13 Week Sprint Training Plan Group

Hi,
I just bought and downloaded my first plan.  Started the mentor group last year but my group fell apart when the Mentor went AWOL.  Have not done any racing. Fairly new to the whole race idea. Volunteering at my first race in the morning.  Looking forward to working with you .

Welcome to the forum! I am sorry your mentor group fell apart! I hope some more people will join you here in this group, so you can discuss your training together.
I think it is SUCH a great idea to volunteer at a race before you do one. It helps to get a sense of how things work. When do you plan to do your first race?

Hey, well I don't have 13 weeks left (first sprint is in less than a month!), but thought I'd stop in and say hi, and not leave you all alone here.  The 13 week guide seems pretty solid, I've done a slightly different plan based more on distance and pace with a regular schedule. I'm doing 3x a week swim of 2600-3000 yds (swimming is my best/favorite...), 2x 5k runs, 2x 20-30mile bike rides each week, with alternating bricks (swim/bike, bike/run) replacing 1 day of specialized workouts. Hitting the OW for the first time this weekend (and get to try out wetsuit swimming).

I def. agree that volunteering first seems like a good idea, and one I wish I had thought of before! I'm still looking around to find a good general race overview (rules, edicit, general transition area set up), so I can be ready to race and not mess it up, read a few good ones, but no holy grail yet. That and transitions, which seem pretty hard to practice (can't leave the bike laying around/gear spread out on bricks). Any suggestions are welcomed.

Hello Tri and Gull,
My name is Maggie.  I have not yet selected a race.  My goal is to have the first one on the calendar by the end of the week.  Right now I'm just working on showing up!  Hope we can get a good support group going here. Any pointers are appreciated. I am totally new to this, aside from trying the 9 week couch to 5K trainings last winter.

Maggie

Woohoo! That is SO exciting! I can't wait to find out what race you pick!

Welcome Maggie!

Just an FYI. I used the 13wk sprint training plan and it worked. My first race with it was in Fairhope Al at the Grandman Triathlon. Great venue, great race, and I was ready.

Simple as that.

It's kind of like school (but way more fun). Show up and do the work, and the final exam is cake!

Now, GO CRUSH IT!

Hey everyone.  I've been kicking around the site for a few days now, mostly just reading.  I was going to do the 13 week plan, but when I realized that the next sprint race in Taiwan wasn't until April or May I kinda shelved the plan.  I've been running, swimming, and biking quite a bit for the last 10 days (like I said, just getting started) and am looking forward to something in the Spring.

Just today, I was doing some work trying to find events, and I've half made up my mind to join a run race, probably 10k, towards the end of the year.  Once I decide I'll probably try to focus on a specific training plan.

Welcome to BT! That sounds like a great idea. Picking a race is always good motivation. Remember, you can use the 13 week spring plan without having a race to plan for if you just want to work on developing your swim, bike, and run endurance.

Yeah, your right Tri, except I also discovered that my swim isn't "up to standards".  I've got a friend (swim coach) helping me on occasion, and am working on EVF and head position.  Going to the pool at 6am tomorrow to work on it again.

Good on you for getting a coach! If you have any other questions, you can also ask in the swim thread on here.

John

Nice to meet you Lost, Duncan and tdk.  Hope you stick around.
I am almost done with week 1 of my training plan. Got shorted on time for my first swim (my fault for not getting out of bed in time) but plan to make up the distance Saturday so I'll be 100% of planned complete. I did my first ever 8 min stretch of running without stopping! I was so excited I almost danced a jig right there on the treadmill.

What are the rest of you training on?

Ok I did it...I signed up for my first 5K. Guess I better get busy!

That is so cool! Congrats on your run!
Jessica

WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!

I am very excited for you and impressed that you made a commitment to yourself! Good job!
Jessica

Hey Guys...just signed up for this program, loaded it up and look forward to completing it and working towards another. Doing this more for the fitness aspect for now until I feel I'm ready for a race. I'm in the military, so doing the workout on top of my normal mandatory workouts will be interesting but I really want to do this and I think by joining this group, hopefully I'll become more accountable. I swam competitively in high school for 4 years and teach a lot of my co-workers how to swim. It's amazing how many people don't get that opportunity, but I like to share my experiences and help them. My biggest problem is the run...I can't stand it. I was a football/baseball player in high school and sprints were the way to go for me. I recently got into soccer and have been working on my running in preparation for two mud runs in September. Anyways, that's my story. Monday is go day, but I have been logging my biking and other exercises in preparation for the 13 weeks ahead.

Welcome! We are so glad to have you here. You are lucky - competitive swimmers make great triathletes. They have a great work ethic from being in swim squads.
People that hate running usually hate running because they run too hard! It can be very hard mentally to make yourself slow down, but if you can do that consistently, you can learn to love running and build up your volume. AND get faster.
Make sure to check in on Monday and let us know how your first day was!
Jessica

Welcome Spankich. Thanks for serving! 
Looking forward to hearing how your day one went.  I will start week 2 on Monday.  I was on swim team in high school as well and could swim all day if it paid the bills! I have to work on my strokes as I always breathe on the left and when I breathe on the right I don't get the right rotation and therefore not enough air. Been reading the swim work out series that is posted on the main page. Any tips on how to get that 3 stroke breathing even?  I'm 2, 4 or drown

Me personally I'm a very right hand dominant person, so I, out of habit, breathe on the 2 and/or 4 stroke. I know this goes against every one of my swim coaches teachings towards an even, cyclical breathing technique. When it comes to breathing, whenever I teach my friends or coworkers, I teach them the three way and explain to them the benefits of it (i.e. a more natural body roll). But I also tell them to do what make them as comfortable as possible and when it comes to training, being comfortable in the water is an important step. As far as a tip to get the 3 stroke down...i teach people with a kickboard. i have people extend out and concentrate on kicking while pulling with their hands and resting their head on opposite shoulders every three strokes just so they get the feeling when they twist their necks both ways. hope this helps...

Thanks. I will give it a try tomorrow, which is my next swim day.
I ran my first 10 min stretch yesterday!  On my way to 12 min, which is my next goal. 5k is in two weeks. Will time walk furn for the full distance tomorrow to see where I am. 

10 minutes, fantastic! You are making great progress.
Jessica

Hey where is everyone?? 
I walked/ran my first complete 3.2 miles yesterday.  I am training with the 9 week podcasts from coolrunnings.com. I had not gone beyond week 3 before because I couldn't do the 5 min runs.  But now I have done day 1 of week 5, which is 4 5-min runs, right behind doing week 4 for the first part of my total distance. (they are about 30 min each podcast).  I'm actually sad that I can't run tonight but it's rest day. But it feels good to be excited about it for tomorrow morning.  Tonight is bike and strength. So, off I go to the gym.  

How exciting! You are ROCKING!
Jessica

Thanks Jessica.  My clothes are actually feeling looser already. Good thing I'm married to a tailor!

Gull, good work on your training.  The open water swim makes me more nervous than the transitions in a tri.  Wow we both have races coming up in the next few weeks. I'm nervous but I found out a former classmate that lives near me is going to be in the race and I a lady I just met over the weekend is going to join me too.  The countdown is on.

Maggie