Olympic 2X balanced 16 Week Plan (Page 4)

I don't know how to use these forum boards but I want to join the 16 week plan  2x's group.  I just finished my first ever triathlon, which was an Olympic at Lake Perris, CA (Big Rock).  I am hoping to build my endurance, so my run at the end is not so slow and improve my overall time!  I have completed 2 marathons, 3 half marathons and several 5 k's, however I can't seem to hit stride in my run due to fatigue and tightness.  What are the thoughts about doing the swim one day and the bike/run back to back once a week?

Paul

Big Rock Olympic Tri 4/16/11 3:48 (help me improve )

Welcome, Paul! You don't need to officially "join" this group, just post here and myself and the others following this plan will join you in conversation.

In general, I think you will be fine doing one brick a week if that works for you. Most people tweak the training plan to either help them better work on their weakness or to fit better in their schedule.

Hi,

Im from Mexico City and i’ve had the idea of completing an Oly Tri for a fewyears now but i always had problemas with my running, I wasn’t able to run 300 without needing to stop due to extreme tightness in my calves. Last year I started doing some crossfit and it seems that my problem was lack of strength in my buttocks and hamys (back leg?) and it was solved thrpugh many many squats of wall kinds, after a few months in crossfit I was able to run a 10k at a pace of around 10min/mile without having to stop to walk at all (I was thrilled). Today I can constantly run 5km no problem.

 I was a competitive swimmer when I was younger but haven swam consistently for a few years. I have a decent technique and I can swim1,000 yardsin around 23 mins (I think I could improve that time with some training).

 As for my biking I have always liked it, but I have never been much of a biker. Today I can do 1hr in a stationary bike without ending up too tired. I sent my father’s bike to get fixed, it’s a 15 year old Treck 1200 road bike, it’s a little old but I think with new tires, chain, etc should do the trick (what do you think?) It should be ready to ride in a week or 2.

 I am 27 years old and married and I really want to do an Olympic Tri this October, I am trying to work up my endurance a little (for a month or so) and trying to loose some extra weight (I have lost around 10 of15 pounds, the rest should go with the training) to start my 16wk training, do you think I can be ready to complete the Oly Tri on October? I have never tried one but I want to go Olympic distance for my first time! And I chose 2x a week because I got married last November and have a full time job at a bank so it would be really hard to do more than 6 sessions a week (even though I plan on doing Cross fit WODs 2 times a week for strength).

 Do you think im on the right track? Or am I dreaming too big?

 Thanks for your help. Best regards,

Santiago.

Welcome! I think you are on the right track and I am excited for you! You have plenty of time to get ready and you are already in shape, so I am not concerned at all about your ability to accomplish your goal. The 2X a week plan will be just fine, especially if you keep up the CF WODs 2X a week.

Hi again, thanks for the reply to my last post. I wanted to share with you all that there was a change of plans since the triathlon i was going to train for will be the Panamerica Triathlon in Puerto Vallarta Mexico, there will be no amateur racers allowed, so I have to move my race date forward to August 27^th  (which is more than a month ahead of schdrule, but I have 16wks to prepare!! *panic*). I began my 16wk plan last week and I have felt pretty well with the training plan. I have a couple of questions though, I was hoping you could help me with.

 1.- Because of my work/Family schedule I had to change the training plan a little (trying to respect the rules of no 2 long sessions on consecutive days, etc), here is how it looks like.

Is this ok? I tried to leave a rest day between the long run and bike. And ill try to fit the CF WODs on Wednesday or Sunday.

2.- Regarding to the swim portion, today I had my second long swim session which should have been a 44min swim, I did the following:

220m warm up

220m drills

16x44m each min

176 cool down

Total: 1,320m

I did this in about 35 mins. and had to go take a shower because I was going to be late for work. My question is should I measure the swim workouts in distance (for example next week swim 1320+10%= 1,450, or should I just try to keep swimming until the time is up.

3.- For the run and biking work outs the timing is considering the warm up? Or 44 mins. of effective running? For example if I have to run 44 minutes, should I warm up (walk/slow jog) for 5 minutes and then run 39? Or warm up and then run 44.

I know its very specific and a few minutes of difference in training shouldn’t change the outcome of the race mucho (specially if its my first race and im just trying to finish it decently) but I want to understand the principle of the training plan.

Thank you very much for the help and time.

