Week 2 - 11/26/06

Well this was a very eventful week, with Thanksgiving, and some much needed time off from work. Now in my 2nd full week of training I was getting the jist of the new training program and was eager to do some more swimming. I started off my week with an hour long spin session on Monday, then went to swim practice Tuesday night. We went through some drills, most specifically geared around using your legs when you swim.

Did you know that the best swimmers in the world only generate a maximum 5% thrust with their legs? Needless to say I am no where near that, so when we used a kick board and had to do a few drills of about 50 meters, my legs were killing me. Thankfully we moved on to total body movements and I felt much more comfortable than I did a week ago.

On Wednesday I ran about 2 miles in the evening down at the beach, since our mile time trial was postponed to the following week due to permit problems at the college track where we will be training moving forward.

On Thursday I woke up pretty early to run in a Thanksgiving 5k at Balboa Park with some friends and teammates. I took this run pretty seriously, since I needed to have a 5k time trial to start my pacing program. Although there were wayward dogs and moms with stroller all over the course, I still ran pretty good, averaging out at a 7.25 minute mile pace.

I took Friday off from training and then went to our Saturday bike ride on the coast, up in Solana Beach. I still do not have my bike (although I did purchase one, just not in yet) so I had setup a loaner for this Saturday, so I could actually get a ride in.

A small scrape on my arm and 27 miles, this leisurely ride (ya right!!!) was over and honestly I was a bit beat, since I have never rode even close to that far before. I am looking forward to getting my own bike and fine tuning it to my needs. I am hoping to have it in time for next Saturday's ride.

Another week down, quite a few more to go....

Week 1 - 11/16/06

So I kicked off this week with the formal training...sort of. I do not have a bike suitable for triathlon training yet so I went to the gym and did spinning on Monday night. Tuesday was the first swim practice so I had to go get a swim cap, goggles and ear plugs....no speedo for me. I am sticking to my board shorts.

We met at a great facility in La Jolla and will continue to do so all season for our training. To be honest, I was a little nervous since I know the swim portion of my training will be the most daunting, and most likely my weakness. With that being said, we sat in the cold (after rain all day) listening to our coach discuss all the nuances and tips on how to be successful.

It was then time to jump in the pool and do some exercises and watch each other flail as we all tried to find our form (mine was maybe somewhat there 15 years ago in high school) and breathing rhythm. Well I made it through the 4 lengths (100 yds) that was required, and honestly was out of breath!!! I am glad this is a 20 week training.

Wednesday was our scheduled run and that went by with no problems. If I cannot run a 10k after running a marathon 5 months ago I have more problems than I thought.

Tonight I am off to my 2nd swim workout of the week, and this workout I will be doing on my own and trying to get my form and breathing down, so that in a few weeks I can build up my strength levels.

The Start of My Training - 11/8/06

Well I faxed in my paperwork today so it is official. I will be doing my first Triathlon in Hawaii at the Lavaman Event on April 1, 2006. One of my goals last year was to run a Marathon, which I did in June 2006 and now I have set a follow-up goal for next year. My training starts this coming week, 6 days a week, with 2 days each of running, swimming and biking, and then doing integrated training on Saturdays.

I have been staying in pretty good shape since the marathon in June, working out 3-4 times a week, including running, spinning, playing football on Saturdays and in a basketball league on Tuesday nights.

My biggest concern with the Tri is the swimming portion, since I have not swam on a regular basis since high school when I was an avid surfer. I am hoping it is just like riding a bike....once you are back on you got it!!!