Getting Started: Ionraic Triathlon Club training blog
As we start the New Year club members have been clamoring for some training plans, tips, schedules, and just plain advice.
We will start a new link, Training, in which we can hopefully deliver what you will need to accomplish your goal for the coming year.
First let me say none of the board members, who will be the ones offering advice, are coaches of any kind. That being said, it has always been my belief and training method to watch and listen to people that have accomplished what I wanted to do; they having been there, done that is powerful evidence of any method being successful.
I also always believed that a club, with members paying dues with the expressed goal of completing a certain race or races, be the distributer of the needed knowledge since we see, on a daily or weekly basis the members as they are before, during and after training and racing, and therefore are in a better position to evaluate how their individual training is going.
It doesn’t seem reasonable that any program can be right for everyone; there is just too much diversity with member’s family and work considerations, goal races they have picked, and different talent levels. For all training to work it must be individualized, thereby making online programs, or trying to keep up with someone else, not necessarily right for you.
First let me say there is a lot of time. It is the end of the year; a time to rest, decide on a goal race or two, heal up the nagging injuries we all have and enjoy the Holidays.
My first tip is that thru reading, talking and personal experience that when training, “most athletes” (there is always a caveat!) after 16-20 weeks will notice a drop in performance due to fatigue. If you plan your goal race within those times, and take a little break for a week or two, you then can start right back up pushing your training.
Living where we do, and starting in earnest in April, most of us will peak around mid August. For me I become very sluggish about the end of August/beginning of September.
It is a challenge to race well all year, and do as many races as we can fit in, but if you pick an A race or two, and the others plan to do well but not necessarily PR, you will have a more consistent and injury free year.
Many members are gearing to do their first half July 15th, the Musselman. Counting back 16-20 weeks starts us at March 15th at the latest, and February 15th at the earliest. Too LATE you say! Why no, because we are all training as we speak! Just because you are not anaerobic all the time doesn’t mean you’re not accomplishing things for your body. Relax; run easy, start doing rides on the trainer, swim hard but not every session, and work on your weaknesses.
Recap:
1. Pick goal races
2. Do not do too much too soon
3. Heal current injuries
4. Work on particular weaknesses
5. Goal is to be ready to start working hard when you get to the 20 week from your race point.
P.S. These are my opinions. There will be a lot of opinions expresses herein by other members. You are also free to consult books, blogs, and any other training methods and opinions you come across, and please put them up for discussion as even I don’t know it all! I think it will be great to have a really good thread going throughout the year. I hope that the text of this will be on the web page, but we will discuss it on the FB member’s only site.
Submitted by Tony Garrow V.P.
That was well and good, but the weekend of July 14th & 15th of 2012 came and went but not without triathletes at every level. They descended on Geneva NY for the 
Ionraic Triathlon Club 