Triathlon Training 2010: Week 2

DAY	SCHEDULED	ACTUAL	COMMENTS
Monday	OFF	Swim: 200 yards (8 min, 4 min/100 yds) Run: 26 min (1.9 miles, 13.7 min/mile)	Swim stroke mixture for the win! I have to stop briefly after each 25 yards because I’m winded but hopefully I can get past that eventually. After I left on my run I couldn’t remember if it was supposed to be 20 or 30 minutes so I did somewhere in between. Still alternating every minute but starting to kick up a notch with longer running periods. I don’t like hills.
Tuesday	Swim: 200 yards Run: 20 min	OFF	Ugh, not a good day. Decided catching up on housework and such was more important for my sanity.
Wednesday	Bike: 6 miles	OFF	Not enough sleep means not enough energy to exercise.
Thursday	Swim: 300 yards Walk: 30 min	Bike: 6 miles (34.5 min, 5.75 min/mile)	Had my first equipment incident, somehow popped the chain off when changing gears. But, I was able to pull it back on then wiped my fingers in the grass and continued on my merry way.
Friday	OFF	Swim: 300 yards (15 min, 5 min/100 yds)	Tried applying some of the techniques I’ve been reading about. Requires more concentration but I can definitely notice how they will help once I “master” them.
Saturday	Run: 30 min	OFF	Didn’t intend for this to be an off day but got distracted doing other things.
Sunday	Bike: 10 miles	Bike: 9.7 miles (57 min, 5.88 min/mile)	Explored part of the American Tobacco Trail in Durham. It was nice to be on an actual trail intended for bikes, less traffic to look for even though there were still several road crossings. Also, since it was an old railroad path it is much flatter terrain which I like a lot! I get a workout on the roads around our neighborhood because they’re somewhat hilly.

Overall Thoughts:

• Since unplanned activities come up a lot, I’ve decided to just do something on the schedule when I have time even if it is not the right day. So when unplanned activities do come up I won’t be stressing about missing training. I’m so smart thinking ahead! ;-)
• I think I’ve convinced a friend to be my mentor/coach/motivator/fill-in-the-blanker. Words of wisdom and advice from someone that has done this before cannot be a bad thing. I kept trying to convince Kendall to do this for me but he seemed more interested in just doing the training with me than dealing with all the other stuff. Perhaps that is wisdom on his part, I dunno, lol.
• Motivational words I received: “you know what whining is like right?”, “its like a rocking chair, you spend energy but get nowhere”, “its all a mind set”, “if you feel down or not good enough, go be awesome”, “so, quit whining and go be awesome”
• I was reminded of a book I picked up last summer at a used bookstore about swimming, Total Immersion, that might be helpful for me to read. The book has been added to my lunchtime reading material pile so I’m hoping to get some tips for long distance swimming while trying to conserve as much energy as possible. Something I am failing at in general right now!
• I am officially registered for the She TRIs Wilmington triathlon. Eeek!

Here is the same week last year.

Triathlon Training 2010: Week 1

I am not starting at the true week one in the plan because my target triathlon date in August is one week less than the plan I want to follow so I’m just going to start in week two. Hopefully this will not be an issue since I have been running once or twice a week and playing volleyball for a few hours about once a week for the past couple months. Last year I had literally been doing nothing before I started in on the training plan so I *think* I’ll be alright.

DAY	SCHEDULED	ACTUAL	COMMENTS
Monday	OFF	Swim: 200 yards (10 min)	Wow, it’s amazing what comes back to you! This was so much better than when I started last year. However, I am obviously out of shape. I was slow, huffing, puffing, and had to use a mix of breast, back, and freestyle strokes. But, I have confidence I will get better and that’s all that matters. I’m excited for a good start and the good feelings that came along with it.
Tuesday	Swim: 200 yards Run: 15 min	Run: 20 min (1.3 miles, 15.4 min/mile)	More like a 5 minute run since the time includes a 5 minute walking warmup then alternating 1 minute running with 1 minute walking. I didn’t mean to go 20 minutes but I went farther in distance than I intended and also had our 2 dogs with me to deal with. Note: I did the swim part the previous day because I knew I would not get around to doing both on the same day. Learning to adapt!
Wednesday	Bike: 6 miles	Bike: 6 miles (39 min, 6.5 min/mile)	This was not as easy as I had hoped and my quads were BURNIN’! I did find a new route which helps keep me entertained with new scenery. I got tired of seeing the same stuff last summer. The mountain bike I’m using is not designed for roads plus has some technical issues like a noisy chain/gears so may need to look into getting a better bike.
Thursday	Swim: 200 yards	OFF	I was feeling lazy and my shoulder muscles near the base of my neck were feeling pretty sore so I decided to adapt the schedule to suit how I felt.
Friday	OFF	OFF	Got busy doing other stuff and didn’t do the swim workout from yesterday like I planned to. Bad.
Saturday	Run: 20 min	Run: 23 min (1.75 miles, 13.1 min/mile)	Like before, 5 minute walk warmup then alternating 1 minute run with 1 minute walking. Felt pretty good while running this time so that was encouraging! I was in Wilmington and the run was over much flatter terrain than around my usual area. Elevation changing is good for training but doing well on flat ground really gives a confidence boost.
Sunday	Bike: 8 miles	OFF	Planned to swim today but was travelling and then had a migraine when I got home so wasn’t feeling up to doing anything. Ugh. I want to try so hard not to skip workouts but I’m not off to a great start!

Here are week 1 and week 2 from last year.

Triathlon Training – Round 2(010)

Since I did not get the opportunity to suffer the abuse of completing a triathlon last summer, I am back for more! Wait…what? Opportunity? Suffer? Abuse? More? I think I meant to say I never finished what I started last summer so I’m attempting to try again this summer. =) I feel like I’m far ahead of the curve in starting this year since I have a less vague idea of what I need to do than last time.

Again, I’m planning to post my progress here to hold myself accountable and hopefully keep encouraged to continue. I am following the same plan but I am starting about three weeks later than I did last year so I may have to slightly modify the schedule to work with the triathlons I’m tentatively thinking about doing. I haven’t signed up for anything yet but the 3 triathlons I am currently eyeing are:

• Saturday, July 31 – She TRIs Wilmington (Women Only) – Wilmington, NC – 200 yard swim, 10 mile bike, 2 mile run
• Saturday, August 21 – Sportsplex Super Sprint – Hillsborough, NC – 400 meter swim, 12 mile bike, 5k run
• Saturday, September 25 – Wilmington YMCA Triathlon – Wrightsville Beach, NC – 1500 meter swim (with the current), 12 mile bike, 5k run

Here is what I had to say last year at this same time.