Advice for two Fall Triathlons
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dollfin04 posted 15 weeks ago.
If it was me, I'd train for the Oly. Use the sprint as my last big brick workout and then taper after that.
http://dollfinkate.blogspot.com/
"No Pain, No Gain!" ;)
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jsk85 posted 15 weeks ago.
There are 5 solid weeks between tris...don't go into a prolonged taper for sure.
That being said, I'd train for the olympic, especially since you sound like a beginner (to tris)...it's more important to be able to cover the distance than to be able to go fast. With 16 weeks, from now until the sprint, you should be more than prepared to cover the distance on your way to doing the oly.
Build a training plan focusing on the Oly, and use the sprint as a chance to gain experience to be used at the Oly. If you're focused on the oly, by 5 weeks out a sprint should be no real issue. You can even brag to your boss that you weren't even bringing your A game to the sprint because oly training made it just another training day
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TriSooner posted 15 weeks ago.
dollfin04 wrote:
If it was me, I'd train for the Oly. Use the sprint as my last big brick workout and then taper after that.
+1 You are over-thinking it. The sprint is just a brick workout, and pick back up immediately the next day with Oly training.
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dollfin04 posted 15 weeks ago.
jsk85 wrote:
There are 5 solid weeks between tris...don't go into a prolonged taper for sure.That being said, I'd train for the olympic, especially since you sound like a beginner (to tris)...it's more important to be able to cover the distance than to be able to go fast. With 16 weeks, from now until the sprint, you should be more than prepared to cover the distance on your way to doing the oly.
Build a training plan focusing on the Oly, and use the sprint as a chance to gain experience to be used at the Oly. If you're focused on the oly, by 5 weeks out a sprint should be no real issue. You can even brag to your boss that you weren't even bringing your A game to the sprint because oly training made it just another training day
Thought it was more like 2 or 3 weeks...+1 on that if it is 5 weeks.
http://dollfinkate.blogspot.com/
"No Pain, No Gain!" ;)
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Iron Dan posted 15 weeks ago.
+1 to go the Olympic route and use the sprint as a training day/workout and continue on with your training right afterward.
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azmojo804 posted 15 weeks ago.
+1 on all said. The timing is exactly 5 weeks. Taper should only be 1-2 weeks, so definitely do the sprint as a normal workout, then keep on going for another few weeks until the actual taper.
Plus, the sprint will really help you learn the transition. There's lots of stuff to remember during that quick time.
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cutiger95 posted 15 weeks ago.
Thanks guys, will do and I will map out the plan. Sounds like the sprint is a good Brick workout in the final training stages. I will make sure to leave two weeks of taper prior to the Oly.
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max ping posted 15 weeks ago.
no one said anything about you hating the swim. i haven't made HUGE improvements (compared to others here)... but for me i have.
i am inspired to swim because its so technique/skill oriented. i love gathering info here and just about any and all sources for ideas.
i made my greatest achievement by doing one of my two swim workouts as an endurance day. my first day is intervals for speed work and conditioning. the second is continuous swimming. i started with 30 minutes and each week added 10 minutes. i'm currently doing an hour and twenty minutes. now many here may say this is useless but for me it works on several levels. 1) like you i was not a swimmer, so building up the time built my confidence in going harder and not feeling as though i was going to drown. 2) the long swim allows me to concentrate on on form. i will swim a 50 or a hundred working on reach (long movements), the next on the catch, then the kick, and so on. 3) its really like a meditation too. like zen or other forms of meditation, my focus on one thing puts all other thoughts somewhere else(or no where), and the initial concern over so much time still to go becomes irrelevant . 4) AND, the one event that keeps most from doing a tri is the fear of the swim. And it's cool knowing i can do it.
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cutiger95 posted 15 weeks ago.
Max thanks for the suggestion and I will give it a go. I am going to start with a 20 min swim and try to work up to an hour or so in the water before the fall. figure I can pick up maybe 5 or 10 mins each week on my water time. Still not looking forward to it but it is my weak link.
I think I will be at least non-laughable in the other endeavors.
