So, triathlon - you beckon again.
The last time I competed as a novice triathlete was in October 2008, I had just finished dental school and I had been training off and on for 2 years and the culmination of my experience pushed me to compete in a Half Ironman. As soon as you say this people immediately say, "how far is that?" I will save you the time of looking it up.
A Half Ironman is a 1.2 mile swim, a 56 mile bike, and a 13.1 mile run.
So, I had just acquired my dental office and I had a lot going on between August and October as I was just starting private practice. So, I did not have enough time to train my body the way I wanted to, so that I could be completely prepared for my race. While I completed my Half Ironman, it was difficult, even painful to finish. This experience left me feeling burnt out. When I reflect on this experience, it has pushed me to re-evaluate how I train.
Training for a specific event is so different than just "working out." In #DreamBig2013, I have made a list of the many things I would like to accomplish that would allow me to feel that I have truly reached for the stars this year. One of the things was to Tri Hard. For me that meant setting a goal for a specific race and setting some very high personal goals. This time around my race will feel great and I will be exquisitely prepared.
Before I made my training plan, I chose a race. For DreamBig2013, I chose an Olympic Distance Triathlon. I considered starting back with a sprint distance, but my dental assistant encouraged me to shoot for the stars and convinced me that I would be bored by a sprint. So, I chose the
Kemah Triathlon. But, I did not want to just go and complete the triathlon, I wanted to push myself and put up a respectable time that pushed my personal envelope.
So, I was putting a plan into action, I sat down and made some notes about how I was going to get there. Written goals are the most effective and most likely to be completed.
Here was my train of thought: (transcription of my hand-written notes from 2/5/13)
"If I competed in the Olympic Distance Kemah Tri today I think I would finish in [~2:51:26] with a Swim - 27:00, T1 - 3:00, Bike - 1:19:00, T2 - 1:40, Run - 1:00:46
The goal will be to
improve on all those numbers. Goal #s for Race Day based on finishers of 2012 OLY TRI - this [the time listed above] would be a 28/62 place age group finish.
Goal: Swim - 26:00, T1 - 2:40, Bike - 1:17:00, T2 - 1:15, Run - 55:00
for a New Tot: Goal [2:41:55] for an 18th/62 finish.
How to peel 1 minute off swim between now and race day.
-Weekly swim. 11 weeks, 11 swims (-5 swims+bikes, -6swims)
How to peel 20s off T1
-Practice T1 Swim-Bike 5X of the 11 swims
How to peel 2 min off Bike
-Practice RPM drills. Shorter Dist. -Speed Skills
-11 weeks, 22 bikes (-5 previously noted as splash-rides, -11 later noted as Bricks [bike-runs for the uninitiated], 6 "rides")
How to peel 25s off T2
-Practice 11 bricks in 11 weeks
How to peel 5:46 off run
-11 weeks 23 runs (11 noted as bricks)
-12 remaining divided into distance and skills"
After I completed this thought out process of how to get from A - my guesstimated time to C - the time I am shooting for in the actual race, by going through B, now I needed to map that out with a written OLYMPIC DISTANCE TRI PLAN, which I spent about 2 hours developing in Excel, thinking through what it will take. So, you have 83 days to get in all these workouts. Where are you going to put them all?
So, here is my schedule. I hope this helps others understand what written goals really look like and how they might implement them.
