How to plan for a triathlon season
Love it or loathe it, the topic of planning is central to all sports, none more so than multi discipline endurance sports. Helping to focus time, effort and energy, great plans can produce the best results on race day. In this blog Coach Denise looks at the topic of planning, why it helps within the sport of triathlon and how a coach can help you to help yourself.
It sometimes feels like planning in triathlon takes as much time as training, and certainly as racing. Between planning which races to enter, the training plan and nutrition planning, along with food preparation and advance planning for busy weeks it can seem like an endless cycle. Depending on your personal perspective this can be wonderful or dreadful.
For the organised amongst us, there is nothing better than a beautifully written plan, preferably on a large spreadsheet with colour coordinated references. There is a deep joy in having a plan in place which you can then work through, hitting targets, completing sessions and seeing progress over time. However, since you will absolutely work to get that plan done as much as possible, making sure that the plan is right at the beginning is critical. Sessions need to be targeted on building on strengths and shoring up weaknesses. The overall plan needs to consider available training time, work and family considerations and allow for suitable recovery times. When illness or unexpected events happen this can be very stressful for strong planners, as it feels like everything is falling apart. The ability to adjust, reset and progress again is required, and a coach can help with reflecting on progress, and resetting plans when they go astray.
For others, this is the stuff of nightmares, with a more laid-back, less structured approach suiting their style and attitude to life. If you’re in this group then the idea of a detailed plan seems like a constriction on your ability to have fun and enjoy your sport. However, it is still true that a plan can provide the necessary structure to keep all of that energy building in the right direction. A plan does not need to be a straitjacket. Building a plan to meet your approach to life can give that guidance necessary to get the most out of the time available for training. A coach can really help here with providing that necessary structure while still allowing you to have the fun and flexibility you want.
Whatever your preference it has to be said that at least some degree of planning is required for the execution of a great race. Getting to the venue on time with all the required kit needs some level of planning, especially if the race is abroad. As kit gets more sophisticated, more preparation is required. There’s nothing worse than getting to the start of a race only to discover the Di2 battery needs charging or the tubeless tyres should have been serviced last month.
It’s not just the kit that needs to get to the race ready and working well. While it’s easy to get caught up in making sure that you have the best of everything for race day, if you, the athlete, are not ready to race at your best all of the gear will not help you.
A well-developed and well-executed training plan will get the best out of your abilities. Knowing what you plan to achieve on race day and how to get that out of yourself will help to focus effort and energy in the months leading up to race day. Knowing your own strengths and weaknesses, understanding what you need to deliver on race day to achieve your goals and having a clear training plan to build on strengths and support weaker areas will help to prepare you for a great race day.
There are a number of programs available on the market to help with the development and execution of training plans. Programs such as Training Peaks can present a clear plan in an easy to follow format, with boxes going green as you complete a session, or red if you miss. This can provide a great incentive for the completer finisher types. However, there is a trap in using such programs and apps. It is easy to get caught up in the green box checking and believe that if it is in the program and it’s gone green, I must be doing the right thing.
Any such tracking program will only be as good as the information going into it. As with many things in life, the more you put in, the more you will get out. Options for training plan development range from developing your own program, purchasing and following a virtual training plan or working with a coach to develop an individualised plan. The latter will be the most expensive option (though maybe not as much as you think) and will also deliver a plan that is most suitable for your specific needs at any point in time and can adapt to your specific situation.
Support in completing a plan can come from a number of sources too, local triathlon clubs can provide a group of people to train with, and learn from, as well as some competitive motivation. Virtual squads can be a fantastic support if you are not able to join a local group, as well as social media groups (always remember that social media postings rarely show all of someone’s life).
Part of becoming the best athlete you can be, is also about fuelling the body in the best way possible. Thinking about the fuel your body needs will help to get the most out of every session. A meal plan can be a great way to make sure you are eating what you need, when you need, and not what you don’t need. In a busy lifestyle advance meal preparation, batch cooking and having a range of easy-to-prepare recipes available can be a godsend.
In all of these aspects a coach can be a fantastic support. A coach is not just there to write a training plan and check off the boxes as you execute it. A great coach will get to know you, as an athlete, and understand what makes you tick. Are you someone who loves to plan out every week and have a detailed meal plan which is perfectly executed. Or do you prefer to go with the flow a bit more and adjust sessions and nutrition as you feel. If the former than the coach can be a fantastic sounding board for your own thoughts and plans and input on different approaches or ways to think about things. If the latter, then having a coach can encourage structure and ensure that a free-flowing approach still delivers what you need.
Of course, all plans go off the rails at times. Life has a habit of getting in the way, throwing the unexpected at us, busy work schedules, illness, accidents, family situations can all lead to plans going awry. Again, this is where there is a real benefit to having a coach who can step up and help you to adjust any plans, shuffle training sessions, back off on nutritional demands for a few days or whatever is needed to get back on track. Having that outside perspective can be hugely helpful, whether you love or loathe planning.
However you view it, planning is a critical part of getting to where you want to be in your triathlon life. Use what tools you can around you to make it as easy for yourself as you can.
Denise has been coaching triathletes since 2019 as a coach at her local triathlon club in West Lothian. Between 2019 and 2022, Denise was the Head coach in the club, working with a team of coaches to support and develop triathletes with a wide range of capabilities, completing her BTF Triathlon Level 2 coaching qualification in 2021.
Denise joined Tri Training Harder as a coach in 2021, building on the qualifications through the experience and knowledge passed on by the coaching team.
In 2019 Denise set up and continues to run her own Jog Scotland running group, a mixed ability group of runners who meet weekly. This delivers on her passion for helping people to do much more than they think they can.
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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.
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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.