"Train Smart Race Fast" 3 months challenge (Page 5)
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2007-02-11 2:36 PM in reply to: #679852 |
Veteran 192 Houston | Subject: RE: Progress this week Week 6Run: 6x (4x at 30m+ and 2x at 60m+) actually ran 6x (74m, 37m, 19m, 31m, 37m, 53m) Swim: 3x at 30m actually swam 3x for 30m each Bike: 1x at 30m+ actually biked 4x (30m, 30m, 60m, 60m) This was a good week. I've met or exceeded the frequency goals I set and in the case of times, was comfortable with them all. Family came first so my 19m instead of 30m run was the only miss. The week was good and if I had the time, I could have done more. Planned week 7Now, I'm getting to the point where I start wondering when we'll incorporate more into the challenge. I'm still sticking to training in easy paces because I don't want injuries. Time is starting to be the bigger issue. Run: 6x with 4x 30m and 2x 60m Swim: 2x 30m Bike: 2x 30m |
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2007-02-11 2:44 PM in reply to: #626920 |
Coach 10487 Boston, MA | Subject: RE: "Train Smart Race Fast" 3 months challenge I am working on the next training phase (4 weeks) right now... I'll post later tonight so you guys have an idea of how to go about adjusting your plan for coming weeks! |
2007-02-11 3:39 PM in reply to: #626920 |
Master 2411 Goodyear, AZ | Subject: RE: "Train Smart Race Fast" 3 months challenge Thanks Jorge! I have a question.....Our tri season has started here in AZ and I have my first sprint next sunday and I am really excited about it. I plan to do mostly sprints for the spring season, and a few road races. I am currently only able to get to the pool once/week due to work, my kids etc. I have been able to swim 1500m or more comforatbly, will this be enough to get me through the sprints? I know my swimming will not improve on once week training but I'm hoping it's enough. |
2007-02-11 8:56 PM in reply to: #626920 |
Coach 10487 Boston, MA | Subject: RE: "Train Smart Race Fast" 3 months challenge Actual Week 6 and last for prep phase – 5x swim (2x 40 min, 2x 50 min, 1x 60+ min), 4x swim, 3x run (2x30 min, 1x20min, 1x60+min) 2x bike 60 min most at Z1-Z2. Due to work a missed 2 runs but it’s no biggy as swimming went very well. So, we finally completed the 6 week prep phase and I must say these 6 weeks of conservative but consistent training had paid off big time. I’ve achieved my #1 goal which was to be able to get into the rhythm of training without rushing things up and risking injuries which would have meant another training layoff. I also was able to build up safely to 4-5x run, 5-6x swim, 2x bike a week. Since 99% of the intensity was low (Z1-Z2) I was able to allow my body to adapt to training and my muscles to catch up with my fitness level (which usually develops faster) Now the 1st thing to do after completing this period is to schedule an unload week (recovery) with fairly easy sessions to get the body ready for the next phase which will finally include some intensity. We’ll begin to add zone 3 and zone 4 intensities but slowly building up from short intervals to long periods of time. This will happen over then next 12-14 weeks which in my case is the time before my first big race of the season (FL 70.3). You can adjust your plan based on your racing goals but keep in mind that BASE training is still the name of the game and basically is what will be doing year-round. The amount of intensity will increase as we get close to the race in order to: increase our speed and teach our body to race at specific race pace. If your race is not until June or July for example you should build up even slower. If you were consistent on your training and follow the conservative build up for the past 6 weeks, you should be experiencing positive results in terms of your fitness level and the only way to confirm, that is by re-testing your functional threshold for all 3 sports. You want to do that ASAP for 2 reasons: 1) verify your training is progressing in the right direction and 2) modify your training zones/paces to continue pushing yourself just enough to increase your fitness and speed. You can either do the same test suggested before or actually race a 5-10K (whatever is closer to 30-40 min) and record data for 30 min as in the time trial test. A race is a good motivator to push a bit harder Most training plans call for a 3 ON/1 OFF cycle meaning the athlete will train and slowly increase training for 3 weeks in a row and recover by training easy on the 4th week. Currently I am experimenting with a 17 days ON/4 days OFF cycle which is a 21 days cycle or a 2/1 week cycle. The way it works is that