BT Forum

Off season, on average: 2 swim, 3 bike, 5-6 Run.

Right now 6 Run and as many S/B as I can fit (training for an ultra right now so S/B is at a minimum). During IM training it was more like 3 swim, 4bike, 4-5Run per week.

Number of sessions / week is one thing, but volume/intensity in each is quite different depending on what race is up next.

What distance are you training for and what is your goal?

Edited by Left Brain 2014-03-31 11:49 PM

It does depend to some extent on your goals (just finish vs race competitively), race distance, and background in the three sports, but in general I've found it's hard to make progress, or even maintain fitness, on less than 3X per week. The exception might be swim if you had a very strong background (i.e. ex-collegiate swimmer). It's particularly true for running--if you only run 2 or 3X a week, there's a greater chance that too much of your weekly mileage will be your long run, which can put undue stress on your body and set you up for injury. My personal rule of thumb is 2X (3X for running) to maintain minimal fitness and technique, 3X to maintain current fitness, 4X to make progress. If I'm training for a run-only race, for example, I'd probably still try to work in 2-3 swims and 2 rides per week to maintain tri fitness--that doesn't always happen, though!

When I'm training for tris, I try to work in 3 swims, 4 runs, and 3-4 rides per week. I do 3 swims a week rather than 4 as I'm already a strong AG swimmer and I feel my limited training time would be better spent on the bike (to make progress in my weakest event) and run (to spread out volume to minimize injury risk), rather than in the pool. If I were a stronger biker and weaker swimmer, I'd probably aim for 4 swims and 3 rides instead.

Edited by Hot Runner 2014-04-01 6:52 AM

3 swims, 3 bikes, 5 runs. As others have noted, I'm trying to break the running into more days to minimize pounding on my body.

I am a FOP AGer for Sprints (top 10-15% in my mind) and typically run every other day plus 2 hard swim and bike session per week. I might add a swim and bike a week for a few weeks leading up to my A race, if I have one. My swim and bike sessions are mostly hard with intervals and my runs vary. No plan, I just do it for fun and actually like the steady training better than racing.

^^ This is very important to keep in mind.

Having said that, I swim 3-4 x week, I bike 4-5 x week, and I run 5-6 x week.

Thanks all. I'm training for Olys (second season). I'm a top 10% AG runner, MOP swimmer (but rehabbing from injury) and near-DFL cyclist. I'm trying to focus on the bike, but I know that I needs minimum of 3x in the pool to keep my rehab on track. Trying to do the minimum amount of running now to stay injury-free and maintain base in order to build other two.

swim 2-3 x
bike 3x
run 5-6x

I must have misread the original post. 

Edited by Clempson 2014-04-01 10:59 AM

Right now I am doing:

Swim- 2x

Bike- 4X

Run- 4X

3 land runs2 ET or pool run sessions (replacement runs)6-9 rides0 swimming.

Edited by mmrocker13 2014-04-01 3:18 PM

3x swim
3-4x Bike
4x run

I trust the two days you are slacking off are 100+.

currently,
Bike x 3
Run x 3 or 2
Swim x 1

Off season 2 of each
Race season, 2 runs, 2 - 3 bikes, 2 - 3 swims

I like 3 of each by doing 2 disciplines back to back - example: Swim/Run, Upper Strength/Bike, Swim/Run, Upper Strength/Bike, Swim/Run, Upper Strength/Bike, Rest. These distances get way up there as the time allows for more with just to back to back disciplines.

Here is where I believe that if it's a Triathlon I am training for my training is all triathlons. I do roughly 5 of each discipline all back to back - example: Swim/Bike/Run, Swim/Bike/Run, Swim/Bike/Run, Rest, Swim/Bike/Run, Rest, Swim/Bike/Run and so on. Varying the distances based on ratio equivalants of a race distance I am planning to race.
Example: Ironman 70.3, I will do some 15minute Swims/14mile Rides/3.25mile Runs and some 25 minute swims/28mile Rides/6.5mile Runs and some on up to 35 to 40 minute swims/35 to 42 mile Rides/8 to 10mile Runs.

Recovery is important here.. I love distance/endurance exercise and as one guy said here I like the consistancy of training more than the race..It's not about the race,, its about the training..

2-3 swim; 4 bike; 3 run (4 run if you count a short brick run after long bike)