Last week I got in a record-for-this-year 22.5 hours of swim/bike/run training. My previous best this season was only about 18 hours - it was hard to do enough when I was working nearly full-time, and also I didn't like biking from where I lived, swimming was inconvenient, and life in general in SF was inconvenient. I'm not one of those guys who can thrive on <20 hours of weekly training hours, at least not for very long. 2004-2007 I was averaging over 20 hours of training per week in a typical week, and some weeks I was around 30 hours - and that worked very well for me.
I'm not planning on being a completely full-time triathlete for long, but here in Phoenix I'm going to continue to have a much better training environment for the rest of this season and the following seasons. For one, I'll be working considerably less hours than I was in SF once I start working, my commute will be better guaranteed, I enjoy biking outdoors here right from our door, I have good running across the street in Papago Park and access to treadmills in our community fitness center, and a gorgeous 50 meter outdoor pool to swim in with a great masters team. I should not have a problem averaging well over 20 hours per week of good training.
I'm on track for another 22-23 hour week here despite the heat here that is tremendous - up to 115 at mid-day and already 100 degrees at 9 am most mornings now. With these kind of temperatures I've learned some things...
1) Running is by far the most difficult thing - either get the run in before 7:30 AM or do it on the treadmill. Either way you're sweating a ton, but it's doable. Drink a lot.
2) Biking isn't the worst in the heat as long as you're cruising around on my mostly flat roads, but still I want to be done before it gets much above 105, so finishing before 10 or 11 AM is advisable. On my long ride last weekend - a little under 4:30 with stops, 9-mile climb, and most of the ride between 100-110 degrees - I drank over 3 gallons of liquids and was STILL dehydrated at the end (That was 19 bottles of water/juice!!!). I should've started earlier, but I made a smart move by going with just a hat - gives shade without the heat of a helmet, and when I stop at a quickie mart I can fill the hat up with ice and put it back on my head. Drink a lot. You're still going to be dehydrated at the end, though.
3) Swimming is by far the best. I've been swimming at the gorgeous Brophy Pool, which they keep at a perfect 78-80 degrees, which feels AMAZING for the 11:30-1 pm masters swim. I swam 6x last week, the most in years, because my favorite part of the day is swimming now.
A typical day for me is getting on the bike as soon as I wake up and eat some breakfast. I have a 45 mile loop I like to do right now that takes 2 hours, maybe a little more if I don't get through the lights well. Then at 11 I'll commute by bike to the Brophy pool for the BEST masters swim weekdays from 1130 to 1 pm. It takes me around 25 minutes to bike commute. It's hot, but pretty much flat, and not many lights. After swimming I'll bike back home. That's a nearly 4.5 hour day that I like a lot.
Another typical day, a little easier, is to run first thing in the morning - either in Papago Park or on the treadmill - for 45-60 minutes. Then bike commute to 1130-1 pm BEST masters swimming. That's a 3+ hour day that usually feels pretty light to me.
Papago Park:
It hasn't been just training that has been fun. Yesterday, Anisia and I went to Big Surf - a water park less than 10 minutes away. That's the best way to beat the Phoenix heat!
The middle slide that goes straight down was our favorite one.
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