I’ll increase training for 17 days and REALLY recover for 4 days with VERY easy sessions or complete days off. Also on the 9th day of the cycle I’ll have an active recovery day with a very easy session.You should adjust your training plan based on your own needs. If a 3/1 week works good for you keep it that way, if a 2/1 does then adjust it that way or you can even experiment with the cycle I’ll be using. Anyway, here is a sample of what will be my training for the next 4 weeks and idea of how to slowly incorporate intensity to out sessions. Keep in mind my focus will remain to work on my swimming and running focus for at least another 4-6 weeks but I’ll add 1 bike session. Week 7 – Unload week after 6 week prep phase. 4x swim 45+ min, 3x run (1x 40 min, 1x30 min with 10x30 seconds strides 30 seconds Z1 as recovery, 1x 60+min) and 1x bike as 4x5 min Z3, 2 min Z2 as recovery. The week will have two complete days off. >> Strides are efforts at Z4 Week 8 – 6x swim as (3x distance (60+ min) 1x recovery (30 min) 1x Z4 sets (30-40min), 1x HIM distance time trial (2100 yds at Z3)), 5x run as (1x 70 min, 1x 40 min with 2x5 min Z3 with 2 min Z1 as recovery, 1x 20 min Z1, 1x30 min (as 15x30 sec strides, 30 sec Z1 recovery), 1x 20min transition “brick” run) and 2x bike as (1x 60 min as 6x5 min Z3, 2 min Z2 as recovery and 1x 60 min as 5x2 min Z2 with 2 min Z2 as recovery) Week 9 – 6x swim as (3x distance (60+ min) 1x recovery (30 min) 1x Z4 sets (30-40min), 1x Oly distance time trial (1600 yds at Z3-Z4)), 5x run as (1x 75 min, 1x 40 min with 2x7 min Z3 with 2 min Z1 as recovery, 1x 20 min Z1, 1x30 min (as 20x30 sec strides, 30 sec Z1 recovery), 1x 20min transition “brick” run) and 3x bike as (1x 60 min as 7x5 min Z3, 2 min Z2 as recovery, 1x 60 min as 5x3 min Z2 with 3 min Z2 as recovery and 1x 45 min Z2) Week 10 - 2 UNLOAD and 2 OFF days. 4x swim as (1x distance (60+ min) 1x recovery (30 min) 1x Z4 sets (30-40min), 1x HIM time trial (2100 yds at Z3)), 3x run as (1x 60 min, 1x 30min Z2 easy run and 1x 20min transition “brick” run) and 2x bike as (1x 60 min as 8x5 min Z3, 2 min Z2 as recovery and 1x 60 min as 5x4 min Z2 with 4 min Z2 as recovery) If you have any questions or comments share it with us so we can all learn together! Keep on going and Train Smart! |
2007-02-11 10:44 PM in reply to: #626920 |
Veteran 192 Houston | Subject: RE: "Train Smart Race Fast" 3 months challenge Jorge, I'll need a day or two to digest what you've posted, but I can see the intensity building! I have a question about testing our fitness increase since we started. I have an upcoming 5K and then the next week a duathlon of (2mi, 15mi, 2mi). The 5K shouldn't be over 25min so does this rule it out as a time trial? For the duathlon, I'm not sure how to translate the effort since it is a mixture. I would like to say thanks for the help so far. As I've blogged, I can feel my fitness better than I've ever felt it in the past. This weekend I finally kept up with and could have outrun my father in law (a big motivator since there were many days in the past were he would outlast and outpace me). I've posted my week 7 plans, but I will admit that I'm a bit stumped as far as how to go to the next level in my training. Also your unloaded weeks still look pretty loaded! Edited by originalkid 2007-02-11 10:45 PM |
2007-02-12 8:25 AM in reply to: #686933 |
Coach 10487 Boston, MA | Subject: RE: "Train Smart Race Fast" 3 months challenge riorio - 2007-02-11 3:39 PM Thanks Jorge! I have a question.....Our tri season has started here in AZ and I have my first sprint next sunday and I am really excited about it. I plan to do mostly sprints for the spring season, and a few road races. I am currently only able to get to the pool once/week due to work, my kids etc. I have been able to swim 1500m or more comforatbly, will this be enough to get me through the sprints? I know my swimming will not improve on once week training but I'm hoping it's enough. It should be enough. Make sure you swim the race distace (around 800 Yds) non stop though before... Good luck at your race and let us know how it goes! |
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2007-02-12 10:31 AM in reply to: #687202 |