Regards

1. Your schedule looks fine. I am glad you figured out something that works for your schedule.

2. Try to get a sense of how long swims take you and plan swim sets that are the right distance for the time. This will take some practice, but don't stress too much about it. If you know it takes 35 minutes to swim 1320, then you can bump that up a bit to be closer to 45 minutes.

3. No, the time for warm up is not included in the overall time, so warm up for 5 minutes, then run for 44.

GREAT questions!

Thank you very much!! Ill keep you posted on my progress.

regards,

Hi again! I have a few questions again!! Thank you in advance for all the help. I have been feeling great with the 16wk 2x program, I have only missed one work out on Tuesday afternoon because my wife was sick (it was the short bike and I plan to make up for it tomorrow morning since its my second off day of the week). Ok so here are my “problems”…

Next week Its week no. 4 and its supposed to be my active rest / recovery week. My problem is this, during my 5th week I have to leave on a trip that will last from Saturday to Saturday and I will have nowhere to swim or access to a bike, maybe MAYBE a very old stationary in an old gym at the hotel (pictures don’t look very promising, hahaha. I will be able to run though. So my question is, is it ok if I swap weeks 4 and 5 in my program, si I can take the advantage of been where next week to work normally (the program says same volume as this week) and then take the recovery week on week 5 while im on my trip, ill do some short easy runs and some ciclying if the gym permits it. Do you think this would be ok? To keep the rhythm for 4 weeks? Or am I risking an injury or overtraining?

The second question is about my goal to race my first Oly (and Tri!) on August 27th. My problem is that I will probably have a second tripo to Korea and China form the 11th to the 21st of August (that’s one week before the tri! Ill land back home exactly one week before race day), during that week ill probable have to completely stop training, maybe I can get some runs in, but that week was supposed to be the week after the peak of my training plan (week 14) and the BRICK week. Do you think I can make it to the race ok with the right preparation? Or should I change my plans and try for a try later in the year.

Thank you for the feedback!!!!

It's ok to have to move stuff around, so I would say switching weeks is probably the best solution to a challenging situation. Run while you are on your trip and enjoy the different scenery!

You can do the tri in August as long as you have realistic expectations. You will be missing some critical training, but as long as you are diligent before your trip, you will still be ok. You can add bricks to your training before that week to make up for missing that. Just add 10-20 minutes of running to your long bike of the week. If you can run while on the trip, that will help a lot. If you can't do that, do some metabolic strength training in your hotel room (squats, lunges, pushups, etc just to get your HR up and body moving).

On your week leading into the race, you may want to slightly increase volume since your previous week will be light, but you don't want to be tired on race day, either. Maybe add some time to your early week workouts but then keep wed-race day as written.

Thank you very much Jessica, for your time and advice, for the August Oly Tri I only expect to be able to finish (without having to walk Turing the run) i dont care too much about the time, I’d like to finish in less than 3:30 but if not ill still be happy at the finish line!! J To be honest, i just want to prove to myself i can do it and i can do endurance races!!

 From there I would like to try another oly tri in Nov/Dic this year and from there who knows, maybe ill be discussing HIM training a year from today! Hehehe.

I haven’t missed but one training this first 4 weeks, I will be very careful not to miss any workouts and for the trip ill try to at least run 2 or 3 and try to do 2 or 3 CF WODs , I think it should help from what you told me and im pretty sure I can find time for a run or 2!! And ill start with some briks the weeks before. The thing im most worried about the real bike training I can get in, I have to use a spinning bike in the gym during the week, I can onl go on the road on weekends, the other day I did my 1:30min workout on the road with ease though, I felt great afterwards, and I had an average speed of around 25 km/hr even though I had to stop quite a few times for road crossings.

 Thanks again for your time Jessica!!!!

 Have a great day everyone.

Great! Sounds like you are on the right track! As long as you can ride on the weekends and you feel confident on your bike, you will be fine.

Hi Jessica and everyone!!! I hope you are doing great; I just wanted to let you know on the progress so far! I am currently in my 8^th week (half way there!!) and my second rest week, so far I have been feeling really great and very very happy with my progress.

