Welcome, all! I'm back on my triathlon training. But I'm not going from "couch" to triathlon. I've been exercising regularly since last summer, and swimming once or twice every week as well at the local college lap pool. But, it's time to switch the exercise/fitness focus from just maintaining my current level of health, into the challenging work of preparing for a triathlon. I did a sprint triathlon last August, but this year I've got my eye on the longer distance, the Olympic/standard distance which is swim 1.5 km (0.93 mi), bike 40 km (25 mi), then run 10 km (6.2 mi). I've had some bike rides, a handful of mile runs, but it's time to put a solid plan in action. Here's what I've done in the past week or so:
April 11 Monday - biked 9.9 miles (did 3 loops of a course around my neighborhood, it's 3.3 miles each loop)
April 12 Tuesday - run one mile. I did it in 12:04 minutes, amazing! I don't think I've ever run it that fast. I'm so surprised! Usually a 13:30 mile pace is fast for me. Makes me wonder if I push myself hard enough I can get up to an 11-minute pace. Wouldn't that be amazing for the triathlon race in August?!! Later this day I did a freestyle swim 1 mile, 47 min.
April 13 Wednesday - 45 min of tramp (my JumpSport exercise trampoline), light workout, ramped up the intensity by the end, also did 1 set of 10 pushups, 20 situps, 30 incline/assisted pullups (I stand on a stool under a pullup bar, high enough that I lean back and pull myself forward. It's my goal to work my way toward doing real pullups. The incline/assisted pullups are already too easy, but I still can't do real pullups yet, so I've got to find the next intermediary step. Maybe some kind of stretch band. I've see exercise videos with this. Still need to lose more weight, too!) Also, this is a terrible amount of sets. Usually I do 5 to 10 sets, but it was a bad day for me, and I barely made myself exercise at all.
April 14 Thursday - biked 9.9 miles (3 loops)
April 15 Friday - usually I would swim on Fridays, but I spent so much time on the phone with taxes, that I missed the pool time. Later I did 30 min tramp including 2 sets of 10 pushups, 20 situps, 30 incline/assisted pullups
April 16 Saturday - 10 min tram warmup, 6.6 miles bike followed by 1 mile run. The run was easier than I thought it would be, so it's time to start increasing my speed or distance.
April 17 Sunday - rest
April 18 Monday - 12 min tramp, then a 2-mile run, slower pace, done in 30 min.
April 19 Tuesday - 1.5 mile swim in 61 minutes
Now, here's the part where I couldn't believe what I just did. I finished my 1.5 mile swim today, looked at the clock and my eyes got big as saucers. What?! No way did I swim 1.5 miles in 60 min. Usually it takes me about 48 to 50 min to swim a mile freestyle. Today I did it in 40 minutes. I thought, "I've miscounted laps, no way am I that fast!" That's almost overnight improvement. I don't have a naturally athletic body, I can't pull off that kind of quick improvement! What?! So, I went over to the side of the pool, grabbed a timing clock (it's a college lap pool, so they've got things geared towards racing), and timed myself on four laps (total of 200 meters). Sure enough, I did it in 4:15. Now, that 4-lap swim was deliberate racing and if I did that pace the whole mile (or 1600m), I would have done it 34:00. So, it's not a stretch to say that I had a 40:00 mile pace today. Good grief! How did I get so fast seemingly overnight? It's weird! Good weird, but weird!
And I did that 12 min mile a week ago. Dude, what could I accomplish if I seriously start pushing myself? I really like data, and I wish I could justify the expense of a FitBit heart rate monitor. I'd like to put myself in a zone where my heart rate is consistently about 130 bpm, then with short bursts of higher speeds. I think I have a tendency when I exercise to get into a meditative state (about 90 to 110 bpm) where I'm thinking about everything but exercising and focusing on the intensity of my workout. That lower meditative zone is probably good mental health stuff, but it's not going to improve my fitness for race day. Glancing down at a heart rate monitor every so often might help pop me into a higher zone more consistently, keep my training on track. Oh, well. Sometimes you just gotta do what you can with what you've got.
