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10 sprints in 10 weeks for a newbie?
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 2009-06-23 1:40 AM |
Master  1591    San Diego, CA |  Subject: 10 sprints in 10 weeks for a newbie?Does 10 sprints in 10 weeks sounds like a bad idea? A family member did their first tri this week and plans to do 9 more in the next 9 weeks ending the summer with a HIM. I'm concerned about their health. We're talking about someone with little athletic background and I don't want to see them get hurt. |
| 2009-06-23 2:58 AM in reply to: #2236013 |
Master 2665  The Whites, New Hampshire | Subject: RE: 10 sprints in 10 weeks for a newbie? I'm no expert, and people with a lot more experience than me will hopefully chime in, but my first thought is that going from 2-3 hours of training per week to doing 2-3 hour training sessions in one day is far too extreme. You can certainly do sprints with very little or no prep, but most people who do that a) don't have as much fun as they were hoping to; and b) need several days to recover. If I had the money to burn I would love to do races as prolonged training sessions, just to screw with different elements without thinking about race results. But I would do that *after* building up to the point where a 2-3 hour training session was pretty typical, and I still don't think I'd do it once a week. But, hey, chacun a son gout. To each his own. (Pardon the gender and the lack of accents) If your family member wants to do it, there may not be anything to stop them. You "advising" them could be in their eyes "nagging" or "doubting" which could end up pushing them even harder. It might be best to just wait at the finish line with several ice packs with "I told you so" written in invisible ink on them, and hope they learn the lesson before it is permanent.  |
| 2009-06-23 4:17 AM in reply to: #2236013 |
Sneaky Slow 8694 Herndon, VA, | Subject: RE: 10 sprints in 10 weeks for a newbie? I think it is a terrible idea on many levels... 10 sprints in 10 weeks in and of itself is a recipe for burnout, or injury, or both, especially for a newbie, and then throwing in the HIM... how is this person going to properly train for an HIM if they are racing every weekend... how are they going to get a quality long bike and/or run in, on a weekend that they are racing? When I race, even a sprint, I take a light day the day before, and a recovery day or day off the day after... this person is likely going to have to do a long bike/run the day before the race, or after. And, if they are not "racing" per se... meaning not going all out during the race, they likely ought to be doing a brick instead, instead of a race. I think it is a really bad idea. Maybe your friend will do 2 sprints in 2 weeks and realize the folly of his/her "plan." |
| 2009-06-23 8:07 AM in reply to: #2236013 |
Elite 2768 Raleigh | Subject: RE: 10 sprints in 10 weeks for a newbie? I did 4 sprints in 4 weeks a few years ago and let me tell you by the 4th one I was friggin dead tired.... I say there is no way to train during the week and do 10 races in a row and race everyone of them... even if you did not get injured you would be so tired by the 5 or 6th I do not think you could recover properly... wow... be cool if someone could pull it off... if you can train well and race all of them... be pretty cool to see what your times went from the 1st to the last one. But yea... crazy idea... |
| 2009-06-23 8:17 AM in reply to: #2236013 |
Coach 10487 Boston, MA | Subject: RE: 10 sprints in 10 weeks for a newbie? jezzieswims - 2009-06-23 1:40 AM depends how in shape (or not) the person is, how hard he/she races every race and what he/she does in between races. Yes probably not the best idea specially for someone with a low fitnes level and training for a HIM. Doable? yes. optimal? prob not. Can he/she get hurt? maybe.Does 10 sprints in 10 weeks sounds like a bad idea? A family member did their first tri this week and plans to do 9 more in the next 9 weeks ending the summer with a HIM. I'm concerned about their health. We're talking about someone with little athletic background and I don't want to see them get hurt. |
| 2009-06-23 8:18 AM in reply to: #2236013 |
| Subject: RE: 10 sprints in 10 weeks for a newbie? Bad idea all around, for the reasons everyone else suggested - they're looking at possible injury, overtraining, burnout and NOT being adequately prepared for a HIM. In fact, I really don't understand why some people would want to go from nothing to sprint, to HIM in one season. Jeez, train, see if you like the sport and be prepared! There's a lot to be said for that. Anyone can bs their way through a sprint, as long as they can stay afloat in the water. A HIM is a bit more of an undertaking. |
| 2009-06-23 8:27 AM in reply to: #2236306 |
Elite 2768 Raleigh | Subject: RE: 10 sprints in 10 weeks for a newbie? JorgeM - 2009-06-23 8:17 AM jezzieswims - 2009-06-23 1:40 AM depends how in shape (or not) the person is, how hard he/she races every race and what he/she does in between races. Yes probably not the best idea specially for someone with a low fitnes level and training for a HIM. Doable? yes. optimal? prob not. Can he/she get hurt? maybe.Does 10 sprints in 10 weeks sounds like a bad idea? A family member did their first tri this week and plans to do 9 more in the next 9 weeks ending the summer with a HIM. I'm concerned about their health. We're talking about someone with little athletic background and I don't want to see them get hurt.