Lethbridge, Alberta | Subject: RE: "Train Smart Race Fast" 3 months challenge Last week worked out to be an unloading week for me because of some other commitments. This past weekend my truck and I helped with some moving. I should count that as a strength session or two. I also took a night off during the week after donating blood. Snow shoveling should have also counted as a few extra strength sessions but I haven't been logging that. I had to skip a run so there were only 4 of those, although the weekend long run was still a bit longer. As expected, the weather limited my bike commuting to a couple of days and I didn't find a good time for the rollers. A swim oppertunity had to be dropped too so there were only 4 trips to the pool as well. On the bright side, with the extra rest, my pace on the long run was better than I expected even though the perceived effort seemed easier. Still near the back of the pack, but it's improving. |
2007-02-12 11:53 AM in reply to: #626920 |
Online or Offline | Subject: RE: "Train Smart Race Fast" 3 months challenge That's a great improvement, Micawber! And good luck with your tri, riorio! I just finished another week, Tuesdays are my rest days...and I can't wait for it! I'm going into a recovery week next week. Not quite finishing my training days feeling like I can go out the next day and "tackle" another day of training with a lot of gusto. So it is concerning me a bit in this base phase. I'm sure that I'm not used to running so many consecutive run days (I trained for 2 marathons and and Iron on running basically 3x/week), so I'm feeling a little tired! I'm going to have to keep it like this for the month of Feb, due to my work schedule, but I think it'll work out ok. |
2007-02-12 1:45 PM in reply to: #626920 |
Coach 10487 Boston, MA | Subject: RE: "Train Smart Race Fast" 3 months challenge Ok guys, here is more info for you guys to know what the different sessions definitions mean and what are the goals of each session. This should help those self-coach athletes to schedule and plan their weekly session and develop a focus for a specific block. Keep in mind that the biggest LIMITER for most of us is volume and time available for training hence the better we plan our weeks the greater ROI (return on investment) we will get based on our individual needs. Some people might be able to absorb greater volume, intensity and/or frequency so adjust accordingly! Training Plan Definitions: Swim All swim sessions should have 4 components: Type of session focus: |
2007-02-14 11:47 AM in reply to: #626920 |
Coach 10487 Boston, MA | Subject: RE: "Train Smart Race Fast" 3 months challenge ok I've been meaning to post this to complement my previuos post for the next training cycle but work is been crazy, anyway, here we go: Run: Type of session focus: Bike: Type of session focus: I hope this will help you to enhance your training plans! :) Edited by amiine 2007-02-14 11:48 AM |
2007-02-14 6:00 PM in reply to: #626920 |
Master 2411 Goodyear, AZ | Subject: RE: "Train Smart Race Fast" 3 months challenge Thanks for explaining all that. I'm probably the only runner/triathlete out there that doesn't have a HRM, but I think I have a pretty good idea of what my zones are. I never thought about doing hill repeats on the bike but it makes sense. I just found a 2 mile bike loop that has a pretty good hill. I will try it. |
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2007-02-18 11:45 AM in reply to: #626920 |
Subject: RE: "Train Smart Race Fast" 3 months challenge I've come across this challenge a bit late!! But it looks like something I will be taking a lot of information from for my own training. I have not yet read through every post here, but the six week base looks good for me, and Jorge, I like your idea of making this a "year 'round" training rather than a "challenge". My challenge is -- I am working at, and searching for a cure for plantar fasciitis that I have been battling for about 2 years. Walking and jogging have taken a way back seat for me. I have been doing a lot of swimming, spinning and outdoor cycling and am hopeful to add that jogging part sometime! I also have recently gotten back to core/strength training and yoga, so my schedule of exercise is pretty full. So, Jorge, I don't know if you have any tips for me about starting an actual training schedule. Ai have my eye on a sprint tri at the end of June IF my feet allow! I will echo everyone else's thanks for this plan and training help Jorge. Nancy |
2007-02-19 8:31 AM in reply to: #626920 |
