Yesterday I had an huge, oh crap, momment. I thought I would search Amazon for DVDs on past Ironmans; something to watch while I am doing my endurance ride for the week to get me motivate for the Tri I signed up for (not an Ironman). Then popped up all their suggestions for me, all these books and DVDs on how to finish a Triathlon, then... Oh crap, is there something I am supposed to know before I do this?
My plan was to show up... finish... yeah for me!
I am in good enough shape to finish one that isn't a problem, however I was hoping to compete rather than participate, which according to the 'search this book' s that I read is unrealistic. So I am 12 weeks out... I have a swimming tutor, who started me this week from stratch (apparrently I wasn't swimming effectively) ;) and I haven't ran distance in 7 years (I have no cartilage in my left knee)... I do know how to bike, but we are having a blizzard right now so the spinner it is.
New plan, educate myself, show up.... finish, use it as a learning experience and compete later this summer or have it as a stepping stone on my way to Kona.
Oh, one more thing, I read several 'training' plans for TRIs, none of them appealed to me they were either too easy to too detailed. I like being my own master planner, so I wrote my own. Do you guys follow written plans when training or do your own. I guess I learned from my dad and he always did his own thing. ???
The difference between people who “always” workout and those that don’t is the fit people accept that they will always be in a state of “coming back.” Life will get in the way of your fitness strives. Accept it and make today the day you come back…again.
Training
Running Clothes
Running Gadgets
Paris Half Marathon
Shelly, Bobbi, V, Delores
V and son after Berlin Marathon
Bobbi and V in Prague
Back then
Back when we were together...I miss my friends! (Christy, V, E, Aura Lee & Angie)
Army Wives
Angie, Christy, V, Aura Lee and E
Cathy and Angie
Christy & V During 2007 Army Ten--Miler
3 comments:
I think V. writes her own, but I follow someone else's plan since I'm not very knowledgable yet about how far/fast I should go, when to have step-down weeks, etc. I do tweak them for my purposes though. Most plans call for long runs on the weekend, which doesn't work for me. Maybe you can find one that's not too easy and modify to fit your needs.
I think your plan to use this tri as a learning experience is smart. I've never done one, but just from reading a couple books about them, the logistics sound intimidating. It will be good to take some pressure off yourself so you can get used to the transitions. Good luck!
I sorta write my own. I usually work from 3 plans from 3 different trainers. One usually has an agressive speed plan, one will have high miles and the other will have a run series that appeals to me. Then, I take what I like from each, try to find a balance with my life and my recovery needs and then I completely rewrite the plan for me. I put it in Excel and print it off. I have to have a written plan. I do not like guessing what I am doing from day to day. The marathon plan I developed this time has worked really well for me. I will probably save it for future use. I scheduled 5 days of running until the miles got high and then dropped it to 4 days a week since the runs themselves were longer. I also gave myself a choice of 2 speed workouts on speed day. They are still specific, but they vary weekly to include hills, intervals, and tempos. If I change anything mid-week, I note it on the schedule. I also schedule a step down every 3 weeks.
I have never found a program that is perfect for me either. The beginner and intermediate plans are usually too easy, but the advanced plans can get too intense. Some of the people I run with do 2 speed sessions a week and run 6 days a week. Those plans are meant for them My body can not do that. I always dread sitting down to write my plan for a new race. It takes a lot of time to research and then work the modifications, but it is worth it and I always learn a lot. Good luck.
My training plans have just been for regular running races so far (though I'd like to do a tri someday). They basically go like this:
1. Go for a run one day (no specific length or time)
2. Do some other kind of work out another day (again, no specific length or time)
3. Repeat for a while
4. Realize the race is a couple weeks away and I've still only ever trained at half the distance I'm supposed to do for the race.
5. Just go for it!
I don't think my plan is going to work for a marathon though...
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