Different goals require different kinds of training. Playing sports when I was younger, I always had a coach when I was a kid. The coach told us which drills to complete, how fast and what types of runs/swims to complete and then we would all go home. We were also training for something much more short term. In soccer, we'd have 2-3 games a week once the season got going - with a season being about 3 months. In swimming, our races were all considered sprint distances and meets were twice a week.
I never had to think about where or how I was training - I just did what the coaches said to do. Simple enough. That is different with triathlon (in part because I do not have a coach), because it is a completely different animal. The "season" is about 10 months long and you may only compete in a handful of races during that time (this depends largely on the distance of the races you are completing).
Endurance and good aerobic (or base) fitness are what you need to be able to complete the longer distance triathlon races (or other endurance sports). But even after reading about Zone 2 training and hearing about how some of the most successful triathletes of all time trained in Zone 2 most of the time, I was still skeptical.
Last year I trained by feel. While I did improve from June thru September, I was coming from a place of pretty low fitness. So doing pretty much anything was going to yield overall improvement. I played around with Zone 2 training towards the end of the summer. But I always finished those sessions feeling like I missed something or was disappointed with the time/distance for that session (especially when running) because I wasn't that tired compared to the much harder (and shorter) sessions.
That's the downside to Zone 2 training - you need to force yourself to stay in the zone which sometimes may mean going REALLY easy (maybe even walking). It's hard and requires a good deal of focus. While out there doing an easy run/bike/swim, I have to constantly remind myself of all the benefits I'm getting from that session.
A fellow triathlete did a great video that shares in detail the power of training in Zone 2. I've included that link here for those who are interested.
As hubby and I look to complete our first 70.3 distance triathlon, I need to continue to work on building up endurance and my base fitness. I'm ahead of where I was at this time last year (which was basically at step 1). Now I need to stay consistent and stick to the right zone.
Happy Training!
- Working Mother Triathlete
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