Wow! Three weeks since I’ve posted anything about actual training. I have been training, and I have been tracking everything, but sometimes life happens at break-neck speed around here (ok, most times) and I just sort of ride the wave.
It’s like that scene in Finding Nemo, after Marlin gets past the jellyfish, but he’s blacked out and has no idea what happened. Crush fills him in: “Saw the whole thing, Dude. First you were all like “Whoa”, and we were all like “Whoa”, and you were like “Whoa…” Marlin is still clueless, but he does remember he’s on a mission: to get to the East Australian Current! Crush reassures him: “Oh, Dude. You’re ridin’ it, Dude! Check it out!”
Sometimes, after a wild week (or 3) I need someone like Crush to fill me in on what happened. And to remind me that despite all the crazy, I’m on still on track. In the absence of a cool surfer-dude sea turtle, I rely on this:
My kids call refer to it as “Your Brain.” It's a little notebook I carry around with me with notes to myself (or notes from my kids). This page is my triathlon training schedule. Really, it is. I promise. I am an information junkie. I track every run in Nike+, bike rides in MapMyRun (because I don’t want cycling miles co-mingled with running miles!) and log all of that plus swimming, yoga, pilates, foam rolling and walking in Fitocracy. I’ve got more numbers than I know what to do with! But I really like the simplicity of just looking at this one page and seeing if I’ve pretty much done what I need to do for the week as far as this triathlon training is concerned. I actually made a "prettier" spreadsheet with my completed training times where the numbers add up vertically and horizontally, but this is a simple way to just see if I'm on track.
I’m 7 weeks into a 10 week plan, and it’s going really well. I like that it’s all based on minutes (not distance) which makes it easy to schedule training sessions. I was comfortable with all 3 distances before I started, so this is all about building endurance so that I can do it all on one day and not feel like death at the end.
Weeks 5-7 at a glance:
5: Swim 55 (25+30), Bike 85 (35+50), Run 70 (35+35) Total: 210
6: Swim 55 (25+30), Bike 70 (35+35), Run 80 (25+20+35) Total: 205
7: Swim 65 (30+35), Bike 105 (45+60), Run 75 (30+45) Total: 245
To be honest, this is the first week I’ve gotten in both swimming sessions, but I’m WAY over what’s required for running. I’m not trying to win, just finish strong. And yesterday I hit my fastest time for 250m swimming by a full minute! 6:30 doesn’t put me at the head of the pack, but it is in the faster half. That’s amazing to me! I’ve been swimming since I was in grade school, and swam on a swim team for several years, but I was never fast. Just consistent. I’ve got piles of 5th place ribbons to prove it! I keep thinking I should do some reading, find out what I could be doing better, because basically I just get in the pool and swim laps of freestyle the way I always have. Slowly. Surely I could work on my form or my breathing or something, right? As I swim, some of those swim clinics I took (back in the 70’s before most of you were born!) do come back to me. And yoga has really helped with my reach! I just haven't had (or taken) the time to do more research. But I really think the biggest thing has just been going back every week, even if it is just once or twice a week, and doing a little bit more each time, whether it’s more total distance, or just more consecutive laps without stopping. It’s not rocket science. If you keep doing something on a regular basis, you’re going to get better at it!
So, yeah, three more weeks of training done. Three more weeks to go. Three weeks till the triathlon, and three weeks till I’ll be doing my swimming outdoors! I’m not sure which event I’m more excited about!
The Ramblin' Rose is on May 19th and there is still space available! Join Me?
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