Off-Season Triathlon Training: How to Stay Motivated

When I take on a new triathlete, it’s always a goal to help make triathlon part of their lifestyle. Not an extra “thing” on their plate, but something that naturally fits in with everything else. Eventually training is not something they feel they have to do, but end up just needing as part of their lives. So, it would make sense in that mode, that triathlon training spans 11 months, rather than 9 or 6 months of seasonal activity like some other sports. You should fundamentally love jumping in a pool or on a bike to be successful, because to improve, you‘ve got to stick with it.

However, if you‘ve done a focused season of training and racing, you probably need a break, both physically and mentally. I’m very strict about taking 3-4 weeks off after an Ironman so for those athletes, it usually works out with the timing of their break for the year (also why I’m not keen on amateur athletes doing more than one full ironman distance event per year). For athletes after a long short course season, 2-4 weeks completely off triathlon training is good mentally and physically. Take a break from your coach (!) and let your body repair. However, this doesn’t mean stopping all activity during this time. Go play tennis 3 days a week for a month. Go to the gym and play on the machines you’ve never tried before. This can be harder for some than others, because let’s face it you have few friends outside of triathlon, and some of them might still be in race mode. So it might be tempting to take your bike out on the weekend. Try to resist training through your break and you might just find yourself coming back hungrier and more refreshed after some forced deprivation of triathlon-specific activities.

Once you’ve taken your complete break, “winter” or “off-season” training kicks in. This involves a period of mental and physical refreshing, while also building fitness toward your summer goals. Here’s a couple of basic ways this training differs from what you'll be doing prior and during race season.

Slowly build volume as you’re coming back

Squad members swim 10K from Golden Gate to Bay bridges

Depending on your years in the sport and your background, this will vary on how quickly this can be ramped up. The 10% weekly increase is a good starting point. But don't be scared to throw a long-distance, low intensity adventure in there to extend your endurance, like a long day hike or a big bike ride. Now's the time to do something a little more fun and crazy without jeopordizing a race performance.

Emphasize more peripheral things like resistance training, body composition and technique

Coaching working triathletes, it's hard to just get the minimum swim, bike and run workouts in to achieve maximum performance. So I prioritize them just doing the thing in race season and leaving behind the 2%ers the pros are doing.

But the off-season, as you're building your total volume up and you're forced in-doors, is an opportunity to work on things like strength. After a break is also a great time for your body to re-learn things like swim technique, re-setting any bad habits you may not have been able to address in season. Similarly if you have weight to lose, you can experiment with new dietary plans without risking any race day energy deficits.

Work on your weakest sport

One of unique and humbling aspects of triathlon is most people have one sport of the three they are just not as good at. But this presents an opportunity as that is the sport that potentially has the biggest margin of improvement. The off-season is a great time to "catch up" in that one sport by placing your time nd resources on getting better when the pressure is not there to be performing over all three disciplines. It might make sense for triathletes with a swimming background to not swim at all for several months if they can use that time to "catch up" in the other two. Work with a coach to figure out the right mix.

Take a break from mentally and physically exhausting threshold workouts

Tuesday Track looks different in the off-season

The off-season track workouts we do with our team are a perfect example of the type of thing I apply to all three sports. We don’t do any pure 400m or 1 mile repeats that we sometimes do in race season. Instead, we do drills, some strength (hill) stuff and still get plenty of running in, including some intensity, short in duration and with plenty of rest.

Change your scenery

If you’re predominantly a road runner, go get out on some trails. Don’t take your TT bike on the course of your “A” race… there’s plenty of time for that later. Seek out new pools if you're travelling on vacation. Try virtual indoor cycling if you never have before. Buy yourself a gravel bike. Explore some new places and change up the stimulus at a time when specificity is less important than just turning over the legs.

Coach Gunnar gets the squad out on a rainy morning

Get social

I've left what I think is the most important to last. This sport is too monotonous and grinding to try and do alone over the long term! Given it's unique logistics, and everyone's varied life schedules and geography, it's unrealistic for most people to train all the time as a group. But please don't isolate yourself completely and lose the enjoyment that comes from sharing the pain and the passion. As I mentioned in the open paragraph longevity is the key to getting good at this sport and the best way to achieve that is to link into a community. Over my years of coaching I've placed more emphasis on a psycho-social approach to the point that I won't take on an athlete who insists on isolating themselves. Check out our squad if you're missing a community aspect to your triathlon experience.