Getting the balance right

There appears to be a general rule about the amount of training time required to be “successful” at triathlon; I am not quite sure what “successful” means though. Naturally the amount of training time required depends upon the length of the event with Ironman events needing the most training. Last year I trained for l’etape du tour which was a 180Km (or Ironman distance) ride, this entailed a good deal of endurance riding to be in a position to get round the route in a respectable time. The Triathletes Training Bible by Joe Friel suggests the following training hours:



I reviewed may last 12 month’s training diary and I calculated that put in around 350-400 hours training which is below bottom end of the range for half iron-distance events. I believe that I was racing at a relatively “High Performance” in my events if I look at my Age Group finishing positions: 6th at Eton, 8th in the New Forest and 27th in the National Sprint Championships. I was better than a “finisher” although “High Performance” is difficult to evaluate. Certainly I could have gone better with more training and an investment in “gear” would have made a difference. Just looking around during the events, I was top (or close to top) finisher in those events on a normal racing bike as opposed to an expensive Tri-Bike.

When it comes to 2010 I shall not be “going long” so I can reduce my training time and spend more time at home. With that in mind I have been planning my goals for the year! I have an event plan in mind which shall be refined over the next few weeks. The main event for me shall be partially social and partially competitive. The Alpe D’Huez Triathlon is rapidly becoming the triathlon to do in Europe and I have entered for next year. I suspect that it will soon become an event that is so over-subscribed that it will require qualification so it is good to get it done sooner rather than later. The Alpe D’Huez Tri takes place at the end of July and I have discussed with the family and “the men” plan to make a small holiday of it and go for a few days mountain biking in the Alps afterwards so it will be a combined Triathlon/Holiday, Jane may join depending upon how we organise it.

Other events for the summer are looking like the Vitruvian in September and The Cowman in June. I would love to do a Big Cow sprint again next year and also a New Forest event so I need to get my calendar out.