Troy Jacobsen advocating low-volume training
Seems to oscillate between being very EN-like, and then not
http://coachtroyjacobson.blogspot.c...onman.html
I guess I'm wondering how you would go about implementing this advice. If you're doing the limited hours thing, how are you also doing a bunch of base training / aerobic threshold stuff? Doesn't that just end up meaning you're training less than you could have?
Mike
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As one that does use his bike videos pretty often in the winter here in WI, and so I know that he can work you pretty hard, and knowing that he is not much younger than me and just did a sub 9:25 at Kona so he must be doing something right, I must admit that I was intrigued with this most recent article. I wonder if he actually lives by what he says himself or if he does something different himself? I would love to see his actual training plan, and am curious too if he really does it all out year round. But his results are not bad. Just shows that really what matters is what works for each of us individually. The reason that EN works for those of us here is because it is right for each of us given our own personal situations. I suspect that like me, most of us have tried other programs and with not much success. Otherwise we would still be doing them. EN works for me because it is a good solid program and philosophy that is well thought out, and it is right for someone like me that runs 2 different million dollar plus businesses and has kids and a real life and does this for fun and health and the camaraderie of all the people here. But I cannot say that Jacobson does not have good things to say. It is that is jsut not right for me.
It just seems like a mishmash of popular IM training tips. I especially don't like the shorter, more frequent workouts advice. It is a MUCH better use of my time to go to the pool twice a week for 4000 yard sessions than it is to go 4 times for 2000. Four trips to the pool is twice the admin time for the same workout time. Even as I prepare for this weekend's 70.3, I can barely bring myself to do less than 3000 per session.
Same for the bike. If I'm going to go through the process of suiting up for a ride, I'm not going for less than an hour, even if it's indoors.
His success and speed as a masters athlete is irrelevant to us since he is a former pro. He has decades of huge base building in the bank already.
When I read that at the time, I wondered which bit he didn't get?
I agree that's it's a mishmash of a lot of things but I think it also has some elements that I think a reflective coach with a lot of years in the business, with age groupers as customers, is going to come around to.
A couple notes (and maybe I'll write something more comprehensive in the next couple days):
Anyway, more later. I'll take the Boyz for a long walk tomorrow, or clean the garage, and jam something out in my head
They are if you drop it down to 2 swims/week and only do every other Sunday ride...
Haha, actually I think this is true. Even by not being able to a complete plan, you are still set up for a successful race based on the TSS you are accumulating, which I think is difficult in plans that focus on just long and slow, cause if you miss too much of that you're pretty much screwed.
I agree the IM plans are pretty much the same in hours. The main difference I always notice, is that traditional plans have you working out tons of hours in a week months and months before your event, which is really draining. Having the OS be short but hard makes the change to the IM plans that much easier to handle without driving you batshit bonkers before your race.
We call this focusifying or a big bike/run/training week volume etc.
http://coachtroyjacobson.blogspot.com/2011/06/three-breakthrough-strategies-to-set.html
We have things like a 50 miles in 50 days swim challenge 30 runs in 30 days.
The one thing he definitely understands is how to kill yourself inside on a bike in about an hour.