Training Goal Recap
My training goal is to be comfortable with roughly double the distance at a race pace in all three phases of the triathlon. This way, come race day when I'm freaking the hell out, each segment will feel a little less daunting...I hope. So here's the breakdown:
Race Goal
- Swim - 750 meters (under 18 mins)
- Bike - 11.5 miles (under 45 mins)
- Run - 3 miles (under 25 mins)
Training Goal
- Swim - 1,200 meters (under 22 mins)
- Bike - 20 miles (under 70 minutes)
- Run - 6 miles (under 45 minutes)
Woohoo!
Progress In The pool: from 25 meters in early January to 1,200 meters (1,340 yards) in mid-March!
So the good news is, I'm making some serious progress in the pool. When I started out in mid-January, I couldn't even swim half the length of the 25m pool without gasping for life.
Fast forward nine weeks and 25 swimming sessions later, I'm happy to report I'm doing 1,000 meters at around 23 minutes and feeling good afterwards. I'm not saying look good doing it and still have some work to do, but hey...I can do it without stoping or drowning. WIN!
Woohoo!
The other good news is that I'm close hitting my biking and running time / distance goals, too.
Case in point, I did a 6 mile run last week in 48 minutes. I'm hoping with a little more conditioning I'll hit my 45 minute goal soon.
But then...
I've been so worried about the swim portion of the triathlon, I've spent far more time swimming than I have riding or running. Since it's been so cold, circuit training has been my stand-in for cardio and strength training.
So What had happened was...
Last weekend we finally had some nice weather so I hopped on my bike for a 20 mile ride. I'm happy to say I nailed my time/distance goal for the 20 mile ride, but at the 12 mile mark (the bike portion of the race is only 11.5 miles) I decided to stop and see what it might feel like to start running.
OMG...no.
Granted, I didn't run more than just a few short strides so I didn't give my legs a chance to adjust, but damn...my legs were like jello. This was definitely an eye opener. My training plan doesn't call for back-to-back (or 'brick') workouts until a few weeks before the race, so I sort of keep forgetting I'll have to do all of these things one right after another.
So, while progress is good, there's still more to do. Only six weeks to go!
