Olympic 2X balanced 16 Week Plan (Page 2)

Champ76 - 2010-11-27 10:14 PM So i have been back in training for 6 weeks now since having swine flu. I have done 5 weeks of the 2x 13 week sprint plan and have just done a week of my custom made  16 week oly plan with 3 swims, 2 rides and 2 runs. I have signed up for a small tri this sunday with a 300m swim, 16.8km ride and 3km run just to test the water since i have inly done one other Tri back in January this year which i hadn't really trained for. I had a good fitness base before i came down sick, which put me on my back for 5 weeks, as i played Aussie rules football all winter.

Should i train normal this week and just have saturday off before the race or do i adjust it to a smaller week? I have been handling the distance fine so far and did a brick ride run at the above distance last weekend. Swimming is my week point but am trying to improve that by diong three sessions a week and help from other good swimmers.

Cheers,

Champ

tarheel2 - 2010-11-29 1:06 PM Hi! New to the sport, new to the site. Pretty excited about this! I downloaded the balanced 20week program and starting this week for a Oly in May. I was planning to do a some strenght training but I am worried about the important rest days. I scheduled my P90X workouts (which I have done before) on my short run day (for upper body strenght training), Long swim day (lower body stranght training) and between mu long run and long bike sessions (for upper body exclusively). Does this sound right? I think so, but being new at this I dont know if I need to rest more. I have been active these past few months doing mostly moutain biking.

Thanks for the tips and the great site!

tarheel2 - 2010-12-03 9:39 AM Thanks for your response! I will keep going with my curent schedule. But I think you are right, I may need to drop the strenght training as the training session get longer. I have been doing research on the "most popular FAQ", the bike topic. I do not own a road (or tri) bike. I am planning to buy one in the following weeks. The areas where I train are not really comfortable or suited to reamiain in an aero position, which is why I am leaning towards a road bike. If the tri bug really bites me, upt to what distance triathlons would the road mike be suitable for? What about aero road bikes (even more expensive than some tri bike from what I have seen). Any thoughts?

tarheel2 - 2010-12-04 10:13 AM

Another quick question, I have not been running for long (started to train this week) and have been averaging 85% HR MAX on my long runs. Is this about right or should I decrease the pace? I was able to do the times, but my HR would not drop under 80%.

Thanks!

tarheel2 - 2010-12-06 12:48 PM Thanks for the tips Jessica, you have been really helpful! The swim just shamed me this past week (my first on my training plan). I could take the distances for an olympic tri for the bike and run legs as we speek, but could not swim more than 50 meters without needing to stop and rest. Is this normal?? Does your cardio fitness vary depending on the the type of sport or am I breathing wrong (or probably being to anxious)? I have DEFINITELY found my weak spot (if the run and bike were not weak enough to begin with   )?

Thanks!!

tarheel2 - 2010-12-11 11:42 AM Hello Jessica, I have continued my training and have a few questions regarding HR. I am running at a pace to finish a 10K in about 1:04, which I feel is not very fast. However, my average HR for that run was 169BPM (91% for me). I have read that I should be keeping my HR below 85% and that anything above that is going above the anaerobic threshold. Am I not building an aerobic base if I am training at these HR levels? Will it be detrimental of beneficial to my training if I keep up with these levels? I did not feel exhausted at the end of the run and felt I could have still gone for another 3 to 5k. What are your thoughts?

Thanks for the help!

Champ76 - 2010-12-10 5:39 PM Hi,
Did a mini tri the other day (300m/16.8km/3km) fininshed it in 58.09. It ws great to do my first race and definately learnt a lot from it and area's i need to improve. Swimming is an area i still need to improve on and would like to introduce swim fins, kickboard and a pull bouy. How would i introduce these into my three swims a week? Do i just include them into my sets? Any advice would be appreciated.

