Tri-ing Tuesdays: Training Schedule

Sssssooooooooo….

It’s the Tuesday after the Tuesday I said I wanted to post this… but last week was not only hectic, I was also under the weather. Sometimes something’s got to give. I also didn’t get dressed as per the Frump to Fabaganza Project, so last weeks installment was a little short on the super fabness.

Damn you, summer cold!

HOWEVER!

I am here to give you a glimpse at our training schedule for our Triathlon in 4 weeks. Writing that totally freaks me out…

Our philosophy is to train to complete, not train to compete. I know that may sound totally counter intuitive and purpose defeating however, Hubs and I would rather have fun, not just in our training but also in our everyday lives than be slaves to the training schedule. Although, I do like to race against myself — getting a PR (Personal Record) is pretty damn satisfying, and since I don’t envision myself as ever making it to the Olympics, self-competition is how I gauge improvement.

So with that in mind, my goals for this triathlon are similar, yet different from what they were last time:

Assateague Assault Tri 2011

Assateague Assault Sprint Tri Goals (2011):

Finish without stopping (particularly the run). (CHECK)
Finish in under two hours (CHECK, 1:53:33) Pretty good for my first tri, I think.

Bear Lake Brawl Sprint Tri Goals (2014):

No doggy paddle during the swim. In my defense, the Assateague Assault was the first time I swam in the ocean. As in swimming. In the ocean. With waves and stuff. Getting the hang of breath timing was crucial and something I seriously struggled with, hence the doggy paddle. It’s rather terrifying trying to catch your breath when your face is being slammed by another wave. Just sayin’.
Faster transition between the swim and the bike. Last time my transition was terrible (like 7 minutes or something awful). I couldn’t get my bike shorts on over my wet legs. This time, I might just forego the padded butt in order to beat my time.
Finish without stopping. We only have a short amount of time to train and I haven’t done squat since the 10K Turkey Trot in December we did with a friend. The pressure is on. Also, altitude.
Finish in under 1:45. That’s 8.5 minutes. My mind has conflicting feelings about this goal. First, it’s less than 10 minutes, so how hard can it really be? Assateague was my first tri, so it’s natural that it wasn’t the best time, being inexperienced and all. Now that I have some experience, things should go smoother, right? However, it’s also over 5 minutes. Which anyone who has done any sort of timed sport knows that goals in seconds are sometimes more realistic. Also, 4 weeks.
Goal of the goals: complete at least 3/4 of the above goals.

I have a pretty good feeling about my time goal. First, the swim portion is in a lake not the ocean. I’ve been lake swimming my entire life; before I even swam in a pool. Lake swimming comes naturally to me. Second, we are visiting the lake about two weeks before the race. There’s something to be said about training in the conditions you will be competing (or in our case, participating) in.

I wish we would have spent some time training in the ocean for my first tri. I have always felt that I am a strong swimmer. I can swim a long time before I am tired and I have never been afraid of the water. However, this was not the most pleasant first ocean swim experience. I wasn’t afraid of drowning or anything, but I will have to admit that it was the first time I have ever been uncomfortable with my watery surroundings and not completely confident in my swimming abilities. The doggy paddle portion of my swim reflected my adjustment to ocean swimming. It took me a minute (or several) of observing the other swimmers to find that breathing on the backside of the wave, not the trough, was the way to go.

And without further ado, the schedule:

6 Week Tri Training Schedule

First of all, sorry for the Word download. I couldn’t figure out how to get a pretty table onto WordPress. If you have any suggestions, lemme know!

Second, we are training four days a week with some flexibility on what EXACT days those are. Usually Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and… a weekend day. I’m also doing some “cross-training” on my own in the form of hiking with girlfriend of mine and the occasional HIIT to build up some general strength (I’ve got a fair amount of endurance, but zero strength).

Lemme know what you think! And tell me about your first race experience!