GetTriReady triathlon coaching that adapts your swim, bike and run training to your fitness, schedule and race goals in real-time.

GetTriReady Monthly · Issue 01 · November 2026

Winter is where your next race is built.

One read a month for age-group triathletes. What to train now, and what the research says. No jargon. No hype.

By Dean and Richard · 5 min read

Before we start

The clocks have gone back, and the sessions that matter most right now are the ones nobody sees.

This month: how to blend turbo and outdoor work without dreading either, and whether you really need 120 g of carbohydrate an hour on the bike.

Dean and Richard

01 · Season focus

November to February: build the engine indoors.

Winter training has a reputation problem. It is cold, it is dark and the turbo is dull. Fair. But the base you lay now is what makes spring sessions feel controlled instead of desperate.

The blend

Indoor bike

Two or three short, structured sessions.

The turbo is where you control the effort. Make one session properly hard. Keep the others easy. Dark mornings are not the time to freelance.

Outdoor bike

One long, steady ride when daylight allows.

Weekend, in daylight, with a proper layer. This is where you rehearse fuelling, handling and kit. If conditions are poor, move it. Do not skip it.

Swim, run, strength

Technique, consistency, and the gym.

Winter is the cheapest time to fix your swim stroke. Keep the running easy and regular. Add one or two strength sessions and protect them like any other.

A winter week

A shape, not a plan. Your GetTriReady plan is built around your race and your actual week.

Example winter training week
Day	Session
Mon	Rest, or mobility
Tue	Turbo: structured intervals
Wed	Swim: technique and drills
Thu	Easy run with a few short pick-ups
Fri	Strength
Sat	Long steady ride, outdoors if you can
Sun	Long easy run

02 · The science

How many carbs should you eat on the bike?

Two new papers this year, pulling in slightly different directions. Here is what each one found, and what we would do with it.

The study

More fuel, less fade over three hours.

Researchers at Liverpool John Moores University had 16 endurance-trained cyclists and triathletes ride for three hours at a moderate effort, taking in water only, 60 g or 120 g of carbohydrate an hour.

Afterwards they measured critical power, roughly the boundary between hard and very hard riding. It dropped for everyone. But it dropped less the more carbohydrate they had taken in.

Norte et al., Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports, 2026.

The caution

Past 90 g an hour, the evidence is thin.

A separate expert opinion piece argues that very high intakes, above 90 g an hour, are poorly evidenced and lean heavily on anecdote from elite athletes.

The authors also question why it works when it does. Rather than saving your own energy stores, the benefit may come from other routes, such as keeping blood sugar steady.

Plews, Booth, Krieger and Maunder, Sports Medicine, 2026.

What the three-hour trial compared, in grams of carbohydrate per hour

Water only

60 g/h

120 g/h

Long-standing guidance tops out around 90 g/h, between the two higher doses.

What we would do with it

Treat 60 to 90 g an hour as your range.

For long sessions and races, that is where most amateurs should be working.

Do not try a new number on race day.

Neither paper is a reason to jump to 120 g an hour. Build up in training and see what your gut tolerates.

Make every long session a fuelling rehearsal.

Same products, same timing, same bottles you will race with. That is what nutrition on every session is for.

Build your winter around your race.

GetTriReady builds your plan for your race and your course, with nutrition on every session. Built by Dean and Richard, who check what it produces.

Issue 02 lands in December.

Sources

Norte B et al. Graded carbohydrate ingestion up to 120 g/h and critical power. Scand J Med Sci Sports, 2026. doi:10.1111/sms.70326
Plews DJ et al. Fuelled or Fooled? Ultra-high carbohydrate intake in endurance athletes. Sports Medicine, 2026. doi:10.1007/s40279-026-02462-z

Monthly

Issue 01 · November 2026

Issue 02 · December 2026