The distance debate

Hey guys,

I'm writing here about the debate not of race distance, but of training volume. Ever since I was 12, after I ran that half-marathon, then that Half-Ironman, then that full marathon, I wanted to do more. That's what my whole mindset was, just longer, longer, longer. I wanted to be the youngest to do these events. However, once I started meeting with coaches and experienced triathlete veterans, they immediately pointed out my stupidity in wanting to do so much so young. I admit, I was kind of being dumb back at the time and I should've done a little more research, but come on, it was fun! Anyways, I am older now, and more developed, and at a key time in my training. As I train more, I am starting to see how overuse injuries can slow down training substantially. Don't get me wrong, physical injuries are much worse. I myself have had torn groin muscles, strained hip adductors and strained hip flexors, along with Achilles tendonitis and a rotator cuff problem. These all happened in very close succession to each other and I am just now starting to get back to consistent training.

Regardless, I feel like I've missed out on training from my competition and I'm trying to feverishly catch up. As an example, I jumped my cycling mileage per week up by almost half, going from around 80 miles a week to about 150 miles a week. I also started working, where I'm on my feet all day and rarely have the chance to rest. So, as a result, my shin splints started to come back and I have a mild case of cyclist's knee.

My advice to all of you is to be smart with your training. Don't go out the day you come off your official "off-season" and go crazy with a ridiculous bike interval set. You have to think about your base mileage first. Even when you have a solid base, even through the off-season, you have to re-adjust your body back to the rigors of training. I feel so bad for people who get injured at the time of their training, and I really hope it doesn't have to happen to any of you. Take it from me, it's very hard to recover to 100%. It is doable, but it takes a lot of time and energy to get completely fixed.

Be careful out there guys.