-->
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
T |
2/5/13 |
RUN1 |
SPEED SKILLS |
2mi |
20min |
155 |
|
W |
2/6/13 |
FITNESS |
GYM |
VAR |
1:15 |
170/125 |
|
TH |
2/7/13 |
REST |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
|
|
F |
2/8/13 |
SWIM1 |
GETTING REACQUAINTED |
1000m |
20min |
|
|
SA |
2/9/13 |
BRICK |
B1 R2 |
20mi/3mi |
1:30 |
165 |
|
|
Weight_165__ Resting HR _50__ __Sleep __Fatigue __Stress _Chest_Soreness |
SU |
2/10/13 |
REST |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
|
|
M |
2/11/13 |
FITNESS |
GYM |
VAR |
1:15 |
170/125 |
|
T |
2/12/13 |
BIKE2 |
RPM SKILLS |
12.5mi |
30min |
159 |
|
W |
2/13/13 |
FITNESS |
GYM |
VAR |
1:15 |
170/125 |
|
TH |
2/14/13 |
R or B |
|
|
|
|
|
F |
2/15/13 |
SWIM2 |
Descr:_______________ |
1200m |
24min |
|
|
SA |
2/16/13 |
BRICK |
B3 R3 |
20mi/3mi |
1:30 |
165 |
|
|
Weight_____ Resting HR__49___ __Sleep __Fatigue __Stress __Soreness |
SU |
2/17/13 |
REST |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
|
|
M |
2/18/13 |
FITNESS |
GYM |
VAR |
1:15 |
170/125 |
|
T |
2/19/13 |
RUN4 |
DISTANCE |
4mi |
34min |
167 |
|
W |
2/20/13 |
FITNESS |
GYM |
VAR |
1:15 |
170/125 |
|
TH |
2/21/13 |
R or B |
|
|
|
|
|
F |
2/22/13 |
SWIM3 |
Descr:_______________ |
1200m |
23min |
|
|
SA |
2/23/13 |
BRICK |
B4 R5 |
20mi/3mi |
1:30 |
165 |
|
|
Weight_____ Resting HR_____ __Sleep __Fatigue
__Stress __Soreness |
SU |
2/24/13 |
REST |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
|
|
M |
2/25/13 |
FITNESS |
GYM |
VAR |
1:15 |
170/125 |
|
T |
2/26/13 |
BIKE5 |
RPM SKILLS |
12.5mi |
30min |
159 |
|
W |
2/27/13 |
FITNESS |
GYM |
VAR |
1:15 |
170/125 |
|
TH |
2/28/13 |
R or B |
|
|
|
|
|
F |
3/1/13 |
SWIM4 |
Descr:_______________ |
1600m |
32min |
|
|
SA |
3/2/13 |
BRICK |
B6 R6 |
20mi/3mi |
1:30 |
165 |
|
|
Weight_____ Resting HR_____ __Sleep __Fatigue
__Stress __Soreness |
SU |
3/3/13 |
REST |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
|
|
M |
3/4/13 |
FITNESS |
GYM |
VAR |
1:15 |
170/125 |
|
T |
3/5/13 |
RUN7 |
SPEED SKILLS |
3mi |
30min |
155 |
|
W |
3/6/13 |
FITNESS |
GYM |
VAR |
1:15 |
170/125 |
|
TH |
3/7/13 |
R or B |
|
|
|
|
|
F |
3/8/13 |
SWIM5 |
Descr:_______________ |
1600m |
29:30:00 |
|
|
SA |
3/9/13 |
BRICK |
B7 R8 |
20mi/3mi |
1:30 |
165 |
|
|
Weight_____ Resting HR_____ __Sleep __Fatigue
__Stress __Soreness |
SU |
3/10/13 |
REST |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
|
|
M |
3/11/13 |
FITNESS |
GYM |
VAR |
1:15 |
170/125 |
|
T |
3/12/13 |
BIKE8 |
RPM SKILLS |
12.5mi |
30min |
159 |
|
W |
3/13/13 |
FITNESS |
GYM |
VAR |
1:15 |
170/125 |
|
TH |
3/14/13 |
R or B |
|
|
|
|
|
F |
3/15/13 |
SWIM6 |
Descr:_______________ |
2000m |
40min |
|
|
SA |
3/16/13 |
BRICK |
B9 R9 |
20mi/3mi |
1:30 |
165 |
|
|
Weight_____ Resting HR_____ __Sleep __Fatigue
__Stress __Soreness |
SU |
3/17/13 |
REST |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
|
|
M |
3/18/13 |
FITNESS |
GYM |
VAR |
1:15 |
170/125 |
|
T |
3/19/13 |
RUN10 |
SPEED SKILLS |
2mi |
