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How long between A Races (OD)?

aoneill69aoneill69 Posts: 206
in General Chat
After my 1st year of dabbling with sprint distance want to move to a proper training plan (Friel Bible) and move up to OD.
Was looking at Blenheim and Trentham, these are 5 weeks apart, from the reading it suggests group your A races in 2-3 weeks blocks or allow 8'ish weeks for a full peak cycle....anyone comment on this?...worth pushing them further apart?...or to run the both of them, and maybe 2nd one as a B race in prep for an additonal A race later in the season?....BTW goal is to finish...so maybe they are all A races

Comments

  • diddsdidds Posts: 655
    I did two ODs this year 5 weeks apart, and it certainly "fitted" me fine.

    I then did 3 races in 4 weeks (the 2nd OD and two sprints) plus two aquathlons and i was definitely feeling tired on the last sprint!

    Good luck with making TTB's trainig plan/schedule work for you... let us know how you get on!

    didds
  • Jack HughesJack Hughes Posts: 1,262
    It depends how you define an 'A' race. An 'A' race could well be your season goal - i.e. there is only one A race in a season. Just because a race isn't an A race, it doesn't mean that your don't race as hard. Rather, your A race characterises and defines your training plan. For example, your training may be focused on longer distances, aiming to get you to a peak at a certain time. On the way your may do some sprints - you'll race as hard as you can, but your training won't have been focussed on bringing out your best for these specific events.

    For example, you may be following a 16 week plan to take you up to your event, at week 4 you might decide to do a race, substituting it for a quality session for that week, and perhaps swapping round rest days. But the overall plan is still the 16 week one, aiming to bring you to physical perfection for "the big one".

    How long you leave between races depends on your recovery time. You need a bit of experience to work out how long that takes. It depends on how old your are, how hard you race, how injured you are.
  • HarryDHarryD Posts: 425
    Agree with Jack. Can only realy have one A race a year in Tri. That is the one you focus your training build up & taper on. Your Olympic Games. B races are still important - more like a selection race for the Olympics.

    Doesn't mean that you won't be fit and raring to go in the build up and for several weeks after which can lead to good results. If these results are better than your A race then you need to review your planing.

    Athletes often aim for two A races. One during the Feb/March indoor season when European & World titles are up grabs & again in July & August when the big events are. Even then they use the indoor event as a measure of how winters training has gone. These A races are still 5 or 6 months apart - you would find it virtually impossible to find two OD events in the UK that far apart for which you could seriously prepare. Dificult but not impossible though.

    As Jack says the time between OD races depends on you but a minimum of 2 weeks. By weeks 3 & 4 you should have recovered enough to race hard.
  • jacjac Posts: 452
    It's unlikely you can peak for two "A" races so close together.
    However, it seems, your goal is to finish rather than necessarily peak to put in your best performance.
    So really it is up to you to prioritise your races. If you truly want to peak then one A race needs to be selected.
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