Summer 2012 Training: The First 7 Weeks

Finally, after weeks of promising that I will reveal it, I am going to show you my summer training plan…well, the first seven weeks at least. I realize that two weeks have already passed, but better late than never.

Truth be told, I have only made my training plan up to my first triathlon this summer on June 17th. There are a number of reasons for this, which I will explain later in the post.

My plan revolves around different key workouts each week. I am keeping with the same basic structure I did when I was training for my first triathlon a few months ago, but my workouts have more of a purpose behind them.

• Swim (2 days a week): Now that I am comfortable in the water, my goal is to increase my distance and speed and to also improve my technique. I may not be the best or most efficient swimmer, but I have improved immensely since I first started swimming back in January. My two swim workouts during the week have different goals. One day I work on different drills focusing on my stroke, breathing, and kicking. These pool sessions are longer because, in addition to the drills, I also want to get some laps in. On the other day, I will be solely focusing on distance and speed with different sets of varying distances/ rest intervals.
• Bike (2 days a week): Honestly, in looking at other training plans, my bike distance is pretty low. However, I am limited by where I can ride. The bike trail where I ride is only so long and I get bored. I realize that I need to get my distance up, not necessarily for the sprint triathlon distance, but more-so for the Olympic distance I want to do at the end of the summer. One day will be devoted to a long-ish ride, increasing in distance every week. I also plan to add in a few speed intervals to hopefully get my overall pace up. On most weeks, the second day is part of a bike/ run brick.
• Run (3 days a week): I am still sticking with only three days of running because A) I do not have the time to add it into my schedule and B) I found that it is working for me. On Tuesday’s, I run 5-6 miles of hills (later to be alternated with speed work hopefully); Thursday’s is part of my bike/run brick, and Saturday’s is a long run.
• Strength training (2 days a week): Most weeks I will do my strength training after my swim workouts (since many of the exercises are arm heavy). I am loosely following Jamie Easton’s LiveFit Trainer Plan.
• Rest (1 day a week): Most weeks, this will be on Friday’s. If I absolutely feel like I need to move, I may take a walk around my apartment or a local park, but otherwise, no exercise. If I need an extra rest day, I will take it.

As mentioned earlier in the post, I have only made my plan for the first seven weeks. The first part of the plan is more running focused (in terms of pacing and mental mindset verses mileage) and I plan for the second part to be more balanced.

I have two races on the calendar for the first seven weeks. The first is the Charity Chase Half-Marathon on June 2nd in Hickory, NC. Whether or not I win the free entry (you can still vote for me here and here) I still plan to run the race. I have a reach goal for the race, but I am unsure if I will be able to achieve it based off of how my running is going right now. I plan to RACE this race and will put all my effort into it come June 2nd. As to whether or not I hit my goal, we will see.

The second race is the Marineland Sprint Triathlon on June 17th in St. Augustine, FL (about an hour from my apartment). It is only two weeks after the half-marathon and I will be using this race as a tune-up verses trying to PR. I do not know how I will recover from the half-marathon (since it is a difficult course) and do not want to push myself if my body is not feeling 100% up for it. If I feel good, then of course I will go for a PR, but I am going into the race to figure out what areas I need to focus on for triathlons later in the summer.

After the Marineland Sprint Triathlon, I will fill in the second half of the training plan based off of the results from the race. My running may taper off a bit so I can focus more on swimming and biking. I may have to add more bricks and a few two-a-days. (I am shying away from two-a-days right now because I am still working on getting my calorie intake up. It is getting there and I am finally seeing results . I do not want to add even more workouts/ calories burned into the equation until I continue to move in the right direction.)

For the second part of the summer, I am planning on doing either the Moss Park Sprint Tri in Orlando on July 14th or one of the Jacksonville Sprint Triathlon Series races on July 21st. I have not decided because different parts of each of the courses are shorter or longer than other triathlons. I prefer the Moss Park distances but I would have to travel to Orlando and the costs will add up quickly (hotel, gas, food, etc) whereas the Jacksonville event is local.

My final race of the season will be on August 4th where I will tackle my first Olympic distance at the Siesta Key Beach Triathlon in Sarasota. I will be going all out for this race!

Of course any training plan is going to change due to travel, unforeseen conflicts, and the need for more rest. My plan is pretty bare bones because I like to base my workouts based off the previous week and make changes when necessary. I’ve found that I function best with a training plan, but a plan that is fairly flexible. If a plan is too rigid (I must do this on this day at this time), I find that I begin to resent and loathe the workouts which leads to burnout.

I am all about hard work and dedicating myself to becoming a better athlete, but I also want to make sure that I am having a bit of fun along the way!

Do you have any summer races or are you just waiting until the weather gets cooler to tackle races?