The Vision: To develop and execute a plan that will reasonably prepare me to complete an Iron distance triathlon and which will not adversely affect my role as a father, husband, and breadwinner.

The Plan: A 20-week, no frills, no fluff, schedule that generally prescribes one training session of one discipline each day. Weekly training volume steadily builds over the 20-weeks with a “step-back” every fourth week and a taper the last 2-weeks. Training sessions vary in length each day - the average session for the 140-day schedule is 90-minutes…

The Rules:
1.) Morning workouts only – Complete daily sessions early and spend the balance of the day focused on family and work.
2.) Involve the family – Try and share this special experience in both words and actions – anyone up for a run?
3.) Document the journey – There is only one first time. Pictures, thoughts, feelings – 20-years from now I am going to want to remember it all.
4.) Monitor weight/energy daily – Listen to my body and respond – More food? More rest? Total stud?
5.) Snack between meals – Eat Santa, eat. More frequent and smaller meals are the key.
6.) Master workout nutrition – Get it figured out during training. Nobody wants another Poopman.
7.) Missed workouts are missed workouts – At some point in the 140-day schedule, a workout will get missed. Let it go. Don’t even try to make it up. Move on.
8.) Maintain strength – Shoulders, chest, and lats… let us not be strangers. My swim will thank me.
9.) Train with heart rate – Dare to slow down. Burn the right energy source. Enduring depends on it.
10.) Train with joy. Race with joy – This is really the whole point. This adventure is supposed to be fun. Don’t get so bogged down in the details that the fun is lost!



Thursday, October 2, 2014

*Iron Training - Week 16*

This post is tardy as it is already Thursday of week 17.  Oh well.  Here is what I did last week:

The swim:  2000, 2000, and 3000-yards

My swims were a bit short this week but I swam them as fast as I could (which for me isn't really very fast).  It felt kind of good to push myself but the reality is that the slightly faster speed is not worth the significant extra effort.  My swim come race day will be nice, steady, and relaxed.

The bike:  90, 90, 45, and 180-minutes

My rides were good.  Here too, I tried to push my effort level beyond a steady pace.  I really hammered the 45-minute ride and immediately followed it with a 5-mile run.  The 3-hour ride was pretty good as well - my effort was greater than I will exert on race day for sure.

The run:  10, 5, and 12-miles

My 10-miler was strong and run with a negative split.  The 5-miler was at an easy pace after a hard ride.  The 12-miler was a good, quality run that started with 6.5-miles at about 8:50 pace.  At that point I integrated 3x 1-miles at about 7:30 pace, each with a half mile of easier pace between.  I ended the run at the same 8:50 pace that I started.  I really enjoyed this run and it went by in a flash.  I must admit that my legs were a bit tired in the days following as I really haven't done much in the way of speed work.

Overall, it was a pretty decent week.  Next week the workouts return to longer distances - with an 18-mile run and 5-hour ride.  Then, it is on to my taper and final preparations for my race...
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