Questions, questions, questions...

Every now and then I get a random email from someone I don't know very well asking training related questions, or get asked questions when I run into people at a race, at the clinic during a bike fit, etc... The questions are typically along the lines of 'what should I focus on leading up to my Ironman race?' or 'how many hours a week should I run?' and 'what intensity should I train at?'. My answer is typically 'I don't know', solely because I don't have all the information I need about the person.

I have said it before, and will say it again, this time in bold & capital letters:

IT DEPENDS

Obviously, some principles remain the same. The human body adapts to stress in a similar way, you are not as unique as you may think you are... In saying that: the other stresses in your life may not be the same as your friends/training buddies.

Someone who does not work and has all the time in the world to train & recover from workouts will get a different answer than someone who has to juggle work, family and other commitments. Than there is age, goals, schedule, family, priorities, training & racing history, health issues, etc...

All these factors are things I need to know before giving you an answer. I don't like making assumptions and you don't want to get an answer based on assumptions (Oops, this is an assumption too. Maybe you do want to get an answer based on assumptions? If that is the case, post your question on a chatline/forum instead of emailing me...).

I have written a couple of similar posts before, here and here, and something tells me this is not the last post on this topic... I don't do anything generic, not training plans and not answers to questions. I will, however, answer your questions if you answer mine first :)

N