Is it realistic - or even smart - to try and train for 2 sprint triathlons and a half-marathon simultaneously?
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on 5/17/2009
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GeriJo
May 19, 2009
12:34 PM
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At the end of your day you come to a halt and relax, thus causing your core temperature to drop and signaling your body that it is time to sleep. Your body becomes conditioned to this response. In actuality, the feeling of tiredness felt during endurance training is not the body expressing a "need" for sleep, it is simply responding with the previously conditioned responses. When you are training the core temperature of your body rises. During endurance training your core temperature can stay high for an extended period of time, thus conditioning the body to a higher norm for the core temperature. When your core temperature cools back down after your work out (sometimes hours later) your body's conditioned response is to sleep. It's not based on a need, it is simply a conditioned response. To help eliminate this feeling you can eat snacks or hot food (core temp rises when the stomach is digesting) to keep your core temp higher longer or exercise later in the day so that your core temp drops right around bed time.
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DareDevil
May 18, 2009
5:26 PM
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Yes !! But the first few weeks you are going to "need" a lot more sleep than you are used to !! You will improve faster with that additional sleep !! I'm sure you will but "just make it fun" , the rest will happen. We will all be cheering you on, now and at the "magic hour" !! GOOD LUCK !!!!
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plucky
May 18, 2009
4:13 PM
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I firmly believe that the triathlon training will help your 1/2 marathon results. When I was training for my first 1/2 marathon, the thing that gave me the biggest boost in overall pace was sprints/interval training. So to keep it simple, I would suggest that you keep your focus on the triathlon training and substitute one workout a week with an endurance run of 14 miles. If you're not up to 14 miles yet, start at 8 and add 1 mile per week until you get to 14 (assuming you have at least 6 weeks :)
Oh yeah, drink LOTS of water and get LOTS of sleep!!!!
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GeriJo
May 18, 2009
8:55 AM
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I don't think that you would necessarily have to cut back on the time you spend training here in order to train there, unless you have time constrictions due to scheduling. If you are already comfortable with your training regimen there is nothing wrong with pushing yourself farther. I'll give you an example. Figure skaters (of all ages) start out skating about an hour a week when they first start their training (new to the sport or post injury), but within a year they can get up to four hours a day or more. If your conditioning is good and you feel comfortable adding to your work out then by all means go for it. When you up your work outs though remember you are now burning more calories so you may need to take in a bit more calories than before. Listen to your body. If you start sleeping more than usual or feeling an extreme tiredness that isn't going away, get checked for mono. Mono is common when people are adding extra hours to training programs, but most people don't even realize it and try to shrug it off as a side effect of training. Remember that running, swimming, and biking are great, but you need to condition ALL of your muscles, not just the ones you'll be using to compete. Bottom line, if you're comfortable with it and your body is comfortable with it... then have fun with it, but be smart about it. (Okay, I'm done regurgitating my coach's advice now. LOL)
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kettlebell27
May 17, 2009
2:29 PM
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Well, I would say that your triathlon training alone should give you a great support base of conditoning to perhaps handle a half-marathon. I'm not sure how long your workouts end up being for your tri training, but I would venture to say you are getting in some 8-12 mile bike rides, with 2-4 miles of running for some workouts, as well as some pool/lake time for swimming. I think if you aimed for some 7-10 mile long runs on the weekends, you would be a bit better prepared mentally for such distances in the half-marathon.
I would first look at your total time per week spent on all your training: swim, bike & run total durations added up. Let's say its 6 hours a week. A 7-10 mile run may take 1.25 to 2 hours, perhaps? So, cut back a bit on your other training times/durations to fit in this new demand. Trimming off some time on bike rides & runs will help you find the same amount of time you normally spend in a week on training. This way, you are not trying to add more & more time, but do more with your current time available. I think the endurance built up from the longer runs will help you out on the other modes. I've read about one marathon training program that is only 3 days a week of running, but its mostly a tempo run, a speed workout, then a long run on the weekend. So, I imagine a half-marathon could be prepared for in a similar vein, but you'd have the advantage of cross-training with the triathlon prep added into it.
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