Cheers.

mfulls - 2010-12-21 8:17 PM Hey everyone.  For some reason, I got the bright idea to try to become a triathlete.  I started training a week ago for a race in the first week in June.  I got my training program from the beta version of the custom workout builder.  I am a former high school athlete,  now 34 year old dad stuck in the rat race.  I have been going to the gym for several years, with some short periods of time off here and there mainly focusing on strength training.  I am one of those short and stocky kids.  I have always been the short fat kid and am doing this to see if it will get me in a shape besides round.  I am sticking to a pretty strict diet...at least for me.  I am pretty sure I am slow in each event, but for comparison sake, I looked at some times for back of packers at a triathlon to kind of see how I measured up since the online program asked your paces and spit out minutes to complete each training session.  I grew up a swimmer and I am not worried about my technique.  The first two workouts were tougher than I thought they would be, but hey, it has been 20 years since I swam competitively.  I did make 900 yds with only stopping once for around a minute and resorting to 50 yds of the breast stroke.  I was a little slower than the times the program said, but I am okay with that.  The difference in my first workout and second workout showed vast improvement, so I think I will be okay over time.  I have started the bike training by using the stationary bikes at the gym.  I am hoping to get a descent bike in the near future to hit the road, but I am able to do the mileage at a "conversation pace" and finish under the times the program had associated with it, so i am okay with my progress there.  The running is where my problem exists.   I have never been a good or fast runner.  I can't really run a mile without stopping at least once.  I do have asthma and I wonder if this plays a role in running being so difficult for me.  I ran tonight and did 1.3 miles.  I only had to stop and walk toward the end.  I kept a slow, slow pace, probably a 15 min/mile and had walked probably 30 yards toward the end.  I know I am way off pace on this.  It kind of scares me a bit  knowing I am going to have to run after swimming and biking.  My legs get tired and just won't go very fast.  I call it the "lineman jog" because you see the fat football lineman running this way.  I do have a new pair of shoes, which I didn't wear tonight because I forgot to change into them.  Not sure if that will help much though.  i did run a mile last week at 10 minutes, and that was with walking quite a bit because I started breathing really heavy and knew I needed to slow my pace back to something manageable.

So that is me in a very big nutshell.  If anyone has any tips on running, on how to get me running farther, or not feeling like my legs are going to fall off after a mile, I would greatly appreciate it.  Part of me is hoping the more I run, and the less of this 255# body I have to propel, my endurance will increase.  I tried the couch to 5K not too long ago and got to where I could run for 30 minutes, but I felt like I was dying and I was running on a treadmill at 4mph which is about a 12-15 min/mile. and was barely making 2 miles.

Seems like not many people in this thread, but I will keep checking in looking for motivation and tips on training.

mfulls - 2010-12-27 1:28 AM interesting...I didn't think/know people did a walk/run during races.  I did run the entire 1.6 miles..again, at a very slow pace.  It was freezing cold and my knees have hurt for 2 days.  Never had pain like this before in them.  I was pounding the pavement.  Think I am going to try the track up at the high school to get a softer running surface.  I will have to try the run/walk thing too.  Thanks for the advice.  I think maybe I am expecting too much my first time out of the gate.....I guess it is the competitive nature in me.

Tri Take Me Away - 2010-12-27 2:20 PM

You might want to look into trail running, too. It's much easier on the joints and lots of fun, too. You WILL be slower on the trials but it's great conditioning.

RunswithRocky - 2011-01-04 2:40 PM Ran my first 1/2 marathon last year.  Training for a June Sprint.

Currently doing a 10 week Oly beginner training program to build endurance and will follow it up with a Sprint Intermediate program leading up to the June Tri. 

Currently Swimming 1300 yds in ~ 35min.
Running @ a 10:00 pace comfortably.
Biking - needs work, but I have all the gear.  May upgrade to a road bike from a hybrid, but not ready for the investment just yet. 

Current training plan is 2x a week for each discipline.  Goal for the 10 week plan is to just do the time and mileage and not worry about speed right now, just building endurance and staying injury free!

Champ76 - 2011-01-05 4:13 AM Hi,
A bit of a hiccup in my training over the last couple of weeks and bow i am a little behind where i should be. On the 22/12 i was hit by a car that did not give way to me. Bike is no good and due to the xmas break it looks as if i am still a couple of weeks away from getting a new one. I busted my left hand up a bit due to doing a few commando rolls off the bonnet of the guy's car and a first when i had xrays that day there seemed to be no fractures. 2 weeks later the wrist is still giving me grief and my doctor has ordered another xray and a scan. I have been on holidays at the beach for the last 10 days with only a few short runs once the body was feeling better. My question after all that is am i to far off track for my oly in march or can this be saved??? (As long as i dont have to get plaster for my wrist) What should i do to catch up where i should be???

Thanks.