I'd say that totally depends on where you are in your training cycle and what your goals are. The Outseason plan is similar to that- Monday rest, Tues, Wed, Thurs are training days, friday off, sat and sun are training days. However, moving into the long course plans, rest days are few and far between, and that is important as you need to build that endurance and durability with workout out on tired legs. Of course take days off as needed and don't follow the plan into a brick wall. Please share what plan you are on, what your goals are, and why you are looking to do it this way- injury? injury prevention? work/family commitments?
Rachel, thanks for your thoughts! I'm currently waiting to see my RoadMap from coach Rich. I'm assuming that i'll be on the Short Course Plan as I'm training for my second triathlon (this one will be an Olympic distance) which the goal is to finish with good spirits and form :-). My first race went well (sprint triathlon) placed 5th in the Clydesdale division.
I had injured my back (bulging disc between L4-L5) back in December 2014. I muscled back with chiropractor and physical therapy (and oral steroids).
Interesting points with training so far, my back hurts particularly bad after swim sessions, however, the back seems to hold up well to the run and bike.
I was reading the "Well Built Triathlete" and I had seen the "fargile" athlete training schedule which suggested that 2 days on w/ 1 day rest was sufficient.
I'm just trying to plan on how not to re-injure the back.... It was god awful :-(
2X what Rachel says but since you clarified a few things I'll chime in as well. If you're coming off of an injury and you're new to triathlon, then building in rest days is beneficial, especially if you're doing a lot of high intensity stuff. I've seen a lot of people start out way to fast and hard with their training and get injured and give up. Build up to it. Stress your body a little more each week than the last and give it time to recover from the stress. That's the way to success. Now does that mean that you don't do a workout because you're a little tired? No, it just means that you have to listen to your body and do what's right for you.
Remember, that there are other stressors in life than just the training and those can affect your training and recovery as well. If you read the forums and follow the team members on Strava you'll realize that there are a lot of folks out there doing tremendous training loads. Frankly I'm amazed and also jealous of them at times, but I have to step back and realize that everyone is different and make sure I do my own thing. The good thing is that I've been on the EN team for less than two years and I'm faster now than I was when I started. I'm 58 and it's great to know that I can still get faster. Having said that, I still struggle with the recovery part and taking days off so I guess I need to go back and read what I just wrote.
Comments
Rachel, thanks for your thoughts! I'm currently waiting to see my RoadMap from coach Rich. I'm assuming that i'll be on the Short Course Plan as I'm training for my second triathlon (this one will be an Olympic distance) which the goal is to finish with good spirits and form :-). My first race went well (sprint triathlon) placed 5th in the Clydesdale division.
I had injured my back (bulging disc between L4-L5) back in December 2014. I muscled back with chiropractor and physical therapy (and oral steroids).
Interesting points with training so far, my back hurts particularly bad after swim sessions, however, the back seems to hold up well to the run and bike.
I was reading the "Well Built Triathlete" and I had seen the "fargile" athlete training schedule which suggested that 2 days on w/ 1 day rest was sufficient.
I'm just trying to plan on how not to re-injure the back.... It was god awful :-(
Any and all thoughts are welcome!! :-)
Hi Tom,
2X what Rachel says but since you clarified a few things I'll chime in as well. If you're coming off of an injury and you're new to triathlon, then building in rest days is beneficial, especially if you're doing a lot of high intensity stuff. I've seen a lot of people start out way to fast and hard with their training and get injured and give up. Build up to it. Stress your body a little more each week than the last and give it time to recover from the stress. That's the way to success. Now does that mean that you don't do a workout because you're a little tired? No, it just means that you have to listen to your body and do what's right for you.
Remember, that there are other stressors in life than just the training and those can affect your training and recovery as well. If you read the forums and follow the team members on Strava you'll realize that there are a lot of folks out there doing tremendous training loads. Frankly I'm amazed and also jealous of them at times, but I have to step back and realize that everyone is different and make sure I do my own thing. The good thing is that I've been on the EN team for less than two years and I'm faster now than I was when I started. I'm 58 and it's great to know that I can still get faster. Having said that, I still struggle with the recovery part and taking days off so I guess I need to go back and read what I just wrote.