Beginner 1/2 Ironman Plan Group (Page 73)

So I did my first tri of the season yesterday. Local sprint that was my first triathlon ever 2 years ago.  The weather has always been awful for this race. 2 years ago we had 30 mph winds and 90 degrees (which we were not ready for). Last year we had 25 mph winds, rain and a high in the 50's. It was awful and my chain slipped off the gear. I had to get off my bike in the downpour to fix it.

This year we finally got a break! 65 degrees, sun and clouds, 10-20 mph winds. Not perfect but manageable. I was so excited to see the sun shining in the morning because the forecast had called for rain all week. I was just happy to be racing and ready to put all this training to work! The race went great. I finally put everything together and didn't make any major bonehead mistakes. Finished 1st in my age group and 4th woman overall out of 75. Really all of that doesn't matter. I'm just happy I had fun and put together a solid race. I smoked the transitions (more important in a sprint than a HIM I think) and PR'd the bike and run.

Sorry if I sound like I'm tooting my own horn. I just had a rough season last year with lots of races in bad weather, pacing issues, and a general feeling like I just wasn't making the progress I had hoped to see. Yesterdays race really helped me shake that monkey off my back!

Very exciting, Bill.  I can't imagine the nerves.  All the best for a great race.  Make sure you have fun!

I'm on week 19 so just getting started but wowzers, are my legs tired.  I think I'm supposed to be going easy but I guess the cumulative effect is catching up.  This is just growing pains, right?  Or should I plan to be very sorry for the next 18 weeks?  

Hi Everyone!

My first HIM (and my first official triathlon) is in Boulder, Colorado on August 7. I was using a training schedule to prepare for the Colfax Half Marathon on May 15 and adding as much biking and swimming as I could on the side. I'm pretty nervous about the swim though and just found this program. I counted back on my calendar and it looks like I should be at week 14 so I think I'm going to jump in there an give this a try. Good luck everyone!

Lindsay

www.reachingfor703.com

Hello eveyone:

My HIM is Sept 25th...I'm on week 20 (just starting) or is that week one?  Hmmmm, anyway, I needed to do first training week twice to make up the time..... so i am....in week one of training and I felt like someone beat my legs with sticks after the first swim/run workout....its getting better now but my question is...yesterday was supposed to be a bike day and it was a torrential rain here all day....do you skip those workouts or make them up on your scheduled off day or do you hit the gym on a stationary bike or in a spin class??  Thanks.

So I did my first tri of the season yesterday. Local sprint that was my first triathlon ever 2 years ago.  The weather has always been awful for this race. 2 years ago we had 30 mph winds and 90 degrees (which we were not ready for). Last year we had 25 mph winds, rain and a high in the 50's. It was awful and my chain slipped off the gear. I had to get off my bike in the downpour to fix it.

This year we finally got a break! 65 degrees, sun and clouds, 10-20 mph winds. Not perfect but manageable. I was so excited to see the sun shining in the morning because the forecast had called for rain all week. I was just happy to be racing and ready to put all this training to work! The race went great. I finally put everything together and didn't make any major bonehead mistakes. Finished 1st in my age group and 4th woman overall out of 75. Really all of that doesn't matter. I'm just happy I had fun and put together a solid race. I smoked the transitions (more important in a sprint than a HIM I think) and PR'd the bike and run.

Sorry if I sound like I'm tooting my own horn. I just had a rough season last year with lots of races in bad weather, pacing issues, and a general feeling like I just wasn't making the progress I had hoped to see. Yesterdays race really helped me shake that monkey off my back!

Hi Everyone!

My first HIM (and my first official triathlon) is in Boulder, Colorado on August 7. I was using a training schedule to prepare for the Colfax Half Marathon on May 15 and adding as much biking and swimming as I could on the side. I'm pretty nervous about the swim though and just found this program. I counted back on my calendar and it looks like I should be at week 14 so I think I'm going to jump in there an give this a try. Good luck everyone!

Lindsay

www.reachingfor703.com

Hello eveyone:

My HIM is Sept 25th...I'm on week 20 (just starting) or is that week one?  Hmmmm, anyway, I needed to do first training week twice to make up the time..... so i am....in week one of training and I felt like someone beat my legs with sticks after the first swim/run workout....its getting better now but my question is...yesterday was supposed to be a bike day and it was a torrential rain here all day....do you skip those workouts or make them up on your scheduled off day or do you hit the gym on a stationary bike or in a spin class??  Thanks.

I want to address something that I see a lot with new triathletes and in my own clients. When you are following a training plan like this HIM plan, it's very hard to not constantly try to be faster. However, the best way to improve fitness and gain speed as a new triathlete is by doing base work in heart rate zones 1-2. One of the MOST commom mistakes new athletes make is to do every workout at a moderately hard effort. This creates injuries, burnout, and fitness plateaus. It's like building a skyscraper on quicksand.

Endurance comes first, not speed. You WILL get faster if you train in Zone 1-2. Trying to do each run and bike workout faster than the last will just FRY you as an athlete and is a very short term solution to a long-term problem.

Please do not feel like every workout is a race against the last one. You should take each workout as an easy endurance effort that is building a strong engine. Over time, you will go faster and faster at that easy effort level but ONLY if you train at that level. Once you have a year or so of endurance work, then you can add speed to that solid foundation. That's not to say that you can NEVER have speed sessions now, just that speed sessions should be targeted efforts, and not what you do every time you go out training.