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  • Questions on intensity, workout order and a new bike

    Hi Gale -

    I have a few questions for you. I recently purchase your online program but I have so many questions. On the plan it says to swim 1 hour and run 30 minutes, but do I have to run immediately after the swim or later on the day? What do you mean when biking in zones 1 and 2? What is the best bike I should get if this is my first year with triathlons?

    M.K.

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    Hey M.K. ~

    Welcome to the sport of triathlon! You have some good questions. Let me see if I can help. Let's address the intensity question first. You can find intensity definitions and how to set up your own training zones in a few places. Brief instructions are found on the supporting documents link on my website and also on my TrainingPeaks page. The TrainingPeaks system forces a price listing, so in order to get the downloads at no charge, be sure to enter "FreeInfo" (without quotes) in the coupon code area. Finally, all of my books have a chapter devoted to intensity.

    When the training plan shows two workouts in one day, you can do them back-to-back (swim, then immediately run) or split the sessions (swim in the morning and run in the afternoon). If I intend for you do to the sessions together, I will make special note of that in the workout instructions.

    Also, for some triathletes, running in the morning and swimming in the afternoon with a masters group works best. Switching the order is okay too.

    In my opinion, you don't need a "racing bike" for your first year of triathlon. In general, I recommend that athletes figure out a reasonable budget for a bike, then go shopping. If you think you would like to do more than just triathlon (charity rides, multi-day tours, etc.) I suggest selecting a road bike. Down the road if you get hooked on triathlon, then you can consider investing in a triathlon bike with all of the nifty aero equipment.

    Hope this helps. Keep me posted on your successful training and racing,

    Gale

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  • Comments on this post (1 comment)

    • tom says...

      “

      How do I determine my heart rate zones? I see in your book how to determine lactate theshold but not how to determine the different training zones

      On January 26, 2014

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