Tri Plans by Rider Type

Training
#1

Hi all. Quick question for the coaches or anyone else who may know. I’m tagging @Coach.Suzie.S as the best approach always seems to be if you don’t know who to ask, ask Suzie :slight_smile:

As we all know, the training plans differ by ride typer, focusing on strengths and weakneses as appropriate for the plan’s intended goal.

But, does anyone know - is this the case for the non-bike parts of the multisport (tri) plans? For the bike training, I am sure it does. Do the run sessions change at all by rider type too?

I know the link won’t be direct - my 4DP results won’t tell you exaclty what my running is lke - but perhaps there is a sufficient crossover to allow for some tinkering of the choice of run workouts by rider type.

If not, has it been considered? You can’t make it too specific without more approriate run testing (there was a thread elsewhere discussing the Stryd test and how it is quite 4DP-like) but it would be an interesting angle for SUF.

Cheers,

Lee

#2

@leebo,

This is a good question. Bottom line is that no, your rider type has nothing to do with the run workouts in a multisport plan. We are working on a better run test to dial in more specific training zones, however it may be a little while until we can implement it. For now, we simply consider the demand of the event when planning the swim, bike and run sessions for multisport plans. When it comes to triathlon, we know what kind of fitness and energy systems we need to train in order to succeed at each particular race distance, and use that as our guide.
You could speculate what kind of runner you’d be based on your cycling 4DP test, but that would tell you nothing about your current running ability. For example, if your cycling 4DP test says you’re a sprinter, chances are you’d be a better run sprinter than a marathoner as well simply because it’s likely that you have more fast-twitch fibers, or your fast twitch fibers are more highly trained. However, if you want to run a marathon, you’re not going to have a lot of 100m dashes in your training plan, and you’re going to train your slow twitch fibers more. Just like cycling, we don’t want to ignore your strengths completely, but it’s also not really that important how fast you can sprint short distances so your speed work will be more like kilometer or mile repeats.
I hope that makes sense and answers your question, and I hope we can deliver a new run test to you all in the near future!

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#3

Thank you. That all makes complete sense and in line with what I thought.

I have no doubt that you’re working on yet more ways to increase and improve the suffering!

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#4

Oohh… a running version of Full Frontal perhaps??? Sounds like I may be needing another bucket!

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#5

Agree with the point bike & run power are different for many reasons. There are run power tests and run power meters if you want to add to your suffering. Garmin does power with some watches and supporting gear, Stryd is another. Steve Palladino (Power Project) has a test as does Stryd to determine run power (you’ll need a run power meter). But reading about it might help (S. Palladino has written material)-it is a lot different from heart rate