Got
Time? The Balancing Act
Few of us have the luxury of
training for triathlon on a full time basis. Most of us must
learn to balance our training and racing with our daily
responsibilities.
Gail
Leveque - AZ Coaching
Got Time?
It’s a fact..........spending your hard-earned cash and
hiring a qualified coach who writes you a technologically
advanced, scientifically proven training program, is going
to do nothing to improve your race times if you don’t
have the time to do the workouts.
While a few lucky people may have the time and flexibility to train
at high volume, it is much more common to find triathletes
of all levels scrounging to fit the bare minimum of
workouts into a crazy schedule. Life does get in the way!
Worrying about the lack of available training time does nothing
about it.........finding ways to maximize the productivity
of the time you do have does.
What I suggest to my athletes is that they first sit down and take
a realistic look at their weekly schedule.........work,
family obligations, sleep, and the like. From there, make
decisions about how much time you have to spend training.
Be sure to take into consideration travel and shower time
and the like. Be creative about ways to sneak a workout
in........look outside the box, so to speak. There is
often much more time available than may appear at first
glance. Only when you have a realistic idea of how much
time you have, can you even start to think about designing
an appropriate training schedule.
Once you have a weekly schedule of available training time, then it
is time to build a plan that fits. If you have 8 hours a
week, then write workouts that total 8 hours a week! Seems
obvious, but one of the quickest ways to get discouraged
about your training is to consistently fall short of your
training goals. Better to plan 2 workouts a week in each
discipline and actually do them, than to plan for 3 and
beat yourself up because you can’t get them done..
So you have a plan now, what’s next ? Follow it! It is preferable
to have a 6 workout per week plan and follow it, than the
10 or 12 workout plan that never gets done. You can make
steady progress on 2 sessions a week in each sport if you
are dedicated about getting those workouts in. If you are
able to throw in an additional workout in your weakest
link..........so much the better.
One good way to maximize limited training time is to work on a
basic 2x per week schedule with a rotating extra workout
every week. For example, week 1 you do 2x swim, 2x bike
and 3x run, week #2 you do 2x swim, 2x run and 3x bike,
and week #3 would be 2x bike, 2x run and 3x swim. I find
that this is great for athletes who are fairly balanced in
all disciplines..
If you are not so balanced, it is important to train your
weaknesses. It is all too easy for someone with limited
training time, or anyone for that matter, to get seduced
into spending large chunks of time on the sport they are
best at...........and generally enjoy the most. Much
better to invest time, especially in the early season, in
the areas that have the opportunity for the most
improvement. You’re not going to improve your slug-like
swim split if you don’t get yourself to the pool as
often as possible!
Ok, so now you have designed a plan that fits the time you have
available, does it match your goals? Nothing wrong with
lofty goals, we all have them, but it’s also a good idea
to have some less challenging goals that are in synch with
your training level. Not saying you need to accept less
than your "best", just that what constitutes
your "best" needs to take into account just how
much training you are able to do.
While everyone has to deal with issue of missed workouts
occasionally, it is best to make an honest effort to get
those workouts in. The fewer workouts on your schedule,
the more critical each workout becomes. The best way to
triathlon success with limited training time is to do
every workout with purpose..........there are no workouts
to waste. Communicate with family and friends about your
training schedule in advance to lessen the chance of
avoidable conflict. Every workout you complete
successfully brings you one step closer to meeting your
goals.
While training more may often be a good thing, training smarter is
always better! Do your research........or find someone to
do it for you. Finding out the methods and training
principles that work best for you, your goals and your
situation and then using them to make the time you spend
training as focused and productive as possible will pay
huge dividends come race day. Make every minute count
and you will be well on your way to a successful season!
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