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2014-04-18 3:13 PM

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Subject: building a training program ?
I think I've decided to enter my first triathlon, in about 11 weeks. I've looked at various training programs, but they don't feel like they fit so well for me so I'm sort of thinking I'm going to create my own...but since I don't really know what I'm doing wouldn't mind feedback. I'll either be doing a sprint or a noncompetitive try-a-tri. My goal is just to finish without killing or injuring myself.

Currently, I comfortably run 4 miles a day three days a week. It's been a while since I did any swim training (about 9 months), but I can pretty easily swim a half mile in the pool. Open water swimming is something I haven't done, nor is wearing a wetsuit. Biking is fairly new for me and I've just bought a new bike. But I am in pretty good shape and could do each event individually with no problem.

My thought was that for the next month, I would continue running three days a week and bike twice a week. I can bike 5 miles to and from work (so 10 miles a day) a couple of times a week and have done that several times. I thought I'd continue this schedule without much change for several more weeks, breaking my body into biking, possibly adding in a longer bike once a week. I'll then be in Mexico for a week and pretty much will only be able to use an elliptical or stationary bike, so will do that at least five days for 45 minutes to an hour.

After returning from my vacation I'll have about two months to really focus on training. To be honest, I really don't want to decrease the length of my runs and my run fitness (or increase them for that matter)...this is what I really need to maintain for my personal comfort, stress management, and weight. So I was hoping to just keep up the 4 mile runs three times a week, bike twice a week at increasing mileage, and swim twice a week. It seems that at I should probably overlap those workouts at least once a week with one day off? Or is two days off with more overlap better?

For three of the last five weeks before the tri, I'll be living at 6000 feet elevation....I can bike, run and swim there and practice some open water swimming with a wetsuit. I figured I would mostly focus on being able to do above each distance (so a 4 mile run, a 15 mile bike and a half mile swim) individually, with two days a week where I overlapped two of those activities (likely shortening one...so biking 15 miles and running two, or running four miles and swimming a half a mile, etc). I suspect that just being really active at that elevation for 3 weeks will make things much easier for me on the race day.

Does this sound reasonable, or do I need to design more structure? Am I totally deceiving myself that I'd be ready, or am I overtraining at all?


2014-04-18 9:41 PM
in reply to: sandishr

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Subject: RE: building a training program ?
Your plan definitely reasonable for your first tri. You sound a lot like me last year-- I am a runner first, so I always ran at least four times per week (although often longer than 4 miles, sometimes for up to 90 minutes). I was swimming 2-3 times per week, once with a class/coach and usually two swims on my own. My swims were about an hour with routines and drills giving to me by the coach. For cycling I'd do at least one outdoor ride per week plus one or two indoor spin workouts. In fact, for my first tri-a-tri I hadn't been doing any cycling at all-- I didn't even own a bike. I borrowed my son's mountain bike and did the 7 mile bike in my running shoes. Only afterwards I bought a cross bike, and then did two sprints later in the spring and summer. When I was getting read for the sprints, I tried to do at least one "long" ride each week of about 60-90 minutes (long for me).

My tris were all in pools so I didn't have to worry about the wetsuit thing. You might not need one if you are in a lake and it's reasonably warm, especially if your distance is only about 400-500m.

Keep it fun. People who have been doing this for a while get really into the training routines and gear and stuff but it can be a bit overwhelming when you're just starting out. It doesn't need to be complicated for your first race. If you enjoy it and want to get more into the training, you can do a more structured training plan next year.
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