Putting the pieces together
I'm discovering a new challenge in training for a triathlon: time management. Training for a running event, or any single sport race event, tends to be fairly simple. It's just a matter of going outside and doing that one thing for an hour or so. However, as I'm sure it's logical to see, when you're working with three different things, it becomes quite a juggling trick. The degree of difficulty steps up a notch when you're training in an entirely new discipline (swimming, for me). Add to that the fact that the triathlon that I'm training for is a mere two weeks before the SoCal ragnar relay, and things get a bit more complex.
For example, here's a list of everything that I should be packing into my workout week:
1) I meet with a swimming coach on Thursday evenings, and we spend about 45 minutes together. He wants me to spend 40 minutes in the pool, 3 times a week.
2) My biking has been near non-existent this year, so I'm starting a 10-ride program that's outlined in my most recent issue of Bicycling magazine. The rides start off at about 15 miles, and go up by 10-15% every ride. If I follow the program, I should start out riding 3 times a week, then step it up to every other day, then every day by the third week. The last ride, I believe, is supposed to be ~50 miles.
3) I need to keep running in order to sustain my conditioning for the SoCal Ragnar. I'm aiming for ~20 miles a week over 4 days.
4) I'm attempting to supplement my running mileage with a weight training and plyometrics regimen in order to really get my minutes per mile down, since I won't be racing any distance above 8 miles in the foreseeable future.
5) Oh yeah, and I have a secret crush on this yoga instructor at the gym, so I must attend that 90-min class every Wednesday night. Just kidding. But I do go to the class to increase my flexibility.
I sat down last Saturday to see if I could hash out a training schedule that would jive with my work, family, and church responsibilities, and quickly became depressed at all of the 5AM mornings I was facing. I'm not a morning person, to say the least, but it would be possible. I've done it before, I suppose. But is this do or die? Will I be able to survive the race if I flag on my training, even a little bit?
As I was swimming last night, I was counting the lengths I had swam looking at my watch, and I started to calculate in my head the times that I would spend on each length of the tri, and while I was freaking out about my training time, I slowly came to the realization that, despite my lack of 5am fervor, I am probably not about to be destroyed! Here are the distances:
Swim - 400 meters (16 lengths) I'm a sloooow swimmer, and I can do that in about 12 minutes.
Bike - 10 miles (2 loops on a closed course) At my slowest, I go about 12 mph, so I can expect to spend no more than about 45 mins on the bike, but given race day adrenaline I'm hoping to kick it up to 16 mph, so less than 40 mins
Run - 5K My last 5K time, while I was pushing my two kids in a stroller, was around 26 minutes.
"Finish with a smile" has been my goal for this race since I signed up for it. In my opinion, it's a good, reasonable, and achievable goal for any first-time triathlete, and probably more important than any time-based or calorie-based (?) goals that one might set for themselves, firstly because as a first-timer it's probably hard to guess what a reasonable time might even be, and secondly because if you're like me, the smile, not the time, is what will keep you coming back for more. The Dog Town half marathon was such a suffer-fest for me that, had it been my first, I probably would have been a "one-and-done"-er.
Since last Saturday I've been far from perfect with my training schedule, but taking a look at the estimates above and considering that I do at least two of those distances (at a minimum) every day, I'll probably be okay. Lesson learned: don't be a spaz about training. Which is kind of the opposite message from my last post, "make everything a big deal." So I suppose the purpose of this week is to add an asterisk to last week: Look forward and prepare for every race, but be sure to enjoy it at the same time.
End
I'm discovering a new challenge in training for a triathlon: time management. Training for a running event, or any single sport race event, tends to be fairly simple. It's just a matter of going outside and doing that one thing for an hour or so. However, as I'm sure it's logical to see, when you're working with three different things, it becomes quite a juggling trick. The degree of difficulty steps up a notch when you're training in an entirely new discipline (swimming, for me). Add to that the fact that the triathlon that I'm training for is a mere two weeks before the SoCal ragnar relay, and things get a bit more complex.
For example, here's a list of everything that I should be packing into my workout week:
1) I meet with a swimming coach on Thursday evenings, and we spend about 45 minutes together. He wants me to spend 40 minutes in the pool, 3 times a week.
2) My biking has been near non-existent this year, so I'm starting a 10-ride program that's outlined in my most recent issue of Bicycling magazine. The rides start off at about 15 miles, and go up by 10-15% every ride. If I follow the program, I should start out riding 3 times a week, then step it up to every other day, then every day by the third week. The last ride, I believe, is supposed to be ~50 miles.
3) I need to keep running in order to sustain my conditioning for the SoCal Ragnar. I'm aiming for ~20 miles a week over 4 days.
4) I'm attempting to supplement my running mileage with a weight training and plyometrics regimen in order to really get my minutes per mile down, since I won't be racing any distance above 8 miles in the foreseeable future.
5) Oh yeah, and I have a secret crush on this yoga instructor at the gym, so I must attend that 90-min class every Wednesday night. Just kidding. But I do go to the class to increase my flexibility.
I sat down last Saturday to see if I could hash out a training schedule that would jive with my work, family, and church responsibilities, and quickly became depressed at all of the 5AM mornings I was facing. I'm not a morning person, to say the least, but it would be possible. I've done it before, I suppose. But is this do or die? Will I be able to survive the race if I flag on my training, even a little bit?
As I was swimming last night, I was counting the lengths I had swam looking at my watch, and I started to calculate in my head the times that I would spend on each length of the tri, and while I was freaking out about my training time, I slowly came to the realization that, despite my lack of 5am fervor, I am probably not about to be destroyed! Here are the distances:
Swim - 400 meters (16 lengths) I'm a sloooow swimmer, and I can do that in about 12 minutes.
Bike - 10 miles (2 loops on a closed course) At my slowest, I go about 12 mph, so I can expect to spend no more than about 45 mins on the bike, but given race day adrenaline I'm hoping to kick it up to 16 mph, so less than 40 mins
Run - 5K My last 5K time, while I was pushing my two kids in a stroller, was around 26 minutes.
"Finish with a smile" has been my goal for this race since I signed up for it. In my opinion, it's a good, reasonable, and achievable goal for any first-time triathlete, and probably more important than any time-based or calorie-based (?) goals that one might set for themselves, firstly because as a first-timer it's probably hard to guess what a reasonable time might even be, and secondly because if you're like me, the smile, not the time, is what will keep you coming back for more. The Dog Town half marathon was such a suffer-fest for me that, had it been my first, I probably would have been a "one-and-done"-er.
Since last Saturday I've been far from perfect with my training schedule, but taking a look at the estimates above and considering that I do at least two of those distances (at a minimum) every day, I'll probably be okay. Lesson learned: don't be a spaz about training. Which is kind of the opposite message from my last post, "make everything a big deal." So I suppose the purpose of this week is to add an asterisk to last week: Look forward and prepare for every race, but be sure to enjoy it at the same time.
End
posted by napalmbrain at
7:44 PM
1 Comments:
Managing your time wisely is definitely one of the things discussed in training program management courses which will definitely be helpful in your endeavors.
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