TRIATHLON · TRI TRAINING

Tri training: what the logs say.

Beneath the results sit weekly plans, test sessions and benchmark logs from 2001 to 2015. Here is what they show, in brief.

Coaching eras

Who wrote the plan in each period, as the files show it.

Coached · late 2000–2002

Plan files carry a Rosenkranz Multisport Coaching copyright: easy, medium, hard and recovery weeks, zone-based sessions and a written yearly phase plan.

Self-run · 2003–2007

Our own plan workbooks in the same session vocabulary, with no coach credit. This label is my reading of the files.

Self-coached · 2008–2009

Benchmark logs and test batteries: ramp test, aerobic time trial, power test and CompuTrainer course.

Coached · 2010–2011

Sherwick and Jami were coached by Mark Allen as members of the MarkAllenOnline Elite Triathlon Team.

Self-coached · 2012–2015

A written philosophy with MAF tests, macrocycles and race-specific plans.

Six findings

  1. Volume was flat; results were not. Planned hours stayed within 12–13.5 per week in every year with a weekly plan on file, while podiums per season ranged from 0 to 5.
  2. More hours did not protect against bad luck. 2005 had the highest planned load of 2003–07 and the toughest results.
  3. 2007 was our best season with no Ironman on the calendar.
  4. Our best Ironman times came in 2011, a year we were both coached by Mark Allen. The 2002 coached season produced our best half-distance times.
  5. 2014 was the aerobic peak: 22 weeks planned at 15 hours or more and the best bike test watts for both of us.
  6. Swimming was the limiter. Test pace barely moved from 2012 to 2015.

Volume and podiums

Planned hours against results, season by season.

Average planned weekly hours by discipline and number of weeks at 15 hours or more
Planned volume by year (2003–07 and 2012–15). Weekly plans do not exist for 2008–11.
Triathlon age-group podiums and wins per season for Sherwick and Jami
Age-group podiums and wins per season. The shaded band marks the coached seasons.
Ironman and half-distance timesBest time each season at both distances, on the Triathlon hub.Run, bike and swim test resultsFixed-heart-rate tests, 2007–2015, on the Zones & tests page.

Method

weekly hours are planned, not completed, and exist for 2003–07 and 2012–15. Test protocols changed between eras, so compare trends within a chart. Age-group place is not adjusted for field size, and with nine seasons per athlete any correlation is illustrative.