Do You Enjoy Training Or Not? (Page 3)

That's interesting. I'm the opposite. When I didn't have a coach, I felt like I was just wasting my time because I didn't really have a solid plan (even when I had a BT plan, I felt like it wasn't really MY plan, meant for me.) Now that I have a coach, I love my training because I can see how each workout fits into his overall plan for my season. It probably helps that he gave me a nice color-coded spreadsheet showing the year planned out, with races and various phases of training planned out. It's just an overall plan ("it's more what you'd call 'guidelines' than actual rules") for how my training season will go that he then tweaks based on how I'm doing/feeling. Anyway, I feel like every workout has a purpose and I understand it now, so I enjoy the training even more.

As for racing... even though I'm not anywhere near hitting the podium, I love it. It's a test of ME against ME. And I love competition in any form. And I'm lucky that I don't get any race nerves, so I can just focus on the whole experience. 

FTR, I have a very good and supportive coach, with very specific workouts.  And I have gotten faster in the 4 short months I've worked with her.

I just found that my training  (mostly weekend stuff) was much more social than it is now.  We are working on that.  

Pre coach I had pretty good plans (found here and elsewhere) for my race schedule the last four seasons (including IM).  I actually think I coached myself pretty well, but was looking for specific run training (my weakness)

ETA, and I love to race   

Edited by ChrisM 2009-05-31 9:01 PM

I enjoy training. I look forward to training, even the early morning workouts. I feel lethargic on the off days. The racing though is more "enjoyable" than the training, although not always in the middle of the race. Plus races give me a goal that encourages me to train harder. I would not push it as hard if I did not have the goal of a race. This is not to say I am in a position to win a race but I do like to see how fast I can push myself to go.

I really love training, partially because I'm SUCH a newbie that I see a lot of improvement just week-to-week

I haven't raced in my first tri yet, but I know that I really love running races -- the crowds and all the happy-anxious people are really contagiously exciting, and I like getting free food  Plus, like so many other people, I know that if I don't have a goal to be working towards then I will slack off and not train as hard as I could/should be doing.  "Exercising for health" is all well and good, but at least for me, I don't work as hard as when I'm training for races. 

ETA:  I kind of lied a little bit.  I really love running and biking.  Swimming is OK, but I get bored, lose count of my laps, and inevitably forget that I can only breathe air, so I end up with nasty-tasting pool water in my nose or mouth. 

Edited by kat_astrophe 2009-06-01 12:19 PM

I don't enjoy training...

I love it




Edited by tri_d00d 2009-06-01 12:34 PM

I look forward to both... Training helps me put the day away(work and all that other stuff), racing is a big party to me.. everyone is there for a reason, but having fun is the most important part..

Edited by momo 2009-06-01 12:52 PM

Maybe this says more about what a boring person I am but it's very rare that my training is NOT the highlight of my day. It's always been that way too.

Chris, how much faster have you gotten with your new coach?

This is my feeling as well, although I haven't done any triathlons, I have entered various races to get focused and motivated towards becoming a better (runner, swimmer, mountain biker). 

Love running outside.
Like biking (even on the trainer).

Whats that other one again...oh yeah: swimming...the one I try to forget about.  Although I did do my first 1/2 mile OWS in the Tampa Bay on vacation last week and I loved it.  Pool, not so much.  Most boring thing ever next to the treadmill.

I look forward to any time I can get on the bike.  I was even happy on Sunday in the rain after 50 miles already behind me, with 15 more to go.

I look forward to 95% of my runs.  For some reason, I really look forward to intervals, tempo runs, and the like.  I like long runs.  The ones I don't like are the general recovery runs.  Bo-ring.

I detest every swim workout.  Swimming is torture. 

And I absolutely love to race.  It makes me forget that I'm swimming.  I guess I race to train, as I'll never be a podium triathlete. 

Training keeps me sane and allows me to eat some high calorie yummy stuff
If I miss a day or two of training, I get grumpy.

If I need to train for longer stuff, I tend to get a bit anxious because I get squeezed for time with family stuff at times.

I like all three sbr. Each have their shining I LOVE IT moments...and each have their I SUCK AT THIS moments

Racing is great fun with the other competitors and crowd BUT I tend to get anxious about racing...especially if its highly competitive. I suppose it just hammers home how average I am...and I know I'm only competing with myself but on some level I have dreams of being carried on people's shoulders with a huge trophy in hand

Training is better when I have signed up for a race.  Otherwise I just coast and get lazy. 

Runs have gotten about :15 faster per mile on average.   Although I don't know if it is that her workouts have made me faster, or her convincing me that i could push harder made me faster. 

If you don't like training long term you will stop doing this.

I love to bike...any type of riding, tri bike, hard intervals, time trials, cyclocross is like an amazing adventure on a bike. I hope to bike until I die as much as I can. I have a bucket list of cool bike things I want to do...24 hour bike race, RAAM as a women's relay, ride my bike across the country, and more.

Running I enjoy but it is much harder for me, it hurts more, but it brings me joy.

Swimming I have this strange relationship with. This is my 6th year tri'ing and my swim has frustrated me the most to the point at times I say I'm going to quit tris just because I haven't improved much with lots of hard work. This off season finally I see some gains. I did my first ows of the season here in MA with tri buddy. I was able to keep up with her which last year I was always far behind. If I didn't race I wouldn't care what my pace is. I'm not sure if I didn't tri if I'd swim. I enjoy it more than I have. My new coach gives me workouts that keep me mentally invested and I like the challenge of them.

Racing hurts when you go hard. I like it the aspect of racing and giving it my all. I tend to overthink after races and judge myself based on time, paces and placement. Reality is I'm not that good, but enjoy the lifestyle, fitness and all that is involved.

I absolutely LOVE to train. I look forward to it 99% of the time and the other 1% are the days I take off or take it easy. I absolutely LOVE my time in the pool and on the bike. And even though I'm a slow runner, I still look forward to my runs. I get energy from all of my workouts. If I miss a couple, I get cranky and irritable.

Racing on the other hand is not fun AT ALL for me. I get too anxious and put too much pressure on myself. I enjoy the atmosphere and all the healthy/fit people but the race itself is sheer torture. I race just to test my progress which is why I only race a few times a season.

Love to train, love to race.  I have bad training days, but a bad training session is still better than any faculty meeting I've ever attended.

Love both of them...but I get nervous coming up to races. It's really the only thing that keeps me sane. I very rarely take days off because when I do, I'm stressed, feel fat and have a tendancy to eat more.

Addiction runs in my family...I've just found a healthy addiction! 

I love every aspect of triathlon.  The race, the prep and the feeling of getting faster with the hard work that I put in.

Love racing, Training depends on the day. Some day's it's great and I love every minute of it, other days I can't wait to just get the workout over with.

x2

I thoroughly enjoy training. I work pretty hard at making sure I don't get injured and usually manage an average of 9.5 hours a week right now, which is not bad for my first year. I'm looking forward to 7 hour Sundays next year, when I start training for my first HIM.

The races are just wacky fun training days at this point. Sprints and olys aren't why I do this. I want to do an Ironman in 2011. Everything else is just a part of that goal.

Race day is always exciting, but not so much that I'd train for the sole purpose of racing. Training is a lifestyle choice for me, and while it's not always fun, the days that flow make the hard ones worthwhile. As an ongoing fitness standard for myself, I like to feel confident that I could complete a respectable olympic distance tri with limited notice.