and recover adequately from the race before starting another training cycle.

As for running, more mileage SHOULD make you faster; it just hasn't with my over 40 body. I know that like someone above mentioned, I set most of my run PB's (3000m, 5000m, and 10,000m) at age 19, within a few months after my best marathon, for which I trained 70-100 miles a week. I'm still hoping that things will somehow come together with running, but it's harder now for me to put together the months of injury-free volume and intensity that I'd need to see progress.

Edited by Hot Runner 2013-09-17 5:03 AM
2013-09-17 6:40 AM
in reply to: dprocket

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Subject: RE: Does the base required for a 70.3 make you faster at shorter distances?
I am just getting back in after a couple of years out so I cannot tell you that I am PRing but I am a believer in using HIM for beginning and end of season for base building and focusing on shorter in season. I was too haphazard in my training this year to tell you oh yeah I PRd by xxx

Plan to be a bit more structured next season -

I just look at all the data out there - as pointed out by all the comments above - from how pros train to sport specific athletes....all try to get milage - swimmers, runners, cyclists - it makes sense to me. And like you having a race on the calendar keeps me more disciplined.
2013-09-17 7:43 AM
in reply to: TriToy

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Subject: RE: Does the base required for a 70.3 make you faster at shorter distances?
As long as you can avoid injuries associated with more training, then YES.
2013-09-17 8:48 AM
in reply to: jcnipper

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Subject: RE: Does the base required for a 70.3 make you faster at shorter distances?
Thanks everyone. Tons of good info here. It also confirms that my plan "seems" like a good idea. I'm going to pursue it.

And to the person who pointed out that I need to run more....I know! I really am planning to ramp this up this year and build my frequency.
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