Signing up for a triathlon is a great way to challenge yourself to become a better athlete. You’ll need to build up your strength and train for cycling, swimming and running. Having the right training plan in place is about more than beating your goal time on race day, although that’s an important part of it. It can also help ensure that you don’t wear yourself out in the training process, that you avoid injuring yourself, and that you’ll make a quick recovery after your race.
In this blog post, we’ll outline five considerations you should keep in mind when planning your triathlon training program.
5 considerations for your triathlon training program
You can find some basic triathlon training plans online, but the same standardized plan won’t work for every athlete. You’ll need to make some modifications based on your body composition, your level of fitness, your experience and your training goals.
Keep these five considerations in mind when planning your triathlon training program:
- Give yourself enough time — The pace of your training schedule is possibly the most challenging and most important part of preparing for any long-distance race. Experienced athletes need around 16 weeks to train for a long triathlon around 50 kilometers. For a sprint triathlon, you’ll need closer to eight weeks. You might add a few weeks of strength workouts to the beginning and a couple of weeks for working up to long distances if you haven’t been training.
- Know your heart rate zones — If you don’t have a heart rate monitor, you should invest in one. Your heart rate zones correspond to different levels of workout intensity. First, you’ll need to calculate your resting heart rate and your maximum heart rate. This will help you gauge how hard you need to work during different types of workouts and when you need to slow down.
- Plan workouts by distance and intensity — Once you know your heart rate zones, you can use them to plan your workouts. You should only increase your distances by about 10% every week, and you should take a slower week to recover about every four weeks. Along with distance training, you should also incorporate some sprint workouts at higher intensities, hill climbs and interval training.
- Plan transition workouts — Switching from one sport to another can take a toll on your body, and it can add a lot of time to your total. Plan some transition workouts where you run for about 10 minutes after a full bike workout. Later in your training program, you can add “brick workouts” with a full bike workout followed by a full run.
- Incorporate slower weeks to rest and recover — It bears repeating: Plan to take a rest week every four weeks. This doesn’t mean you should take the whole week off. Plan lower-intensity workouts during rest weeks, and remember to taper down before race day.
There are other variables to consider, for instance, which sports you’re most comfortable with and where you need to spend some extra time training. If you have any past injuries that cause pain during and after workouts, you should have a plan for treatment and pain management. A Back in Motion physical therapist can help you create a training program that’s just right for you. They can also provide treatments along the way to help you recover and advise you on your technique to prevent more serious injuries.
Are you looking for a physical therapist to help you train for your triathlon? Call us or request an appointment today.
