Training Tips for Experienced Triathletes
Written by Jim Levesque, Head Coach at Grit Endurance. Learn more about Coach Jim here!
Last week, Coach Todd wrote a great blog called “Training Tips for Beginner Triathletes”. Check it out if you haven’t read it! This week, I’m excited to dive into some key training tips for experienced triathletes who are trying to find another level of improvement! Let’s go through each of the five disciplines, and yes there are five!
Swim
Focus on technique – Swimming is far more technical than biking and running and trying harder does not always equate to more speed. Despite this, most triathletes spend their pool sessions swimming as hard as they can while neglecting their form. Take the time to regularly work on your technique and efficiency and get assessed by a coach regularly to reset your focus.
Practice race specific situations – Practice skills that will help you be successful on race day:
Drafting – If you aren’t looking for feet to swim behind, you are not maximining your swim speed in the open water! If someone swims past you, pick it up and try to stay on their feet for an extra speed boost. This is something you can practice at our weekly group open water swims!
Sighting – This should be practiced regularly, even in the pool. You sight hundreds of times in a race, so even becoming slightly more efficient will yield big benefits.
Get comfortable swimming through discomfort – Add sets into your workouts that require high intensity swimming immediately into race pace. For example, swim 200s where the first 50 is FAST followed by 150 at race effort. You will be very uncomfortable as you try to recover at race pace, but you’ll be much more ready for any challenges that come your way during the race!
Bike
Train all your energy systems – To maximize your potential, don’t just ride at threshold or at endurance pace, use a periodized approach to work on:
Max power / sprint output – This utilizes your ATP (adenosine triphosphate energy system) and your anaerobic system. For example, 10-30 second sprint efforts with plenty of recovery.
VO2 max – This utilizes your anaerobic system and the top end of your aerobic system. For example, 1-to-3-minute intervals above your threshold power.
Lactate Threshold – This utilizes mostly your aerobic system, but there is also an anaerobic component. For example, 3–10-minute intervals just below or right at your threshold power.
Aerobic Effort – The real magic happens when you can stack a lot of volume at easy to moderate effort, which allows your body to become more efficient by increasing how effectively your body can use oxygen to create energy.
Focus on your skills – Riding fast is not all about power, you also need to be efficient:
Cadence – Aim for a cadence in your training at or above 85 rpms to utilize your cardiovascular system more than leg strength to generate power
Practice climbing, descending, cornering, and shifting smoothly, so that you are ready to ride in the real world on race day!
Train for the course – If possible, train for the specific demands of your priority race. Ride the course, and if that’s not possible, try to ride it virtually on Training Peaks Virtual or Zwift, or at least replicate the specific demands where you can (hilly, flat, windy, etc.)
Run
Train all your energy systems – Like the bike, you want to work on your high-end speed, VO2 max, threshold and aerobic fitness in a periodized approach.
Cadence and technique – Aim for a cadence of at least 85 steps per minute to avoid overstriding, and get your run form assessed by a coach, especially if you’ve had running related had injuries in the past.
Include strength in your program – Strength should be part of every experienced triathlete’s routine, both to help prevent injuries and to improve your ability to hold your technique as you fatigue.
Fueling & hydration – Triathlon’s 4th Discipline
Carbohydrates – As a starting point, for any workout lasting more than an hour, aim for approximately 1 gram of carbs per kilogram of body weight per hour. For a 150 LB athlete, that’s 68 grams per hour. Athletes trying to push the boundaries of performance may even want to go quite a bit above this ratio, so experiment with what works for you in training!
Hydration & electrolytes – We want to try to replenish our sweat loss rate as closely as possible, both in terms of water loss and electrolyte loss. Sodium is extremely important for maintaining extracellular blood volume and facilitating the delivery of oxygen to your muscles, so don’t overlook it! Sweat rates and sodium concentration vary widely by athlete, so the best thing you can do is test it out in training. Nix Biosensors allow you to track this in a variety of conditions, to help you understand your needs. Use code “GRITENDURANCE15” to save 15%!
Transitions – Triathlon’s 5th Discipline
It sometimes amazes me how experienced athletes will train hard all season long to take 1 minute off their bike time and then give that time all back with a slow transition. The first key is to take transitions seriously, especially in short course racing!
Practice your transitions in training to learn how to excel at them. The pros practice them, so why shouldn’t you?
Practice flying dismounts using triathlon bike shoes that are easy to slip on and off to save time. The key here is to practice numerous times before trying it on race day.
Practice putting your run shoes on using elastic laces and see how fast you can get at it!
As you become a more experienced triathlete, improvement comes in the finer details. So take the time to be more thoughtful about your training, and if you want help, reach out to us about 1 on 1 lessons or personal coaching!