Veteran 192 Houston | Subject: RE: "Train Smart Race Fast" 3 months challenge Week 7 Summary This week was very light as I had a sick kid again and a race planned for the 17th that I wanted to be rested before. Swim (2x) with times (30m, 30m) which will be a typical week. I may be able to go to 40-45m and sometimes 3x but my work schedule and family make 2x easy, but more is difficult. Run (3x and 1x 5k race) with times (35m, 30m, 20m and 23m15s). The race went very well for me and I clocked by PB time at 23:15, which is down from 27:30 last race and before I started training. Woohoo! Bike (3x) with times (45m, 15m, 15m). I've started adding a bit of bike time before my evening runs to loosen my legs. I'm doing about 15m now at easy pace before running. All in all a good week. The training was done easier and the race run faster! Week 8 Plan At the end of this week is a duathlon, which is a bit step up for me. Before I had only run 5k races. So this week will be an easy week as well in preparation for the race. Swim (2x 30m) typical swim week I hope (Mardi Gras may interfere but we will see). Bike (3x 15m and 1x 30m) pre-run warmups and one longer day Run (4x 30m) easy pace Then my duathlon! |
2007-02-19 9:03 AM in reply to: #626920 |
Master 2411 Goodyear, AZ | Subject: RE: "Train Smart Race Fast" 3 months challenge I had a great week, kind of tapering for my tri yesterday. I was worried about the swim (note the really thin purple lines on my training log), but I did good. I was very pleased with my tri and know that if I am more consistent in bike training and get to the pool more, I could do better. Here's my race report http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp... Not sure what this week will hold. I am either going to do a local 5k race or another sprint on saturday. I missed the registration deadline for the sprint but they might still let me enter. Congrats on your PR originalkid! Sally |
2007-02-19 9:38 AM in reply to: #695338 |
Veteran 192 Houston | Subject: RE: "Train Smart Race Fast" 3 months challenge Thanks riorio. Congratulations on your race as well. |
2007-02-19 12:29 PM in reply to: #626920 |
Lethbridge, Alberta | Subject: RE: "Train Smart Race Fast" 3 months challenge Nice efforts rorio and originalkid, and thanks TAGP. As always, thanks again amine for your work in this thread and congratulations on your own progress too. Sorry to hear about the pf, Nancytris. I've also had to deal with that before. I looked at the treatment in two phases. If it's sore and inflamed, you have to get the inflammation down first. Try rest, elevation, ice, NSAIDs, and gentle massage whle avoiding more injury. Once the foot is feeling better, it needs lots of gentle stretching and some exercise to get stronger but start easy and progress very slowly. Too much rest just lets it get weaker and prone to re-injury. The tricky part is that when you push too hard the inflammation can take a day or two to set in, so you might not realize right away that it was too much. That's why you have to build the exercise level so slowly. When you do try to progress too fast, which I did again and again, go back to step one and get the inflammation down. If you catch it soon enough you shouldn't lose as much strength each time before you start building again. Good luck. This past week ended up being lighter for me anyway. The weather made bike commuting impractical and circumstances sidelined training on three non-consecutive days. On the remaining days, I ran four times and swam three. Running is still my primary concern right now though, and both the weekend long run and the week's overall volume were increased, so I felt like I was making good use of the extra rest days. For the coming week I hope to get the frequency back up in all three sports. Overall, I want to get the frequency and volume up consistently before trying to add much intensity. So far, I haven't felt like there was energy to spare for the harder intervals, except for a rare fartlek style sprint now and then. Edited by Micawber 2007-02-19 12:40 PM |
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2007-02-19 4:33 PM in reply to: #626920 |
Subject: RE: "Train Smart Race Fast" 3 months challenge Micawber --- Thanks for the info about how you treated your pf. I am sure I have been trying to do too much walk/jogging (even the little I have been doing!) and have not done any massaging of the area. I have been icing and tryng to stretch, but when the results of those efforts were il, I even have stopped doing that! I am researching the ART possibility but will probably have to pay for that on my own as I am sure my HMO doesn't cover it. But if it helps, no amount (within reason) will be too much to pay. I will also try your advice of NSAIDS (I'm sooooooo anti-drug taking), massage and easy active rest. Thanks Nancy |
2007-02-19 4:58 PM in reply to: #683964 |
