Triathlon Training: Low Season Plan 2015

I certainly endured a great year of racing. I was pleased to be able to take on the heaviest training load for an ironman. I was also pleased to have finished two other half ironman distances this year. All of these races and the increased training gave me a lot of confidence going into the 2016 season. I was especially encouraged by my finish in the Beach to Battleship Ironman distance race, where I finished just outside the podium fourth in my age group and ranked 57th overall. As I was wrapping up the last few weeks of training for the Ironman, I started thinking about what I would like to do during the offseason.

I knew I needed a break. The last three or four weeks of training became tedious and she was fighting physical and mental fatigue. My 2-week set-up plan worked perfectly and I felt good for the race, but I knew I couldn’t get back into training for the 2016 season. I also knew that to improve for next year’s races I would have to do a few things. differently to improve. Ultimately, I knew I needed more leg strength for biking, more core strength for running and cycling, and more upper body strength for stronger swimming strokes.

I’ve settled on a staple for myself over the past few years and that’s P90X. This series of exercises involves upper body strengthening as well as a steady diet of lower body exercises. It also has a focus on the core and abdominal areas. I wanted to do a 60 day race on the P90X after a week off after ironman. This 60-day P90X series would leave me a week from the New Year. I knew that we would be traveling during this time to visit family for Christmas and that my workouts would get messy at best.

I started on the P90X and quickly realized that I didn’t have the strength that I had at one point as I couldn’t do the required push ups or lift weights. I was also incredibly sore. I knew this was working the right muscles to get better at triathlon as well as building strength to prevent injury.

I’ll be back in Triathlon training right after the New Year.

Update:

11.29.15 – I’ve now been doing P90X for 40 days or so. I feel great even though I have lost some weight from not doing all the cardio I was doing before. I figure I’ll lose some of this weight when I get back into training right after the first of the year. My shoulders feel stronger and my back is stronger which will help in swimming. I feel like my legs are stronger along with my glutes which will help me run and bike. I’ll be ready to be done with P90X in a couple of weeks and then I think I’m mentally ready to get back into triathlon specific training. I ran a bit during the off week between weeks 3 and 5 of P90X. I recognized a stronger rhythm and my core was stronger. I feel like this was the best way to follow my offseason plan.