Hey, what's up, Motivators? Taren here.
If you taren a runner considering getting
into triathlon, you know what a run train plan looks like, but you're not exactly
sure how to translate that into success as a triathlete.
There are definitely some similarities
that you can can take from your run training plans over to your triathlon
training plans, but there are five key differences that you'll have to make
in your training plan when you want to transition from a runner to a triathlete.
Let's get into them.
When regular people want to do something
personally amazing in an endurance event, they use motive training plans.
Whether you're just getting started or
you've done several events and want a little more structure to step up your
game, we know what it takes to get amateurs to their goals.
No matter how big or small, you can accomplish anything you want.
You just need a plan designed
for the unique needs of people with families, jobs and a busy life.
The motive training method is that plan to get you to the start line feeling
confident and across the finish line feeling strong.
So if you are a runner that is taking up triathlon and you are wondering how
to transition from the run training plans to a triathlon training plan,
let's start with the similarities that you'll see between the two.
The first is that a pyramidal approach where 75% to 80% of your training volume
is spent at a low intensity, while 20% to 25% is spent at a higher intensity.
That remains whether you're a runner or triathlete.
In addition to that, strength training is key for both.
I would say that strength is a little bit more important in triathlon because
towards the end of a race you're going to be very fatigued and your body
structure is able to withstand the pounding late into the race.
You're going to have a much better race,
but strength will be included in both run training plans and triathlon plans.
And hopefully in your run training plans,
you're including some hills and some trails to get diversity and access more
muscle groups and keep better body awareness.
But let's get into the five things
that are very different between the two types of training plans.
The first one being that overtraining is very much a thing in triathlon training.
While it's not as much of a concern
for runners, there are a couple of reasons for this.
One being that the total load of the amount of workouts that you need
to do in triathlon is ramped up far beyond what it is in run training plans.
In most of the run training plans in our
app, for example, five runs per week is a lot.
That is an excellent amount of run
training in order to get even on the podium in local races and perform
quite well in an elite level five workouts per week as a triathlete.
While it might be enough to get you across
the finish line of some of the shorter races.
If your goals are for half ironman's or
ironman, you're going to have to step it up quite a bit beyond this.
So to be proficient at swimming, biking and running altogether,
in addition to being able to bike after a swim and run after a bike,
there are so many more different workouts that you're going to have to do to make
sure that you are able to accomplish each leg of the triathlon.
So the total load brings in quite a bit
more stress, and overtraining becomes one of the key things that you have to start
monitoring as a triathlete that isn't quite as prevalent as a runner.
Quite often it's actually been theorized, I think incorrectly so,
that runners don't really encounter overtraining because they'll get injured
before they get overtraining just due to the pounding nature of running.
I actually don't think that this is the case.
But what we definitely see as a triathlete
is because it's such a low burn for such a long amount of time, every single week,
the fatigue builds up very gradually but very significantly.
So it's critical as a triathlete to start monitoring your muscle soreness or
something more tangible like HRV, to monitor how ready your body is
to actually train so you can find an appropriate level of training.
Stress versus life.
Stress versus rest.
The second thing is that when you're doing
triathlon training, backtoback run days is something to be very, very cautious of.
backtoback run days as a runner is something that's very common.
You should actually spend a lot of time running on back to back days.
But it's easier to do so as a runner because the total load of fatigue placed
on your body isn't so high that you're going to be running dirty with a poor form
in triathlon because you're swimming and cycling and strength training.
By the time you get into running.
You're carrying a lot of fatigue and a lot
of triathletes spend a lot of time running with very poor form.
So running on backtoback days opens up the door for a lot more injuries
in triathlon because you're bringing so much more fatigue into every single run.
This isn't to say that you can't run
on backtoback days as a triathlete, but it should be treated with a tremendous
amount of caution, and you should really only do so if you are looking at becoming
extremely elite in the Ironman distance or Half Ironman distance race.
Fact of the matter is that for most
amateurs, the necessity to run on back to back days just isn't there.
The third thing that's different for triathletes as opposed to runners is
that nutrition planning becomes critical in triathlon training.
For most running races besides a marathon
or longer, most runners can get by with just a very small amount of carbs.
And even if you screw up your nutrition plan, maybe you're out in the race for 2
hours, and you can grind your way through the end of the race.
But when you get into triathlon and you're looking at 3 hours, 5 hours, 6 hours,
17 hours races, nutrition becomes an enormous component of your race.
It's also not like running where you can
just show up, have a couple of gels during your race, and everything will be fine
because you need to consume so many calories.
Due to the long nature of the race, you have to make sure that your stomach is
well trained enough to be able to consume all of those calories while exercising.
So you need to be taking in nutrients during all of your training
that complements the workouts that you're doing.
So this means that for the intense
workouts, you're taking nutrition that complements intense workouts.
This means for the endurance building
workouts, you're taking nutrition that complements endurance building workouts.
This means that for race specific workouts, you're taking in nutrition
that simulates what you're going to take into a race, and you're increasing
the amount that you're taking during these race simulation workouts every single time
you do them to gradually train your body to take in more and more calories.
The fourth thing that changes when you
become a triathlete is that you have to decide what you're going to give up
in your performance as a runner, all you need to do is run.
You run more, you typically get better, but as a triathlete,
there is a constant balancing act between swimming, cycling, and running,
where it's quite easy to progress at two of them, but it's very, very hard,
almost impossible, to progress at all three at the same pace.
Of course, if you're a beginner,
it's going to be very easy to become proficient at all of them.
But once you get past that initial
learning curve, you have to decide which disciplines you want to work on.
The greatest place for you to gain time is in the bike followed by the run.
Beyond that, having an excellently, strong bike allows you to have a strong run.
Having a strong run doesn't necessarily help your bike.
And the fact of the matter is that so little time is spent in the swim that once
you get yourself to a proficient level where you're comfortable in the water
and you aren't creating any detrimental effects with your swim performance to your
overall race, I e you're not getting out of the swim feeling spent.
I think that for a time crunch triathlete,
who needs to focus on one thing or the other, the best focus is the bike
followed by the run, followed by strength training, then followed by the swim.
The fifth thing that runners need to understand when they become triathletes
is that your running will not feel very good.
You're going to be running tired after
the bike a lot, and your key long run in a week should be done at the very end
of a training week on a Sunday when you are the most tired,
you're going to be running in a race with a huge amount of load in your legs.
So good training plans are designed to actually get you running with all
of that load in your legs and not actually running very fresh.
For a lot of runners who get into triathlon, this doesn't feel very
good because so many of their workouts for years have been designed specifically
so that they're only running and executing workouts when their legs are fresh.
But that's counterproductive in triathlon
because you don't run fresh as opposed to a sprinty springy, elastic, fast run,
you're instead having a very grinding, strength focused run.
Hopefully you found this helpful.
If you want to dive more into how to take up triathlon as a total beginner,
we have a very comprehensive long video that is up on the screen right now
that will take you through everything you need to know about triathlon training.
Hopefully you found this helpful
and hopefully you find that video helpful later.
Motivators.