schedule change

i took friday off due to a late thursday night. if you've been following the workouts, then today is a 45 min bike ride (HR @ 60-70%).

run

25 minutes (HR @ 60-70%)

don't forget to warm up and cool down.

Warming Up

I found this next article in May's Bicycling magazine. It's written by Chris Carmichael (Lance Armstrong's personal coach).

He States, "Some people...are troubled by the idea of exercising just before a strenuous event. They figure a warm-up just burns energy that would be better used during the event. What they don't understand is that there's a big difference between what's going on inside your body while at rest and what needs to be going on in order to be ready to compete.

During your warm-up, you're increasing your body's demand for oxygen, so your blood vessels dilate to deliver blood more quickly to working tissue. All that work increases working core temperature, and your body's responds by ramping up sweat production. There's a lag time in there, too, where you're producing lots of heat before you're producing a lot of sweat. Getting through that lag time is important because you want your body's cooling system working at full capacity before that starting gun goes off. "

bike

today is a foundation bike ride. basically, your building a base for tougher workouts ahead.

45 minute ride. HR @ 60-70%.

Don't forget to warm up...i'll write a little later today on the importance of warming up.

swim

Warm Up: 200

Drill Set: 6 x 25 (rest interval :10 sec)
Chest Press-swim with your arms at your side
Side kicking- swim on one side with your lower arm extended
Fingertip drag- while swimming freestyle, drag your fingers along side your body and across the top of the water

Base Interval: 4 x 100 (rest interval :05 sec)

Kick Set: 4 x 25 (rest interval :15 sec)

Cool Down: 200

first week

here's the weekly breakdown.

MONDAY- Rest!

TUESDAY-Swim
Warm up-200
Drill Set-6 x 25 (Rest Interval :10 sec)
Chest Press- swim with arms by your side
Side Kicking- on one side with same side arm extended
Fingertip drag- drag your fingertips along your side, continuing across the water
Base Interval-4 x 100 (Rest Interval :05 sec) (HR @ 60-70%)
Kick Set-4 x 25 (Rest Interval :15 sec)
Cool Down-200

WEDNESDAY-Bike
Foundation Ride-45 minutes (HR @ 60-70%)

THURSDAY-Run
Foundation Run-25 minutes (HR @ 60-70%)

FRIDAY-Swim
Warm Up-200
Drill Set-6 x 25 (Rest Interval :10 sec)
Fist- swim with your fist closed
Count Stroke- count the number of strokes you take swimming one length of the pool, then try to lower the number in the next two or three laps.
Chest Press- swim with both arms by your side

SATURDAY-Bike
Foundation Ride-45 minutes (HR @ 60-70%)

SUNDAY-Run
Foundation Run-25 minutes (HR @ 60-70%)

prep day

last day to be lazy. take advantage. throughout this program, mondays are rest days...of course, you can shuffle them around to any day of the week but make sure you take advantage of them; your body needs it. also, throw a few lifting workouts (usually on running or off days) and ab workouts during the week.

all you need is a swimsuit, goggles, a bike, and a good pair of running shoes. Runner's Den on 16th st. just north of maryland is where i get my shoes. plan on spending about $100...it's worth not ruining your knees. those are the basic items you'll need to get started for training and the competition.

i'm going to recommend a few other items that have helped me during my last training program. a kickboard for some of the swimming workouts, an electrolyte replacement powder to use during your workouts and a recovery formula for after your workouts. I used cytomax for my electrolyte replacement and endurox4 for my recovery. both worked great for me. oh! also i mixed a scoop of glutamine powder with my recovery formula. again, these are only recommendations (especially if you are on a tight budget).

hope you're getting as fired up as i am.

day 1

hey guys,

so this blog is 12 weeks of swimming, biking and running all in preparation for that goal of completing a sprint triathlon. let me start out by disclosing some vital information. I'M NO EXPERT! i've signed up for and completed one triathlon a few weeks ago. that being said...it was awesome! i am absolutely hooked!

for those of you following this, i will be posting the entire weeks workout on monday so you can shuffle the workouts around your work schedule (i.e. for me, swim days are defiantly off shift. i'll usually plan my running workouts for shift since i can do them on the treadmill). throughout the week, i'll be posting the daily workouts i'm doing.

I hope to see you all on the 4th in tucson!

click here to sign up for the race.