On week four I went on my trip to Spain, and I did something I think I shouldn’t have, when I got there after my 12 hr flight I decided to go for my 35 min run previous to my first rest week. I don’t know what happened, maybe it was the swollen joints and feet / being sitting down for 12 hours and then running, wtc (any advice on this will be greatly appreciated so I never do it again!) after the run I felt GREAT, but next day I started feeling a sharp-ish (more of an uncomfortable) pain in my right knee!! (I wanted to cry, hehe). I wanted to do some biking but I decided to fully rest that whole week, I did nothing, icing my knee very often and trying to use the elevator. When I got back it was all better and I resumed my training normally, even though I have been avoiding running on hard surfaces and running slower than before just to be sure my knee is ok, and so far so good, some times I can “feel” my knee but its not pain (my wife says its psychological, haha) I use ice after each long work out, but its all good now I have been able to run / Bike (and wake up next moring) pain free thank God!

On a better note last week I finally got my tri shoes, on Sunday I went for my first clipped ride!! It feels awesome!! I was really happy to the feeling. Of course I also had my first bike fall but thank God it was when I wanted to stretch half way through the ride in the middle of the road with no cars or anyone on sight (maybe a young girl but she didn’t see me), I found out that my instinct is to balance to the right when I want to dismount (and I unclipped the left foot! HAHAH). It was a funny fall, I had some road rash on my elbow and back but its all good and part of the sport right?

Im really proud I was able to run 58 minutes straight the other day! Cant wait to break the hour mark, but if the program says 58 minutes ill run 58 minutes, hehe. I haven’t been on a weight since I began but im a little sad all my drees suits and pants are HUGE NOW!! Im thinking I have lost around 15-20 punts and im nearing my optimal weight!! Im really happy!!

Ohhh also!! This weekend im getting my brand newDe soto4pckt tri shorts!! (I know may be too much for an oly tri but who knows if ill be trying for a HIM next year!!!)

Well I wanted to thank you for all the advice and help, im very happy with my training and I already have a Hotel for August 27^th, and tomorrow hopefully ill be signing up for the race!! Ill keep you posted on the progress!

One question about rest weeks, do I just do the time at an easy pace? Or try to push hard since its shorter work outs, im thinking its “active recovery” so should be really easy right? Or just my usual training pace?

Have a great day! And thank you as always for all the great feedback!!

Sounds like things are going really well for you! Glad your knee is feeling better, too. Yes, take it easy on your recovery weeks so your body has time to recover for the next block of harder training. Good job getting out there in your clipless pedals. I love your upbeat attitude!

Hi Jessica and everyone else!

Just a little update, i have continued to train hard, been having a lot of fun, yesterday i ran the "LONG RUN" hehe, 77 minutes, so its all down hill from here... hehe (JK). I continue to improve greatly in my swim and 10k times and also feel a lot more comfortable in the bike, even though i have had to use the trainer a lot more than i would have liked (instead of going out on the real bike).

My Tri is on the 27th and i have everythig ready and phisicaly i have been feeling tired but great, im really excited.

I just have a couple of questions regarding nurtrition.  If the beginning is at 7-8 am what should i have for breakfast and at what time? also should i be drinking extra water the days before the race or just the normal amount.

Last question, should i worry about gets or something else for an oly distance? or just water and other drinks?

thank you very much as always, ill post a pre-race-last-questions-panic-threat in a few days! and ill tell you how it went afeterwards, thank you for everything.

Regards

Hi all!! I just wanted to let you know last Saturday I ran my first tri!!! I completed the Oly distance in 3:11, it was the time I was aiming for: 31 min swim, 1:26 bike and 1:04 run. It was a 10k PR for me!! Yey!! 

I felt really REALLY great when I finished but I gave it my all, I was just spent, hehehe… since leaing T1 I was feeling really tired but during the bike I was able to control my breathing, and steady myself. When I got off the bike I just couldn’t run, hehehe, but I managed to run most of the way. The heat and humidity were killers specially during the last 6 km of the run. The sea was warm and calm, during the bike ride there was some head wind but very manageable, the problema was during the run the day got a lot warmer and when the sun came out it was a killer… great fun experience.

Great news is I did it and now I am hooked with TRIs, I loved the experience the GREAT feeling of accomplishment  and now I am thinking of buying a new bike, I did it with a 20 (+) year old trek bike a great bike back in the day but I think ill do better with a new on and a trainer to get a LOT more bike work out! Next time sub 3hr Oly! (I know ill need a lot of work specially on the bike and run at least 3 times a week)

The program was really fun and manageable even though I do think I should have been more constant with the extra cross fit wods I as supposed to do, hehehe.  Thank you very very much for all the feedback Jess and all the support. It has been a great experience.

Thank you again for everything!!! Ill stay in touch!