20min |
155 |
|
W |
3/20/13 |
FITNESS |
GYM |
VAR |
1:15 |
170/125 |
|
TH |
3/21/13 |
R or B |
|
|
|
|
|
F |
3/22/13 |
SPLASH/RIDE |
SW7/B10 |
1600m/15mi |
1:21:00 |
160 |
|
SA |
3/23/13 |
REST |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Weight_____ Resting HR_____ __Sleep __Fatigue
__Stress __Soreness |
SU |
3/24/13 |
BRICK |
B11 R11 |
20mi/3mi |
1:30 |
165 |
|
M |
3/25/13 |
FITNESS |
GYM |
VAR |
1:15 |
170/125 |
|
T |
3/26/13 |
RUN12 |
DISTANCE |
6mi |
55:00:00 |
167 |
|
W |
3/27/13 |
FITNESS |
GYM |
VAR |
1:15 |
170/125 |
|
TH |
3/28/13 |
R or B |
|
|
|
|
|
F |
3/29/13 |
SPLASH/RIDE |
SW8/B12 |
1500m/20mi |
1:30 |
162 |
|
SA |
3/30/13 |
REST |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
|
|
|
Weight_____ Resting HR_____ __Sleep __Fatigue
__Stress __Soreness |
SU |
3/31/13 |
BRICK |
B13 R13 |
20mi/3mi |
1:30 |
165 |
|
M |
4/1/13 |
REST |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
|
|
T |
4/2/13 |
RUN14 |
SPEED SKILLS |
4mi |
40min |
165 |
|
W |
4/3/13 |
FITNESS |
GYM |
VAR |
1:15 |
170/125 |
|
TH |
4/4/13 |
R or B |
|
|
|
|
|
F |
4/5/13 |
SPLASH/RIDE |
SW9/B14 |
1500m/26.5mi |
1:38:00 |
164 |
|
SA |
4/6/13 |
REST |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Weight_____ Resting HR_____ __Sleep __Fatigue
__Stress __Soreness |
SU |
4/7/13 |
BRICK |
B15 R15 |
24.85mi/6.2mi |
1:30 |
165 |
|
M |
4/8/13 |
REST |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
|
|
T |
4/9/13 |
RUN16 |
DISTANCE |
6mi |
55:00:00 |
167 |
|
W |
4/10/13 |
FITNESS |
GYM |
VAR |
1:15 |
170/125 |
|
TH |
4/11/13 |
R or B |
|
|
|
|
|
F |
4/12/13 |
SPLASH/RIDE |
SW10/B16 |
2000m/30mi |
2:25 |
170 |
|
SA |
4/13/13 |
REST |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
|
|
|
Weight_____ Resting HR_____ __Sleep __Fatigue
__Stress __Soreness |
SU |
4/14/13 |
BRICK |
B20 R17 |
20mi/3mi |
1:30 |
165 |
|
M |
4/15/13 |
REST |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
|
|
T |
4/16/13 |
RUN18 |
SPEED SKILLS |
4mi |
40min |
165 |
|
W |
4/17/13 |
FITNESS |
GYM |
VAR |
1:15 |
170/125 |
|
TH |
4/18/13 |
R or B |
|
|
|
|
|
F |
4/19/13 |
SPLASH/RIDE |
SW11/B21 |
750m/12.5mi |
TIME:______ |
HR:____ |
|
SA |
4/20/13 |
REST |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
|
|
|
Weight_____ Resting HR_____ __Sleep __Fatigue
__Stress __Soreness |
SU |
4/21/13 |
REST |
Recovery pace bike22 |
12.5mi |
40min |
130 |
|
M |
4/22/13 |
REST |
Race speed run23 |
1mi |
8min |
165 |
|
T |
4/23/13 |
REST |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
|
|
W |
4/24/13 |
REST |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
|
|
TH |
4/25/13 |
REST |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
|
|
F |
4/26/13 |
REST |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
|
|
SA |
4/27/13 |
REST |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
|
|
|
Weight_____ Resting HR_____ __Sleep __Fatigue
__Stress __Soreness |
SU |
4/28/13 |
A-priority Race |
Kemah Boarwalk OLY TRI |
DIST:______ |
TIME:______ |
HR:____ |
|