Master 1641 Cambridge, MA | Subject: RE: "Train Smart Race Fast" 3 months challenge SunnyS - 2007-02-08 12:01 PM Hi all, I'm coming off of my 2/4/07 half-marathon effort, which went well but no PR. I wasn't gunning for a PR, and I didn't build/taper as much as usual, but it still went just fine. My logs don't reflect the training I did while traveling to FL for work and CA for the race, but I'll fix that fairly soon. If I didn't, it'd throw off my 2007 totals! LOL I hope to set aside some time this weekend to plan/prep for next week, staying in the guidelines of the Train Smart challenge. Take care all, and keep training smart, -Sunny Well, hello again challenge mates...I hope everyone's doing well. I've left my log blank for the first 2 weeks of Feb. There's just no time or real point to going back in and filling the gaps. I didn't log my workouts, but I was doing the occasional 30-40 min run and 50-60 min spin. Like our friend in Alberta, it's too cold for me to commute lately, so I have to do other riding. Strength training and coordination/balance moves in the gym have been my lifting focus. I'm going to get back in the pool this week. And (honestly) I'm going to actually plan out my workouts again (or rather, for a change!). I usually just take them as they come, but I do feel that more structure will help me actually feel the building of endurance, speed, and power in my movements. Wishful thinking? We'll see! Mon -- 20 min in Z2/3 indoor xc-ski and hour ride (spin) Tues -- lifting for coordination and endurance; short PM swim at pool Weds -- All Zone 1-4 hour ride (spin) and abs/core work; PM swim at pool (what kind of workout?) Thurs -- 40 min run in Z2/3 and 40 min lifting circuit with PT client; PM off Fri -- 30 min run in All Zones 1-4 Sat -- rest and train PT clients, not myself unless swim at pool is an option Sun -- 2 hour All Zone 1-4 special studio spin event at a dance club (!?) Have a great week, -Sunny |
2007-02-19 8:17 PM in reply to: #626920 |
Subject: RE: "Train Smart Race Fast" 3 months challenge Jorge-- You said in one of your posts that you are not a great believer in strength training. Would you please talk more about this? Your thoughts as well as some training ideas that you might have. Thanks |
2007-02-21 11:13 AM in reply to: #626920 |
Coach 10487 Boston, MA | Subject: RE: "Train Smart Race Fast" 3 months challenge Sorry guys, I am checking in late, but I had a bit of a rough weekend, unfortunately I can't share the details Anyway planned week 7: Unload week. 4x swim, 3x run and 1x bike, ACTUAL, 5x swim, 1x run and 1x bike. I didn’t do all my runs but since it was an unload week and I traveled it is ok. This week started I bit rough as the illness which kept me away so many months from training is been making a bit of a number on me but it is my fault as I misbehave by not following my diet, taking meds, etc over the weekend, hence I missed a training day on Monday and had to adjust my goals for this week. Which BTW, it is a good time to remind you all that sometimes life/sickness gets on the way of training and the number one thing to do is to get better by been proactive about in hopes to lose just a few days from training. It is far better to do that than to tough it up and in the long run miss SEVERAL days/weeks of training. Finally, it is sort of pointless of trying to make up sessions by cramming different workouts just to get the planned sessions in; it is better to have “key” sessions every week that we know we should get in no matter what. On this phase based on the training plan posted on page no. 3, those key sessions would most likely be the long & tempo run, the tempo ride and the straight HIM/Oly swim. (tempo session are those done at Z3) Let’s keep on moving people and lets keep an eye on each other because as the weeks pass by things will be getting a bit tougher as the motivation sometimes wears thin for many reasons such as: still so many weeks before the A race, the winter weather, work, seasonal sickness, etc. But if we keep at it posting every week we will feel sort of committed to not let our ‘virtual’ training group down! Train Smart, Race Fast! |
2007-02-21 2:13 PM in reply to: #696332 |
Coach 10487 Boston, MA | Subject: RE: "Train Smart Race Fast" 3 months challenge Nancytris - 2007-02-19 8:17 PM IMO must of us are athletes with time restraints due to work, family etc. For that reason I believe that the more we focus on S/B/R the better will be as an investment of our time. But also let me clarify something, I am not entirely against strength training, I am against spending 30-40min in the gym lifting weight and performing exercises that won’t benefit our specific tri training. Jorge-- You said in one of your posts that you are not a great believer in strength training. Would you please talk more about this? Your thoughts as well as some training ideas that you might have. Thanks Most people have the argument that ST (weight lifting) either will enhance performance