Apologies, I’m sure I’ve seen a post similar to this somewhere but I can’t find it.
I’ve recently switched my plan from a middle distance tri one to full distance, however the length of my ride and run at the weekends isn’t nearly long enough for this.
I’d expect at least 1 ride of around 6 hours and 1 run of 3 hours… However over a 10 week period I’ve seen nothing over 4.5 and about 2.
I get that the total volume for the week is limited by it being a mid volume plan, but surely hitting these distances/times are important not only physically but mentally and for nutrition testing purposes?
Interested to know others opinions and whether there is a reason for this? It’s genuinely one of the only things I can fault with the plans
The plan is conservative in regards those long rides/runs, although it does adapt to what you do or don’t do.
I’ve done 3 IM triathlons using athletica now with mid volume plan. What I’ve done is to think about which weekends I’d like to extend the long rides and runs. Then I extend those even when Athletica is asking only 4:45 long ride or 2hr run.
Listen to the podcast@Prof had with Gordo Byrn. It’s full of golden nuggets on how to train for long distance - highlighting the importance of having recovery protocol in place.
I’ve been using this philosophy as I prep for the IM Worlds. I’ve slowly build up my volume to cover a lot of distance during the weekend: this Saturday-Sunday I did about 70% of IM distance with swim-bike-run on Saturday and double run on Sunday. It’s not on original plan but I’ve moved things around to fit my own individual plan. Because it’s more load condensed in two days, next week I’m getting overtraining warnings, which are a great reminder for me to take it easy and recover.
I would note one thing though: I think it is far more important to stay consistent through many months than do one or two big weekends. So keep ticking off the shorter bike and runs and extend if you can and if you have recovery dialed in. Recovery: 1. Quality sleep 2. Quality nutrition with high protein and healthy fats 3. Mental health. 4. Few days no running and focus on muscle/joint care if injury prone.
Hope this helps plan your training for your next big goal!
MJ
Thanks @Marjaana that’s great advice. I was planning to do the same, carefully building the mileage up. I did a 75 mile ride on Saturday and a 17 mile run on Sunday so I know, all being well, I’m close to the distances I want.
However this I feel is the limitation of the AI right now. It should be suggesting this kind of build up and then altering it based on how you feel/recovery etc surely?
I shouldn’t need to go and look at other training plans to judge how those weekends should look like or follow a plan that doesn’t suit the race.
I THINK (Prof / Marjaana pls correct me if I’m wrong) that scrolling forward doesn’t show the true schedule for any given week as the plan scales AS / AFTER you complete training. E.g. what I see as a 2.5 hour ride looking forward may be a 4hr ride based on what I do between now and then.
And then for the max distances, if you get to the 4.5-hr session and they still don’t feel long enough you can choose to go longer - but keep in mind per the algorithm you might not NEED to do so.
I’m on the medium bike plan though I ride ultra distance. My A event this year was July, and 2,126km.
In the build up I had six rides of duration longer than 6 hours. You are right that they help mentally, sorting out equipment, and nutrition and clothing options etc. But they do not assist your fitness in my 14 year opinion. If anything your fitness drops after long rides / events due to the extended recovery necessary.
Thus I would say do not worry if your planned rides don’t go above around 5 hours or so. Mixed with the higher intensity work these are sufficient from a fitness and endurance point of view. Do plan in the occasional longer ride but do not see that ride as training but more as finessing bike fit, eating, drinking and getting your head in the right mindset etc.
Correct… makes it difficult for those entering Athletica to see the value and we get the review/feedback as @jockefc23 alludes to. But do the work consistently, build the fitness progressively, and your longer duration sessions will magically appear in your plan…