tri808's Spring Pot Luck (CLOSED) (Page 5)

I like the idea of setting some short term goals.  Trying to set them with the idea of doing a HIM in mid July so by the end of March I would like to be training at around. 

1. Swim 1k yards without stopping
2. Run 10 miles
3. Bike for 2 hours uninterrupted

If anyone has HIM experience and thinks those goals are too aggressive or conservative please let me know.  I am not concerned with the run, a bit concerned with the bike and really concerned with the swim which I have only been training at for a few weeks. 

Long term goal is to complete the HIM in July.  Not concerned with my time really just want to have a good race and stay injury free through training. 

Thanks so much for letting me join! Looks like a great group and I look forward to meeting and training with you all. Here's a bit about me.

Name:  Holly

Background: I'll be turning 30 next week heading into my 4th season of tris. I always ran cross country and track and grew up hiking and skiing in the mountains of Montana. (For all the Hawaii peeps I also spent 4 years on the Big Island as a kid so HI is close to my heart!) I tore my ACL in a skiing accident in 2004 and started mountain biking when running was too painful. I happened to be visiting the Big Island again in '06 right before Kona IM and was super inspired to try out a triathlon. The only problem was that I was terrified of swimming... but over the past couple of years I've taught myself a meager freestyle and have completed several sprint distance tris and my first HIM this past summer.. swim and all! I especially like offroad tris like XTERRAs and hope to do more mtn bike racing this coming year. I love to combine exercise and fun if at all possible i.e. mountain biking or cross country skiing, but at the same time I would like to follow a more consistent training schedule to find my potential. I think this would have to involve improving my swimming.. dread. Hoping you all can help!

Family Status: Just me and my running partner/puppy dog Sula

Current Training: The last few months have been sporadic. Need to start running again for an upcoming half marathon at the end of February. 

2010 races: Feb. Half Mary, April Duathlon, June HIM - all posted in my race log

2011 races: Big goals for 2011 are my first full marathon (maybe two) an XTERRA and another HIM

Weightloss: I'd like to drop 5-10 pounds but mostly just eat healthy and focus on better nutrition. I'm a vegetarian so getting enough protein is always a concern. 

From what I have learned through personal experience, and advice from others...here is my take on training...especially in regards to the difference between running...and biking and swimming.

Training workload = training volume + training intensity.  In other words, your results are a combination of how much/long your train and how hard you train.

For biking and swimming, which are not weight bearing...it's perfectly fine to use shorter and more intense workouts, and actually recommended to increase your training intensity to stimulate your overall training workload.  We have limited time during the day, so achiving the same workload in a shorter time is always a plus.  Again, this is because swimming and biking is non impact...and your body can recover from hard workouts like these relatively quickly.  Not to say that you only need to do hard one hour rides to prepare for a 112 mile bike leg...but you get my point.

Running on the other hand, is very different.  It is weight bearing, and high impact.  And with that comes risk of injury.  So most of the advice you will hear from me regarding running is to build your volume first and foremost...and limit the intensity.  The reason being is that it allows you to achieve your desired workload with minimal injury risks and minimal recovery time.  Again...you need to build your volume slowly as well too.  Because injury can come from increasing volume to quickly...even if done at low intensities.

There is also a concept I learned from these forums.  People often don't realize that their body is already capable of speed.  If I sprinted all out...I could probably sprint at a 3 minute mile pace for a few seconds.  But I obviously can't sustain that speed for more than 20 yards.  So the problem is not speed...the problem is that I don't have enough endurance.  So really...if you want to improve your race times...you need to improve your endurance.  Running more miles...at an easy pace is a great way to do that.  Running easy allows you to run farther, and won't beat you up so you can run again the next day.

I say all of this because I see so many people get caught up in how fast they are running during training.  When really it's not that important.  Just remember...you are already fast.  It's a tough concept to grasp.

So again...the end result is to get the workload part of the training equation as high as possible.  If you increase too much volume or intensity...it could cause injury or burnout (when you get so tired the next day that you can't work out).  If that's the case...then your workload turns to 0...because you can't work out.  It's a fine balance.

That's just my take on things.  It's not the bible by any means...and other methods do work.  This is just the theory that works for me...and I hear preached most often.