Ah the off season, that delusional time of the year when I set lofty goals for the new year while trying to remember how to set up my bike trainer. This is when I’m sure that next year I’ll PR in half of my triathlons, make the podium in my age group in the other half and cut double-digit minutes off my marathon PR. The off season is also a source of some serious anxiety for me. I am I doing the right workouts? Will I just burn myself out? Am I getting enough workouts done? Too many? Base training or speed work? My usual swim, bike, run workouts or different sports? Do I know any different sports? You get the idea.
Let’s look at off-season training three ways: what you’re supposed to be doing, what my local tri community is doing, and what I’m doing.
Off Season: What You’re Supposed to be Doing
How did I determine this? I Googled it of course. Hey we went to all the trouble to build the internet, why not use it? I found three basic approaches to off-season training in my online search. One: dude chill. Two: tips and rules designed to help you prioritize your workouts. Three: stuff so complex I wasn’t sure if it was about triathlon training or launching a space probe to explore the Crab Nebula. Yeah I went with prioritized tips and rules. Links to two excellent examples are below.
To quickly summarize what these two gentlemen are saying:
Both agree about lowering the workout intensity and trying something new. Scagnelli suggests unstructured training without your HR and GPS gadgets. Complex mentions spin and yoga classes. He even posted a picture. Both recommend strength and core training. Complex notes the value of correcting muscular imbalances. They diverge slightly on nutrition. Scagnelli advises avoiding weight gain during the holidays. Complex’s Rule #6 is eat and gain some weight. I nailed that one.
Both writers mention fun. This might just be their most important recommendation, and it’s an area I have probably neglected the most. Here’s hoping it doesn’t bite me halfway to that first Spring Sprint or worse yet while training for my first Olympic distance race.
Offseason Training Tips by Daniel Scagnelli
6 General Principles for the Off Season
Off Season Triathlon Training by the Complex Triathlete on Blogspot
7 Rules for the Off Season
http://thecomplextriathlete.blogspot.com/2013/11/off-season-triathlon-training.html
Off Season: What My Local Tri Community is Doing
So I set up a poll here on the website and posted a link to my two local triathlon Facebook groups. Important note: this poll is unscientific, and sample size is small. The poll is still up so please feel free to weigh in. (You may select up to 3 answers.) The results as of this writing are:
- Focus on weight training and core – 25%
- Work on fundamentals in all three disciplines – 21%
- Long slow workouts to build my base – 18%
- Short intense workouts to build speed – 14%
- Focus on nutrition and weight loss – 14%
- Focus on one discipline to make gains – 4%
- Non-triathlon sports to stay fresh – 4%
- No one would confess to knitting old cars.
Off Season: What I’m doing
I’m surprised to report that my off-season training strategy is not that far off from my teammates in Knoxville and the Tri-Cities. I too am spending some quality time in the weight room. A couple months back I assessed my upper body and core strength and was shocked to find out that I didn’t have any. Really it had gotten almost that bad. Things are looking up but I still quickly and quietly pull the pins out of the weight stacks before I get off the machines.
I meant to work on fundamentals in all three sports but so far the best I can say is that I’ve trained in all three every week. It’s a start. I’ve been concentrating on base training but haven’t built much in the way of real distance in the pool, on the trainer or on the run. I’ve tried to sprinkle in a little speed work in the form of one- or two-minute intervals and some strides. Probably not enough but I plan to add more speed work next month.
Short intense workouts to build speed? Um no. Focus on nutrition and weight loss? Not unless you count eating more. Focus on one discipline to make gains? Surprisingly yes. I’ve been working on my swimming to prepare for open water. I’ve managed three swim workouts a week for a couple of months now. Participating in non-triathlon sports to stay fresh. No but I have talked about taking my mountain bike out for a ride. On the gear front: I am the proud owner of a new XXL Xterra sleeveless wetsuit and working diligently to find a more comfortable bike saddle. Finally I have never knitted a car. I did iron one once.