How to train with a single focus
Often we find that there is a lot of work that needs to be done but very little time to get the work done. In training this is no different. Sometimes by choice, others through necessity, triathletes have the opportunity to shift focus and give a single discipline more focus than it would normally get and we can see some significant developments as a result.
One of the things that makes triathlon so interesting (and difficult) is the fact that you are having to juggle three sports. Finding the right balance is very difficult as there is no rule that works for everyone. At the end of each season, it is important to take the time to reflect and ask yourself some basic (but important) questions: What went well? What didn’t go well? What are my weaknesses? Where should I focus my attention to get the ‘biggest’ bang for my buck?
As you start to answer those questions, you will begin to identify areas that need work. We already know that the off season is a great time to take a step back from the very high intensity work and to go back to basics and build a good base. This comes in the form of: keeping up your cardiovascular endurance, working on technique, building strength and stability at the gym and possible spending more time at the pool perfecting that stroke.
What we cannot tell you, is what is most important for YOU to focus on - this will be specific to every single athlete. It may be that you are quite balanced in your three sports and don’t have any specific area to focus on. In this case, that’s great, carry on with your nicely balanced training! But it may also be that you need to address something. This could be a number of things including chronic injury, weakness or poor technique in one of the three disciplines, poor endurance, poor strength and stability…etc. If you have taken the time to reflect on your season, you will know what it is for you. It could even be that one thing is caused by another - for example, a chronic injury could be caused by poor technique or by poor strength.
So how do you go about your training when you know there is one big thing you need to address? How do you make sure that you still keep the other sports ticking over whilst you focus so much more attention on one thing? (aside from getting a coach!)
It all comes down to planning (read this blog for more information on planning your season). The same way that you would plan a “normal” season, you should plan your “single focus” season. You should still work back from your goals and set milestones.
Let’s take a running injury as an example. You’ve been to the physio and it all stems from poor strength and control. You are advised not to run for 3 months. A little panic settles in (you know what we’re talking about!). However, you should see this as an opportunity rather than a setback. It is an opportunity to hit the gym and get yourself in a position where you can be even stronger than before. In our experience, if this should happen, the athlete usually comes back stronger and faster than ever before). Ask yourself this question: if you were allowed to run, what would have been the goal of each training run? Usually, it will fall into one of two categories (in the most simplistic way of putting it!):
Building muscular endurance and letting your body adapt to the stress running puts on your body
Building your CV system through intervals
Building run endurance is difficult if you cannot run, so not running for three months will of course impact that. However, by making your body strong at the gym and preparing it to run again, you should have no problems building that back up quickly when you are cleared by your physio.
Building your CV system is something that can be done in many different ways, not just running. So you can always increase your swimming, cycling or any other cardiovascular activity to help provide the same training effect as you needed from those running sessions. Go back to your goal and find other ways to achieve them - think outside the box!
Lucky for you, you are a triathlete, not just a runner. So easing off one sport does not mean all is lost. You still have 2 other sports you can pick from. It is important to realise that if you’re training, you are getting stronger. If you have to focus more on one area and “neglect” others for some time, this doesn’t make you a weaker athlete and often, keeping your ‘eye’ in one of the other sports will mean you have a significantly greater amount of time to focus on making the adaptions you need to make to improve your other ones.
If you keep doing the same thing, you should only expect the same results.
This same thought process applies if you wanted to improve only one discipline - for example swimming. Let’s imagine that when you look at your results over the past year, you are placing similar for bike and run, but then you are lower down in the field for swimming. You think this has something to do with your technique. No problem: why not increase your swimming frequency and reduce your running and cycling for a few months? Better yet, spend some time on one sport say one block, then move to another sport and so on. It can be very beneficial to change the focus every now and then not only to help improve specific weaknesses but also to keep you on your toes and to keep things interesting. There is a reason after all that swimmers tend to be faster in the water than triathletes…so why not train like a swimmer for a bit and try and reduce that margin?
We’re here to help
Tri Training Harder are one of the leading Triathlon coaching providers in the UK, using our wealth of experience to unite scientific and technological research with already well-established and successful best practices, to create a formula for triathlon and endurance coaching that works.
The result is an honest, dynamic, yet simple new way of constructing an athlete’s training to allow them to reach their potential.
If you’re planning your next season, just starting out in the sport or are looking for extra guidance at the very top end of the field, we are here to help, and our coaches would be delighted to hear from you. You can contact us via the website, and one of the team will be in touch.