Planning a triathlete’s season (age grouper*) can be a tricky challenge. Incorporating three sessions in the pool, three sessions on the bike and three sessions of running in one single week, including a day off, means that double-session training days are inevitable.
This inevitably poses the following question: how do you train for the various different disciplines and in what order? Three things in particular need to be taken into consideration when devising a winning plan: specificity, the quality of your training sessions/recovery and planning.
Specificity means training by simulating what you will have to do in a race. This does not mean always training at race pace, but rather training in a way that simulates what happens in a race. In other words, whenever possible, do your swim training first, followed by the bike and then, lastly, your run. You should train in the same order you will be racing, so your body will get used to cycling after swimming and then running after getting off the bike.
- Have fun planning ‘brick’ sessions. For example, swimming-cycling-swimming-cycling or cycling-running-cycling-running in one single session. Of course it is not easy to plan so-called ‘brick’ sessions, so it is always advisable to consult…
