Craig Alexander - Three-time Ironman World Champion | EP#461
That Triathlon Show
Triathlon Training Essentials
This chapter explores the fundamental principles of bike training for triathletes, emphasizing specificity in muscle training and structured workout approaches. It covers cycling techniques, low cadence efforts, and the importance of strength training to enhance overall performance while preventing injuries. The discussion also extends to running strategies, detailing various training methods to build endurance and speed effectively.
Craig Alexander is a three-time Ironman World Champion and two-time Ironman 70.3 World Champion. In this episode we discuss the training and racing strategies Craig used during his career in detail. Craig also shares learnings from his post-racing coaching career on training considerations for age-group triathletes.
HIGHLIGHTS AND KEY TOPICS:
- An overview of Craig's training approach during his most successful years
- Key principles and example workouts in his swim, bike and run training
- How to race well in Kona
- Things that didn't work and training mistakes made
- Craig's team and coaches
- Advice for age-group athletes, including time-restricted athletes and older athletes
- Common mistakes to avoid for age-group athletes
- Overrated and underrated products and concepts in triathlon
DETAILED EPISODE SHOWNOTES:
- We have detailed shownotes for all of our episodes. The shownotes are basically the podcast episode in written form, that you can read in 5-10 minutes. They are not transcriptions, but they are also not just surface-level overviews. They provide detailed insights and timestamps for each episode, and are great especially for later review, after you've already listened to an episode. Naturally, as great as they are, they do not cover absolutely everything in as great detail as we can do in a 45-90 minute podcast episode.
- The shownotes for today's episode can be found at www.scientifictriathlon.com/tts461/
LINKS AND RESOURCES:
WHAT SHOULD I LISTEN TO NEXT?
If you enjoyed this episode, I think you'll love the following episodes:
- Frank Jakobsen – Performance, training and mindset | EP#231 and Coach Frank Jakobsen | EP#373 - Frank is one of the coaches Craig worked with during his career, and shares lots of wisdom in these two interviews.
- Kona preparation – best practices of top coaches | EP#309 - For more advice specifically on preparing for a great race in Kona, this is a great listen.
- David McNamee – training, racing, and insights from 18 years in triathlon | EP#435 - Another interview with detailed insights into the training of an athlete who's had great success in the Ironman World Championships.
You can find our full episode archives here, where you can filter for categories such as Training, Racing, Science & Physiology, Swimming, Cycling, Running etc.
You can also find separate archives for specific series of episodes I've done, specifically Q&A episodes, TTS Thursday episodes, and Beginner Tips episodes.
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