still it would be pretty cool.... how fast do you think the time drop would be from first to last???? I could see you Jorge doing something crazy like this... |
| 2009-06-23 8:27 AM in reply to: #2236013 |
Cycling Guru 15134 Fulton, MD | Subject: RE: 10 sprints in 10 weeks for a newbie? My question. Why?????? What's the point in that? A dare? A bet? Raising money for a charity? To me, if there is no legitimate reason than it is not a very good idea. Doable? Sure. But at the end of it someone would risk the chance of being totally sick of the sport, injured or burned out. Edited by Daremo 2009-06-23 8:28 AM |
| 2009-06-23 8:29 AM in reply to: #2236337 |
Champion 6046 New York, NY | Subject: RE: 10 sprints in 10 weeks for a newbie? Daremo - 2009-06-23 9:27 AM My question. Why?????? What's the point in that? A dare? A bet? Raising money for a charity? To me, if there is no legitimate reason than it is not a very good idea. Doable? Sure. But at the end of it someone would risk the chance of being totally sick of the sport, injured or burned out. x2 |
| 2009-06-23 8:44 AM in reply to: #2236337 |
Master 1591 San Diego, CA | Subject: RE: 10 sprints in 10 weeks for a newbie? Daremo - 2009-06-23 6:27 AM My question. Why?????? What's the point in that? A dare? A bet? Raising money for a charity? To me, if there is no legitimate reason than it is not a very good idea. Doable? Sure. But at the end of it someone would risk the chance of being totally sick of the sport, injured or burned out. He's doing it in an attempt to lose 40 pound in 10 weeks. |
| 2009-06-23 8:50 AM in reply to: #2236394 |
Champion 5117 Brandon, MS | Subject: RE: 10 sprints in 10 weeks for a newbie? jezzieswims - 2009-06-23 8:44 AM Daremo - 2009-06-23 6:27 AM My question. Why?????? What's the point in that? A dare? A bet? Raising money for a charity? To me, if there is no legitimate reason than it is not a very good idea. Doable? Sure. But at the end of it someone would risk the chance of being totally sick of the sport, injured or burned out. He's doing it in an attempt to lose 40 pound in 10 weeks. Why can't he do that with HIM training? It actually seems like a waste of ten good training weekends. Sure, a race here and there helps you learn a lot and gain some experience. But where will they fit in the long bike rides and long runs? If they are squeezing those in along with the 9 sprints, then I'd be worried about injury and burnout. Seeing as how they just did their first tri, you need to get them to focus on this HIM and not how many tris they can sneak in. Edited by sesh 2009-06-23 8:52 AM |
| 2009-06-23 9:04 AM in reply to: #2236013 |
Extreme Veteran 337 Houston | Subject: RE: 10 sprints in 10 weeks for a newbie? That sounds pretty hard. There was an article on runnersworld about racing 5k and 10ks once of month or possibly a week for while to gain speed. Pretty sure it was monthly...maybe he took that article and applied to triathlon!?!? Some things on the plus side though...lots of t shirts and waterbottles!!! Does your family member blog...would be an interesting story to keep up with. |
| 2009-06-23 9:07 AM in reply to: #2236394 |
Sneaky Slow 8694 Herndon, VA, | Subject: RE: 10 sprints in 10 weeks for a newbie? jezzieswims - 2009-06-23 9:44 AM Daremo - 2009-06-23 6:27 AM My question. Why?????? What's the point in that? A dare? A bet? Raising money for a charity? To me, if there is no legitimate reason than it is not a very good idea. Doable? Sure. But at the end of it someone would risk the chance of being totally sick of the sport, injured or burned out. He's doing it in an attempt to lose 40 pound in 10 weeks. Also not smart, or maintainable, or realistic. You ought to point your family member to this thread. |
| 2009-06-23 9:15 AM in reply to: #2236013 |
Champion 7595 Columbia, South Carolina | Subject: RE: 10 sprints in 10 weeks for a newbie? The 'losing weight' rationale really doesn't make it sound any better, IMHO. Losing weight is a wonderful goal, and I'm all for it (assuming there is weight to lose...). Losing 40lbs in 10 weeks, in the midst of an orgy of races, sounds to me like an invitation to burnout at best. Topping it all off with a HIM is... well, I'll predict that the HIM will not be a very pleasant experience, if he makes it that far. And then there's the very significant chance that, post-burnout (or worse), the weight will come right back, maybe in less than 10 weeks... |
| 2009-06-23 9:28 AM in reply to: #2236013 |