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cutiger95 posted 15 weeks ago.
Next issue that I am wondering about. My buddy is really wanting me to run a 1/2 marathon this fall on the 28th of October. This will not be a race as much as me going out and running a liesurely 13.1 miles and then having a beer or two with him afterwards.
Any major warning as there will be almost 2 solid weeks between races. Again not looking for time just looking to finish this one. I suspect I will be totally spent by the time I finish the Oly, but it is a bud and he wants a running partner. That or he too wants to toast me in the run.
Guess my biggest concern is that running wise training for the Oly I will not have covered anywhere near the distance that I would normally for a 1/2 marathon. Will all the biking and the swimming compensate?
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jsk85 posted 15 weeks ago.
You said you're relatively strong on the bike and run anyways...does that mean you've run a 1/2 mary or some sort of distance event before...If not, I would advise against doing your first 2 weeks after your first Oly.
However, if you've done one before and this will be a lower intensity than distance road races in the past, I don't see why you shouldn't be able to do it. To help, on days when you are doing "long" training runs for the Oly, maybe lengthen them a mile or 2. Most 1/2 mary training plans only take you up to like 11 miles or so, and that should put you around 8-9 I would think. That along with previous running experience and the cross-training for the tris should make the 1/2 mary no issue. If it was me, I'd do it but I have a strong running background and a little more experience with tris as well. Just my .02
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cutiger95 posted 14 weeks ago.
Thanks and you are correct I have completed the distance at race pace and this one will be significantly slower on the 1/2 mary as long as the adrenaline doesn't kick in and I listen to the HRM. Sometimes I just can't seem to hear it's beeps :-) Especially during a race.
Other than the swim I think that I could finish up the Oly today, so hopefully I will have that straightened out by October. Feeling my oats last week I did a brick that simulated the Oly distances bike and run. But about that pesky swim.....
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Tamara posted 14 weeks ago.
Do it. I did a tough Oly ten days ago, and I have a half mary that I'm running not racing this weekend as a training run. I also snuck in tons of riding on memorial day weekend in between. In those two weeks post-Oly, you may want to do more swimming and stretching/yoga than you might otherwise two weeks before a road race, but both will keep you moving and allow your body to recover from the tri. With your bike/run backgroud, a smart recovery in the 2-3 days following the tri means to me that the 1/2 mary should be a piece of cake.
This will be an exciting fall for you! Good luck in training!
"It's very hard in the beginning to understand that the whole idea is not to beat the other runners. Eventually you learn that the competition is against the little voice inside you that wants you to quit." ~George Sheehan
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cutiger95 posted 14 weeks ago.
Thanks and I will definitely enjoy it. Not so sure about amping up the swimming though ick... Now a little Tai Chi may be in order to meet your suggestion about recovery I think the fluid motions and concentration would work perfectly to get me ready to go again in 2 weeks. Thanks for the suggestion and I haven't planned to incorporate that into my fall training but it is an excellent thought .
Alright, here goes. I have been surfing the forum and gleaning all of the information that I can for competing in a triathlon. I think that I have most things down but just a few pointers are needed.
I am strong on the bike and run relatively speaking. My swimming is truly like a brick. Which is why I have never even contemplated doing a tri before. But my mouth and getting spanked in a 5k by my boss have resulted in my ego taking charge and agreeing to do a Sprint this fall.
I figured that would give me plenty of time to train as it is 16 weeks away. Simple enough, but while I am training I would at least like to do an Oly as originally I was gearing up for a 1/2 marathon and figure that an Oly is about as close to that as I can get in the Tri distances in SC.
So here is the rub. The Oly that I want to do is on Oct. 11th. The sprint is on the 6th of Sept. Should I simply train for the Oly and then fit the sprint into the training plan with a short week after and then two heavy weeks. Should I train for a sprint and then try with only four weeks to gear up to an Oly :-(.
Then are there any suggestions for those of us that are water challenged. I just really really hate swimming?
By the way thanks ahead of time for the suggestions. The sprint is going to be very hilly in the moutains of upper SC. The Oly is mid country and very rolling terrain.