TriDot Training

-

TriDot is an online training program for triathlon that uses data collected from triathletes to customize training schedules for different individuals depending on their goals and fitness levels. I am a big fan of TriDot because the suggested training is based on the evaluation of previous results and knows what works, and what does not work.

In January, I took up an offer from TriDot to try their training program for free for 2 months. It is all online. First, I had to put in basic information like my age, height and weight, how long I had been active and my goals and ambitions. Then I was asked to do a fitness evaluation in swim, bike and run and enter the results. 

From this information, a detailed training schedule was generated. Each day is different, it is varied, and I think it looks very appropriate for myself. If you have one of the common brands of smart watch, your training data will be automatically uploaded, and depending on how you are doing, the training schedule will be adjusted. I have a COROS watch, and it uploads via Strava. 

The first few weeks, it was difficult to learn the software, and sometimes it drove me crazy. Fortunately, TriDot offer every new customer live online sessions with a teacher that goes through the software. Soon I had it mastered. TriDot also have online help if you have software and other questions. There is a FaceBook group for discussions.

TriDot gives you total time, distances and heart rate and speed zones to follow during the workouts. You are awarded points for how well you follow the instructions, where 100 points is a perfect execution. It is hard to do, in two months, I only had one 100 pointer. Because life and weather happen, you may need to change the training schedule and it is easily done by dragging a workout from one day to another on the online training calendar.

A clever thing with TriDot is that it reads the weather at your location and time of workout and adjusts your performance zones accordingly. For example, running in hot weather will result in slower times. Once a month, you do a new evaluation and training adjusts accordingly. From the results of the assessments, you are given TriDots, which are points telling you at what level you are, for example beginner, competitive or elite. TriDot also provides helpful videos showing how to correctly execute various exercises.

The biggest insight I have got from TriDot is how important slower, Zone 2, sessions are for your basic fitness. Apart from that, I am pleased to see that my own training program that I worked out by myself is very similar to TriDots schedule. My free trial is now over, but I have signed up for a paid subscription to continue. (I am in no way paid or sponsored by TriDot, this is my own independent opinion.)

In summary, an excellent training program that works.

/Gunilla

photo credit Alari Tammsalu

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Carbon plated running shoes

-
Image
In 2019, Eliud Kipchoge became the first human to run a marathon under 2 hours. On his feet were a pair high tech shoes featuring a carbon fiber plate and air-filled pods. Since then, numerous long-distance records have been shattered by runners wearing these types of shoes. Strava data suggests that a change to carbon plated shoes improves running time over 5%! I have been wondering, is it just a fashion, or are these shoes really faster? Seems hard to believe that shoes could make a noticeable difference today. Can they help me to be faster or is it just for elites? Finally, these shoes are being made by various brands in larger quantities and are available in low enough price for the general public. As I like to try all new shoes in person, I went to town to buy a pair, any brand. That did not go well, all shops were sold out.  I decided to gamble and order on-line. I read a lot of confusing reviews and learned that shoes higher than 40mm mid sole just have been banned for competiti
Read more

Do not wait until it is too late!

-
Image
Since my last post, I have not been competing, just training. It has been going well, I think I have improved my swimming a little bit by doing several sessions almost purely focused on speed. It has been intervals of 25, 50, 100, 150 and nothing longer than 200 yards, with the bulk in the shortest range.  But the last few days, I have hit a snag, a new pain in my left hip. At first, I ignored it, I always have pain somewhere, but it nearly always goes away after warmup. Last Saturday, I was going to run 10k in 4 parts of 2.5k, with two minutes rest in between. I warmed up on the treadmill, but the pain just got worse. Then at 9 min mile speed on the treadmill, my left leg gave in, and I almost fell over.  Ok, I thought, best not to push it on the treadmill where I can hurt myself, I will just run my 10k on the road and take it slightly slower than normal. But it was impossible, I was limping, and I had to stop after a few minutes. Ok, calm down, I told myself, no catastrophe if I miss
Read more

Multisport National Championship Festival Irving TX April 19-23

-
Image
This year, I participated in 3 national champion ship events: individual super sprint time trial triathlon, draft legal sprint triathlon and draft-legal mixed relay triathlon. I am now the youngest in my age group (65-69), and I hoped to place top 10, maybe top 5 in something. The first race was the super sprint time trial, which also was my first triathlon competition in 2023. I decided to use bike shoes for the ride (5k), and not try to save time by biking in running shoes as I did last year. I also swam the 250m in wetsuit, I have calculated that despite additional transit time to change, it is faster.  As this time trial has individual start, I had no idea of my position as the race progressed. But it felt ok, I passed people on the bike and on the run (1.2k), I shortened the gap to the runner in front of me. My time was 24.57 and it was enough for a second place in my age group! Way better than expected. Next day was the draft legal sprint triathlon (750m swim, 12-mile bike and 3.
Read more