My new approach to training

In my last post I expressed my confusion as to what training philosophy to follow. Specifically,

• What training zones to use
• What workouts to use
• How to structure my swim workouts
• How hard should I be working (at my age)

These things are all interrelated, enough so that it is nearly impossible to change one and not the others.

I now have a plan. Like any plan, what comes next is testing, something that I have already begun this week. Here are some highlights:

• Overall training plan follows Friel, "The Triathlete's Training Bible" with input from "Fast After 50"
• Swim zones, pace, Friel
• Bike zones, power and HR, Friel
• Run zones, power, Jim Vance, HR, Friel
• High intensity bike zones from WKO, use to assign interval sessions
• Make long duration workouts general in description, more like Friel than Fitzgerald
• Pool sessions follow TI Fresh Freestyle with Garmin structured workouts
• Bike and run interval sessions specified in detail with TrainingPeaks structured workouts
• Weekly periodization follows TrainingPeaks Annual Training Plan
• Where practical, vary workout locations to avoid boredom and provide new challenges
• Devote time to mental strength

When I began reading Friel where he talked about limiters I brushed it all aside thinking that everything I did was a limiter. Now that I have learned more and can understand a bit more of what he means I see where I missed a lot of important details. Every three week training block has its own focus. What you do every day builds the foundation for the training to come. It is not simply a matter of doing more of the same stuff.

The swim is all about technique. What Friel calls speed skills. Sure you need to develop enough muscular strength to swim well. That should be a focal point early in the training cycle. Other than that, the strength issue is more efficiently addressed in the gym. The swim workouts in "Fresh Freestyle" follow the TI principles while progressing nicely, from beginner level swims to long an complex workouts perfect for Ironman training.

I really enjoyed reading Alex Hutchinson's "Endure." I learned a lot about how our brain gets in the way of our success, and would like to find similar resources. If anyone has a recommendation please email me at garydunnhi@gmail.com.