20 hours for an Oly is elite training time. Unless your run and bike backgrounds are similar to your swim background, you may be looking at some injury in those sports.

Dunno how you current swim schedule is (pretty nuts, I'd wager) in terms of hours. The general split for training, even as far as elites go is 50% on the bike and 25% each on the swim and run. You really should be doing more than 1 or 2 intense workouts per week in each sport. I would take your extra time and pump it into endurance rides, with a little extra for the run.

Good luck.

I agree with Triguy98: 20 hours a week is for elite/nationally ranked O-distance racers. So, you are either doing way to much for an Oly or you need to take that volume and apply it to a longer format. And 15-ish 'intense' workouts? Please. That's two-a-days Monday thru Saturday and three sessions on Sunday. Right. Are you biking 100ks yet or running half marathons in those 20 hours? For comparison purposes, half IM training programs rarely (if ever) hit 20 hours a week. A couple 40k weekday rides and 100k weekend ride; 3-4 miles in the pool; and 20 miles a week running is only about 12-13 hours and will get you thru a half easily. Full IM training programs might hit 20 hours a week, but only a few times and then a long pre-race taper. And for how to break it up, "50% on the bike and 25% each on the swim and run" is a good starting point. But if your swim is even average for a college swimmer it will probablyl be top 10% in any AG. So I'd cut back on the swim and ramp up the bike and run. I'm training for my third IM and from my experience (and knowing what my limiters are), my break down is 16% swim; 46% bike; 38% run (I had a 6hr run split at my last IM so I have demons to exercise). As of the end of January I am five months out from IM Germany and doing about 10hrs a week.

Triathlon is very much a quality vs. quantity sport for most people, and the previous posters are right: you risk getting injured if you try to put in too much volume, especially if you're looking to suddenly spike your training volume for bike/run in March.

Here's something to consider: add in strength and flexibility workouts instead of trying to get all of your training volume from swim, bike, and run. I always recommend at least one yoga class a week for my athletes. If you do some hard core yoga, it will build overall strength (especially in the core) and flexibility, as well as help prevent injuries. If you go for a more restorative yoga program, look for an instructor (or video) that involves a lot of hip and shoulder opening poses. I also have a few athletes who really enjoy Pilates classes as a way to build core strength. You could get 2-6 hours of volume from yoga classes, and also improve your body's ability to recover.

If you're finishing your college swimming career, you're used to doing some heavy volume weight training, right? Go with that. Strength training can lead to significant gains in your multisport performance. You're probably experienced enough as an athlete to be able to figure out a weight program that will work for you.

Once you start racing, you absolutely need to back off your training volume significantly. High volume is great for base building, but once you get into specific preparation for races--especially sprints and olympic distance--it's all about high-intensity work, and if you try to do high volume and high intensity simultaneously, you'll very likely get hurt. At the very least, you won't perform at your best. And don't forget to taper for races! One week for a sprint, two weeks for olympic distance, reducing volume by 20-30% each week. If you're doing a super sprint, do a drop-dead taper, where you completely chill for two or three days right before.

Good luck with your training! I look forward to hearing more from you!

I agree with a two week taper for an A priority oly. It takes about 2-3 weeks to gain fitness from a workout from what I've read, so you aren't going to achieve much by continuing with heavy training. The first week of taper doesn't need to be much of a drop, but it seems that you should reduce volume a bit.