Summer Triathlon series

[workhard1]

I have allowed myself to fall to the pressures of my sister and uncle and join them in their summer triathlon series. I am the type of person who puts their all in to something (at least when it is something physical) and wants to be competitive. I am wondering if there are any special techniques you might have for me retaining as much muscle as I can. I realize with the heavy amount of cardio I will be doing the muscle mass is going to be getting burned off, but would it still be smart to hit the weights twice a week?

I will be doing spin classes 3 days per week
2 long runs per week and 2 HIIT sessions per week
2 Swimming sessions per week

This is just the first month of training and it will be ramped up to even more cardio around may. If my current maintenance is around 2500 cals with just 2 cardio sessions per week and 4 days of lifting should I assume I am going to need to ramp up my caloric intake a decent amount? Would moving up to around 3000-3200 be sufficient?

I am not looking for you to lay out a definite plan for me or anything, just some advice to help me retain some muscle and not lose too much weight

 

[P-funk]

a) lifting twice a week is fine.

b) your program set up is awful.

 

[workhard1]

I realize it is not anything special. I don't know too much about specific triathlon training, but I did a program similar to this last summer and completed two tri's people were impressed with how I did for my first attempt. However, if you want to offer some suggestions or at least point me in the right direction to a place where I can read up on the training instead of just calling me an idiot basically I would appreciate it.

There is so much information out there and a lot of it is contradicting so it is hard to determine who gives legit info and who gives BS. Also, a lot of the info available is some stupid "from couch to champion" crap or something like that, I am already in decent cardio shape. I could probably finish a sprint tri now, it would not be an impressive time, but I am not starting and very little info that I see available will take someone from intermediate to advanced

 

[P-funk]

Your program should reflect your goals.

Nothing wrong with lifting 2x's a week.

As far as specifics, there are several triathlon websites that have the generic set up for whatever distance you want to do - sprint, olympic, half-ironman, full ironman.

You may have to focus on something specific; for example, most people are weaker swimmers then they are runners or bikers.

I would get more time in the saddle than doing a spin class. Also, no need to waste energy on HIIT since it isn't specific to your goal.

patrick

 

[workhard1]

Your program should reflect your goals.

Nothing wrong with lifting 2x's a week.

As far as specifics, there are several triathlon websites that have the generic set up for whatever distance you want to do - sprint, olympic, half-ironman, full ironman.

You may have to focus on something specific; for example, most people are weaker swimmers then they are runners or bikers.

I would get more time in the saddle than doing a spin class. Also, no need to waste energy on HIIT since it isn't specific to your goal.

patrick

Well the series I am doing is meant to be pretty tough. It is a total of 5 triathlons over a 10 week period. The first 3 and sprints, the 4th is also a sprint but with an added kayak leg at the end, and the last is a olympic. So, would you recommend training for the sprints for the most part?

Also, the reason I do spin class is because I don't have a bike yet. Getting one in about a month and a half. So Until then spin seems like the best option. my gym offers 3 hour spin classes twice a week though and those are the classes I plan to attend. They are not interval sessions, they are basically 3 hours of sitting in the saddle and pushing with some small hill work and a few fairly short out of the saddle moments

 

[P-funk]

I would train for the olympic distance and use the shorter sprint triathlons as training rides.