2008 Off-season Plan

If you read my last blog you know my first season was a constant injury. A tremendous amount of mental anguish was also suffered. Its frustrating to have the heart and mind to perform when you're physically unable to. Some of my injury problems stemmed from lack of moderation due to the fact I am extremely competitive. Triathlon training not only takes time and willpower, it takes patience. For me, patience is derived from a solid, well-designed, training program. Going without a plan is a dangerous path.

Today I'm going to discuss my 2008 training program. Most of it is derived from different sources around the internet. There is a ton of free stuff out there, you just have to look for it.

Swim

Last season's swim was the only bright spot of my training. I never claimed to be a swimmer and never will. But what started off being the event I feared the most became the one I was most proud of. I used a combination of the Total Immersion DVD, About.com swim workouts, YouTube freestyle videos, and a collegiate swimmer friend of mine to hammer down my swim stroke and maximize what swim ability I had. It took some long, boring hours in the pool but was time well spent.

This year I'm continuing the same type of workouts as before but expanding the total weekly volume from 10,000 to 15,000 yards. In essence I'm adding a fourth swim workout to my weekly routine. For the first and second month I'll focus on swim stroke and strength using buoys, paddles, and rounds of swim golf. Additionally I'll gradually work the volume up so my arms don't fall off. Once the base is established I'll replace some of the drill work with speed while maintaining volume. During this time I make sure I don't sacrifice form for longer intervals.

Bike

Spin class is not a good way to train for triathlons. Trust me. I was writhing in pain from the bike portion of my first triathlon. While the weather is unsuitable for riding outdoors I intend to keep the legs moving on my fluid trainer. If I find the cash this winter I'll finally purchase a triathlon bike to switch up riding. I've heard this helps stimulate more muscles due to differences in the seat post angle.

One of the mistakes I did last year was try to play catch-up with my bike volume. I rode too much spin bike during the base phase. Once I realized the error of my ways I had to pile on the mileage to prepare for Vineman. Yes, a recipe for disaster. And even as I write this, some four months later, my hamstrings still ache a bit.

This season's bike volume will start early and very easy since I'm building a running base off a marathon program at the same time (probably not good idea but I like to walk the line). Now when I say easy, I mean keeping a heart rate in zone 1 or 2, nothing more. I intend to keep this pace, with gradual volume increase, throughout my marathon program. I'm also going to throw in a few one-legged drills from time to time. After the Shamrock Half Marathon I'll begin focusing on bike speed while keeping one long endurance ride for the half-ironman distance. Hopefully the weather will cooperate by mid-March and I'll be outdoors.

Run

Running has always come easily to me. Being genetically predisposed to a small frame and having a good strength to weight ratio has certainly helped. During my first triathlon season I thought it wouldn't take much to regain my collegiate abilities given I could still bust out a 6:00 mile. It was that line of thinking that ruined most of my run training and about half of my bike training last year. My 2008 campaign should keep me healthy if I don't push it.

I'm excited to start my first ever marathon training program, especially Hal Higdon's Advanced-II plan. I chose his program because its free and detailed. All of his programs are well written and easy to follow. The difficult part is finding the time to fit it all in.

To keep from getting shin splints and ending up at the doctor's office begging for pain meds I'm using McMillan's running calculator and previous known efforts at given heart rates to structure my running program. Let me give you an example. I know I can run 9:00/mile easily for 8 miles with a heart rate in the 150-160 range. This is perfect for long runs. With this information in mind I entered a few different marathon times into the calculator until McMillan's suggested long run was 9:00/mile. This equated to a 3:15:00 marathon. You'll notice the calculator also provides estimates for the training paces I'll need for Hal Higdon's program (tempo, race pace, Yasso's 800m).

The Plan

Below is a screen capture of the workout program I've outlined. This is basically the off-season workout geared for Timberman 70.3 in August 2008. The running and biking numbers are shown in miles while the swimming is in yards. HI stands for high intensity workouts.

With all programs and our good intentions to complete then sometimes life gets in the way. When I skip a day I don't make up for it by adding to other workouts because that can lead to injuries. I just move on to the next session. I view a plan like a guideline that is always subject to change. I don't get down on myself if I need some random Tuesday off because I have to work late.