So, my training is now all geared towards my racing goals for 2013. As a minimum, I am aiming for participating in 3 ITU World Triathlon Series races:
My first main training target is to achieve a total time of under 2 hours 30 minutes* by mid March 2013. This should give me 12 weeks until the first race to improve time and to work on any further weaknesses. I have chosen this time specifically because of some factors; it is a realistic goal, it is a decent enough time for an amateur, and I should still have enough time to improve on it before the first race.
To reach this time, I had to, first, look at my times and create a training programme which should improve my swim, cycle and run to get to the desired times. Generally speaking, the times I want to achieve should look something along the lines of: swim 00:20, cycle 01:20, run 00:45. The good news is that I can already achieve better times in each sport separately, but now I have to work on getting to these times when I combine the three.
The way I have developed my new training programme, which I already started beginning of October 2012, was to divide my time into phases, starting with focusing on each discipline separately until Christmas, concentrating on my weaknesses and trying to get stronger in each sport. The programme looks like this:
This phase includes a focus on building up speed, strength and stamina, as well as working on technique to become more efficient. Another major element of this phase is figuring out the best nutrition that would give me the best performance and recovery, find the best places for my training, make adjustments to my equipment, and to get to the optimum routine to fit my training around family and work commitments (I am training 6 days a week, some days twice a day). The idea is that, once I start my main triathlon training phase, I shouldn't be concerned with sorting out such issues and just focus on my training.
Starting 1st January 2013, I shall have 10 weeks of intense triathlon training, focusing on the 3 sports in a triathlon mindset, in addition to transition training, ending with a proper time trial on the weekend of 9-10 March 2013. Ideally, I should find a race on that weekend to participate in to test myself properly, otherwise it will just have to be a solo trial, as close as possible to race conditions; i.e. open water swim, proper transitions, etc.
According to my results in March, I shall then go on to come up with a suitable 12-week programme in the build up to the Madrid race.
In the back of my mind, it would be great to achieve 02:15 by Madrid, but I shall not have this as my initial goal until I see how I do in March in order to keep my goals realistic and achievable. Yet, if I am able to get to such time, I should stand a good chance of reaching good position in my age group.
Because, who knows, if my ranking in 2013 is decent enough in my age group, it may be a possibility to aim higher for 2014... Maybe go for ELITE! Maybe even aim for Rio 2016! But, for now, I'm taking one step at a time. Wish me luck! :)
* Olympic distance triathlon: 1.5km swim, 40km cycle, 10km run
- 1-2 June 2013: ITU World Triathlon Madrid, Spain
- 6-7 July 2013: ITU World Triathlon Kitzbühel, Austria
- 11-16 September 2013: ITU World Triathlon Grand Final London, UK
My first main training target is to achieve a total time of under 2 hours 30 minutes* by mid March 2013. This should give me 12 weeks until the first race to improve time and to work on any further weaknesses. I have chosen this time specifically because of some factors; it is a realistic goal, it is a decent enough time for an amateur, and I should still have enough time to improve on it before the first race.
To reach this time, I had to, first, look at my times and create a training programme which should improve my swim, cycle and run to get to the desired times. Generally speaking, the times I want to achieve should look something along the lines of: swim 00:20, cycle 01:20, run 00:45. The good news is that I can already achieve better times in each sport separately, but now I have to work on getting to these times when I combine the three.
The way I have developed my new training programme, which I already started beginning of October 2012, was to divide my time into phases, starting with focusing on each discipline separately until Christmas, concentrating on my weaknesses and trying to get stronger in each sport. The programme looks like this:
- 3 weeks run training
- 6 weeks cycle and swim training
- 3 weeks run training
- 1 week off (Christmas holidays)
This phase includes a focus on building up speed, strength and stamina, as well as working on technique to become more efficient. Another major element of this phase is figuring out the best nutrition that would give me the best performance and recovery, find the best places for my training, make adjustments to my equipment, and to get to the optimum routine to fit my training around family and work commitments (I am training 6 days a week, some days twice a day). The idea is that, once I start my main triathlon training phase, I shouldn't be concerned with sorting out such issues and just focus on my training.
Starting 1st January 2013, I shall have 10 weeks of intense triathlon training, focusing on the 3 sports in a triathlon mindset, in addition to transition training, ending with a proper time trial on the weekend of 9-10 March 2013. Ideally, I should find a race on that weekend to participate in to test myself properly, otherwise it will just have to be a solo trial, as close as possible to race conditions; i.e. open water swim, proper transitions, etc.
According to my results in March, I shall then go on to come up with a suitable 12-week programme in the build up to the Madrid race.
In the back of my mind, it would be great to achieve 02:15 by Madrid, but I shall not have this as my initial goal until I see how I do in March in order to keep my goals realistic and achievable. Yet, if I am able to get to such time, I should stand a good chance of reaching good position in my age group.
Because, who knows, if my ranking in 2013 is decent enough in my age group, it may be a possibility to aim higher for 2014... Maybe go for ELITE! Maybe even aim for Rio 2016! But, for now, I'm taking one step at a time. Wish me luck! :)
* Olympic distance triathlon: 1.5km swim, 40km cycle, 10km run
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