or prevent injuries. For the former argument, well if we only have 8 hrs a week available for training, investing that time on tri specific training will provide almost 99% more gains because the force required to squats and bench press has nothing to do with the force required for S/B/R. For the latter argument, most athlete face training injuries because they: a) increase their workload too fast, b) increase their intensity to fast, or c) both. As a personal example: last year I battle ankle and knee injuries and the 1st thing a PT recommend was to do strength training, as most likely my knee/ankle wear to weak to sustain the impact of running. A month later with PT and weight lifting therapy I resume running and faced same results. My coach told me he was certain I was just doing too much, too fast too soon but I wasn't lsitening. Unfortunately I had to get injure to understand because that forced me to slow down. Anyway around the same time I visited a MD specialized on ART and he suggested running specific strength exercises (running drills) and some stretching. Within a few weeks I was back to normal and began running patiently building my volume, frequency and intensity slow. Knock on wood I haven’t had any more knee or ankle injuries ever since. Finally, I do understand that there are specific cases that ST is required as some people might have special needs due to an accident, mechanic issues, etc, but in ‘general’ I like to recommend my guys to focus on tri specific ST in the form of drills, hill repeats, stretching, etc. |
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2007-02-25 11:04 PM in reply to: #626920 |
Lethbridge, Alberta | Subject: RE: "Train Smart Race Fast" 3 months challenge I got this week's fifth run done today to wrap up week eight. Swimming was cancelled last Monday so I only swam four times. There were a few mtn.bike commutes in there too but I'm going to have to start fitting in some actual bike training soon. So far, both the running and swimming are starting to show some improvement with just the extra frequency and volume. How was everyone else's week? Edited by Micawber 2007-02-25 11:05 PM |
2007-02-26 7:12 AM in reply to: #626920 |
Master 2411 Goodyear, AZ | Subject: RE: "Train Smart Race Fast" 3 months challenge Great training this week Micawber. I had a good week. I am happy that I have been able to increase my training without feeling any knee pain or discomfort. I decided to do a local tri on saturday, even tho I had just done one last weekend, I wanted to do it as training. I do all of my training alone, so any chance I get to train/race with other people, I jump on it. I reached 2 goals in the tri- to swim under a 2min/100yds pace and run under a 7 min/mile. Here's my race report: http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp... Hope everyone else had a good and healthy week! Edited by riorio 2007-02-26 7:14 AM |
2007-02-26 8:18 AM in reply to: #626920 |
Coach 10487 Boston, MA | Subject: RE: "Train Smart Race Fast" 3 months challenge Hello gang… just checking in to report this past week for training. It wasn’t a good in the sense I battled a cold but at least I managed to get in some sessions and now I am ready to go for the next coming weeks. Also I have my 1st race of the season, well sort of. I did a winter duathlon as 2K run – 12k x-country ski – 2K run, but it was more of a suffer fest session as prior to Saturday I never x-country skiing before. It was fun and a killer workout but dude, my arms/shoulders/back/legs still hurt a lot! Week 8 planned – 6x swim, 5x run as and 2x bike as, Actual: 3x swim, 4x run, 1x bike, 1hr x-country skiing. It wasn’t that bad considering I skipped 3 days off training but I’ll just treat this as an easy week and I’ll just reorganized my coming training days. I also had planned two quality sessions this past week (intensity Z4) for biking and running as part of the gradual build up but since I missed those I’ll just adjust coming weeks to avoid doing too much intensity too soon. I have 12 weeks until my 1st 70.3 race of the season so I NEED to get moving with my biking and get my running speed to where I wanted to be. Train Smart! |
2007-02-26 8:25 AM in reply to: #626920 |
Veteran 192 Houston | Subject: RE: "Train Smart Race Fast" 3 months challenge My week went well, I trained lightly during the week with one intensity day on the bike. I also had my first multi-sport race this weekend, a duathlon (2mi run/15mi bike/2mi run. Here is my race-report. This next week, I will start with the intensity outlined by Jorge. Have a good week everyone! |
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