Your Offseason Makes Next Season
The race season is over. Now what?
For many triathletes, the race season is over…what to focus on now can be confusing when in reality the offseason can be one of the most valuable parts of your training and what you do sets you up for a stronger more resilient race days.
Start Your Triathlon Offseason With Recovery
First, focus on recovery. Allow your body and your mind a chance to do nothing, don’t think about fueling, swimming, biking or running for a week or two.
Next, add some activity, unstructured training. Ride because the weather is nice, mountain, gravel or road, leave the tri bike at home, Go for a walk or hike instead of a run, regain some mobility, learn some new swim strokes. Most important, high fun value sports and focus on the social aspect of activity with friends.
This time of year is also a nice opportunity to work on something that isn’t necessarily your primary sport.
As an age-group swimmer, the first time I had a true offseason from swimming was after my sophomore year of high school. I had struggled through a major slump. My coach decided I needed a change and encouraged, or maybe made, me run track for three months.
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What Running Taught Me About Being a Beginner
At the time, running wasn’t part of my swimming program and was a very difficult transition. My heart and lungs were in shape and my muscles, tendons and ligaments were not. I would get shin splits within the first month of track season., Running was so HARD for me, like swimming is difficult to a beginner triathlete. Those three months gave me and opportunity to stay fit and dry and also something to fall back on when I started triathlon after my freshman year of college, While I was learning how to train for three sports instead of one, I wasn’t starting from zero in running.
Sometimes the best thing you can do for your next season isn’t more of the same nor is it a complete month of not doing anything. It might be trying something you’ve never done before.
Before deciding how to plan your training for next season, look back at the one you just finished and answer the questions.
What went well?
What didn’t?
What was consistently difficult?
Was there a technical limitation, a strength deficiency, a lack of endurance, or confidence issue?
What you do when you’re not racing may be exactly what prepares you for the athlete you want to become next season.
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Wendy Mader has been immersed in endurance sport since her Division I swimming days at Eastern Michigan University and has raced triathlon since 1992. She prefers the training over the spotlight of race day. With a master’s degree in Wellness Management, where her research examined eating disorders among triathletes, she brings both lived experience and academic insight to the conversation around performance and health. Hee decades of experience navigating setbacks, she coaches athletes to chase growth, she believes longevity, not metrics, is the real measure of success. As founder of t2coaching, she guides ambitious athletes to execute, think long-term, and stay in the sport for life.
