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The Triathletes Training Bible - Joe Friel

I understand that this is quite a popular book so I thought that there maybe someone out there who understands it. Has anyone managed to actually produce an annual training plan using the Triathlon Training Bible?



Following the book: [ul][*]I worked out how many hours a year I can train. [*]I’ve filled in the annual plan, races etc so that I know when the preparation, base 1, base 2, build 1, build 2 etc are going to be.[*]I filled in the annual training plan, putting an “X” against each week for the different types of session: endurance, force etc[*]I know how many hours a week to train and how to split up the hours into different days of the week. [/ul] Then the book jumps to weekly training plans and out of nowhere produces a number of “example” charts (Pg 101 - 2nd edition) where different levels of intensity and duration are suggested. It then magically apportions these intensities and durations to swim / bike / run sessions?

[ul][*]How do I know when I should do a high intensity and when to do a long duration? Or when to do both?

[*]Can I do different types of training in the same session e.g.Endurance and force sessions together ?[/ul]I don't suppose anyone knows where I can find out more.



Any help greatly appreciated since I've read this far up to now and it all made sense, if a little complicated!!







Comments

  • transittransit Posts: 163
    Glad it's not just me then! As you said, it does not go into a great deal of detail about training sessions. Also, the lack of specifity of training session length/intensity relative to the distance of events was frustrating.



  • Ditto with me - I bought it after everyone said it was fantastic and now I am thinking - so how do I decide on what to focus my training plan on for the next six months[8|]
  • me too, me too he says (frantically waving arm from the back of the classroom!) .

    I then bought 'be IRON fit' by Don Fink which gives excellent detailed training plans for each day, each month and each training phase. Much more user friendly than Joe Friel for an overall training plan explaining which sessions should follow on from each other and what they consist of.
  • Wow, you've got a lot further than I ever did!
  • ...and me. Phew, I thought I was just being a bit slow and missing something obvious.
  • Just bought Joe Friel's book. Looks like I've got a lot of fun reading ahead
  • taytay Posts: 18
    and there I was thinking it was just me who thought it was complex....might give Don Fink a try (thanks for the suggestion alanford)!
  • I got the same impression from this book. I bought it thinking it would tell me stuff like, do these drills to increase leg speed etc. But I found it was just reiterating the same idea of periodisation throughout the year and planning, planning and more planning. However I did find the scientific stuff about calculating thresholds etc. pretty good, if very very long winded!





  • bennybenny Posts: 1,314
    have the book,but not started reading it yet.

    Will I ever ... ???[&:]
  • julesojuleso Posts: 279
    Keep it by the bed for insomnia purposes.
  • djtvdjtv Posts: 28
    I read TTB and planned this season training with it it. I would say that it really is a tool for experienced athletes with a lot of potential training hours available, just to understand strengths and weaknesses in the way it describes and to get in the variety of sessions it suggests.



    The goal setting in the worksheet worked well for me as a motivational factor behind training all year (I just missed each of them this year[:(] which was a bummer).



    Starting the week/month knowing exactly what sessions I needed to do was also really beneficial for me which meant I could go to the gym or go for a bike/run and make the session specific as opposed to "just another run/bike". The way the workouts can be planned enables you to constantly see improvement as well, especially if running on a treadmill or riding on a trainer where speed/heart rate can be tracked.



    I found the book much more useful when I combined it with "Swim, Bike Run" by Wes Hobson (I think) which enabled me to pick the right training session and get the mix right. SBR is a less technical book and helped me to fully understand how to plan the sessions and what to do.



    I would recommend mixing the two to ge the real benefit from TTB.



    DJ.



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