Expert 1342 Apex, NC | Subject: RE: 10 sprints in 10 weeks for a newbie? That's an expensive (and dangerous) way to lose 40 lbs. in 10 weeks. I'd say that's a rather dramatic weight loss anyways, but that's a tremendous toll on the body. Ten race entries would cost over $500 for me here in NC. I can think of LOTS of other ways to spend $500 in 10 weeks than just in race fees. Then to throw a HIM onto the end of it? That's just crazy talk. I like to train more than I like to race it seems. If I were him, I'd just get on a nice HIM training plan, toss in ONE or TWO sprints along the way just to get in the groove on how to race, but focus on the HIM training. The weight will come off on those long bike rides and LSD runs. It did for me in a season of training 2 years ago, and I've kept it off since (185+ down to about 140-145 now). It's hard work (I LOVE ICE CREAM), but it can be done. |
| 2009-06-23 12:51 PM in reply to: #2236013 |
Master 1591 San Diego, CA | Subject: RE: 10 sprints in 10 weeks for a newbie? Thanks everyone ... the last thing I want to see is anyone get hurt. |
| 2009-06-23 12:59 PM in reply to: #2236394 |
Extreme Veteran 418 Pittsburgh | Subject: RE: 10 sprints in 10 weeks for a newbie? What a terrible idea! Most people should only be able to lose 20 pounds, maximum, in 10 weeks, unless they want to lose all their muscle and/or gain 60 lbs. back shortly after finishing the weight loss. (Then again, if you're me, you're happy to lose 1/2 pound of fat in a week, lol...) Losing weight that quickly, combined with a crazy training schedule, really sounds like a recipe for messing up your immune system and metabolism for several months. I recently lost about 30 pounds. It has taken about 6 months, and I'm actually really pleased with my progress considering that I am also training for sprint tris and a half-marathon (it's a lot harder to keep up a steady weight loss while training for endurance sports, because you get so hungry!) |
| 2009-06-23 1:21 PM in reply to: #2236394 |
Elite 4048 Gilbert, Az. | Subject: RE: 10 sprints in 10 weeks for a newbie? jezzieswims - 2009-06-23 6:44 AM Daremo - 2009-06-23 6:27 AM My question. Why?????? What's the point in that? A dare? A bet? Raising money for a charity? To me, if there is no legitimate reason than it is not a very good idea. Doable? Sure. But at the end of it someone would risk the chance of being totally sick of the sport, injured or burned out. He's doing it in an attempt to lose 40 pound in 10 weeks. Hrm. Dubious at best. What kind of lifestyle changes is he making to help accomplish this dietary goal? Is he changing what/when/how he eats? Just doing races to lose weight is an extremely poor idea, and asking for trouble. Please, discourage him from this, as the chance of injury or damage (temporary and/or permanent) is very high. My biggest worry of it would be that he just kind of goes through the motions of racing, gets to his HIM and thinks "We gonna hammah now!", and really jacks himself up in the HIM. John |
| 2009-06-23 1:26 PM in reply to: #2236013 |
Cycling Guru 15134 Fulton, MD | Subject: RE: 10 sprints in 10 weeks for a newbie? So let me get this straight. They think that by racing one day a week for 1-1/2 - 2 hours and then having to recover for a few days in between to get ready for the next one is going to allow them to lose ANY weight at all, let alone 40 pounds??? They are going to be sore, burnt out and pizzed at the end of this, and still the same sort of weight unless they are starving themself. This person should be probably seeking the advice of a nutritionist, a coach and a shrink. At least then maybe they would get on the right path to weight loss. "Crash course" weight loss never works. |
| 2009-06-23 1:46 PM in reply to: #2236013 |
Elite 5316 Alturas, California | Subject: RE: 10 sprints in 10 weeks for a newbie? It would be really really hard to get in shape for a HIM doing a sprint every week. Just say NO. But since it is not you, probably recommend that they do a couple and then reevaluate and allow time to build for that HIM. A sprint can be done easily at a reasonable pace, a HIM, not so much. |
| 2009-06-23 7:13 PM in reply to: #2236013 |
| Expert 759 | Subject: RE: 10 sprints in 10 weeks for a newbie? I think it is a very dangerous goal/idea. It is asking for injury/burn-out. And while the popularity of 70.3 is increasing greatly and becoming somewhat more mainstream, it is a no joke distance as you seem to know. I would definitely warn against it. |
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