Maintenance Mode

My athlete Erin, who discovered a surprising, if fleeting, taste for Marmite during Ironman South Africa, is entering her first year of emergency-medicine residency. Given the demanding schedule and her plans to enjoy the spring triathlon schedule in New Orleans, she asked me what she should be doing now. Here’s what I prescribed; I hope it might help you during those times when your life is busy but you want to maintain fitness.

-run 3x/week

-one run has strides/pickups or short intervals

-one run has a tempo middle section of 10-30 minutes

-one run is a little longer, ideally building to then maintaining 90 minutes

-ride as you can, keeping your bike on the trainer so you can do 30 min. 1-2x/week

-focus on keeping your rear end conditioned

-do pedaling drills (spinups, single-leg pedaling)

-swim 1x/week

-drills to warm up

-descend 400-300-200-100

-a few fast 50s

-pushups/situps/squats/lunges/yoga 2-3x/week. Even 10 minutes of at-home weightless strength stuff matters.

-REALLY push quality of life when you aren’t at the hospital [or wherever you find work/relationship stress]. Sleep a lot and eat well. Don’t be afraid to take 2-3 days per week OFF of workouts in favor of lying on the couch, legs up, reading a novel.