2008 Off-season Plan Revised

Just like I mentioned during my initial post concerning the 2008 Off-season plan; sometimes life gets in the way. An avid reader of the blog would know I was lucky enough to take a vacation to France and Germany during the holidays, thus suspending training for a while.

I've re-worked a huge portion of my original plan to show the new schedule, which leads up to the Shamrock Half Marathon and then the Smithfield Sprint Triathlon. You'll notice there has been some substantial changes to the biking and swimming portions but I've held rather firm to the running plan.

Europe Training

Sure, call me naive for thinking I would run while vacationing in Europe. You'd be right because I didn't even give it serious consideration. My constant need for sleep kept me all warm and inside. The freezing temperatures outside weren't helping my motivation either. Sure I was losing fitness but I didn't care.

I underestimated the amount of jetlag I'd incure flying six hours to Germany from the Atlanta, GA airport. Not only that, the six-hour time change was brutal. Probably the most prudent way to handle the travel without lasting effects would be to sleep as much as you can on the transatlantic flight. But that can certainly be difficult when the posterchild for Satan's spawn is sitting behind you doing everything possible to annoy you.

Once I landed in Germany the sun was up and the day had begun. There was only time for a quick nap before heading out to view the country. I spent the remainder of the vacation playing catch-up with my sleep. And then to boot, I was fighting off the beginnings of a cold. Running 16 miles was last on my list.

With two weeks basically lost I'll need to adjust my off-season plan considerably. I figure I'll take an easy week to get back into the swing and then pick up with Week 7 on January 14th.

Oh, and I missed the sign-ups for White Lake Half. Grr... We'll see how the wait list goes.

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.

2007 Training Review

The first wave of cold weather is here and with it is the reality that my first season as a triathlete has come to a close. Actually its been closed for nearly a month due to other career aspirations (studying for the professional engineer licensing exam). Before the off-season training begins its important to evaluate the previous season and learn what did and didn't work.

Sometimes I need a kick in the pants or a goal to get me started. A coworker of mine did both when she challenged me to race Vineman 70.3 in July of '07. I had an '05 Litespeed Sienna collecting dust in my garage (gift from a sugar-momma the year before) so I figured what the hell, the race is 24 weeks away. And at the very least I'd get a nice west coast vacation out of it.

Being a flag football and soccer weekend warrior I thought I was in good enough shape to jump into solid triathlon training right away. Wrong.

Let the pain of ignorance begin!

Without a formal training plan I began with three-mile runs every other morning. Seven years ago this workout would have been cake. It was disappointing to struggle for 8:30/mile but I managed. I continued to keep the pace since the level of effort was rapidly declining. During week three a dull ache appeared in my shin but I ran through it. A few days afterward it was too painful to run. For the next eight weeks all the running I could stand was for soccer games.

I shifted my efforts to swimming and biking while the leg healed. Now fully aware of how quickly overuse injuries can happen I swam only three days a week; all drills (thanks Total Immersion). I saved my real cardio efforts for 1-hour spin classes. To say the least, I attacked the spin bike with a vengeance. This turned out to be a bad plan because it prolonged my shin injury. I eventually had to stop both and focus solely on swimming.

With swimming I found success. I quickly improved my stroke and managed to get my volume up to 9000 yards a week. I tried pool running for my shin but found it strained my back too much. I didn't need another injury to nurse.

Once my leg felt healed I took advantage of the warmer weather and began a new biking plan (still no running). It had become apparent after my first ever triathlon (White Lake Half in Spring 07) that spin class was not an ample training tool and that I needed to actually ride my road bike. Who would have guessed? My plan was to ride an easy 30, a hard 20, and an easy 64 miles each week. Like everything else, I stupidly jumped into it. A month later I had a pinched nerve in my foot from an improper cleat position and hamstrings so tight you could play them like a guitar.

I eventually ended up in physical therapy to see if there was something I could do to help my hamstrings. The pain was not debilitating so I could still train, just not hard. The whole injury issue became a question of whether triathlons were worth the trouble or not. One thing was for sure, I was committed to finishing Vineman. I plowed on.

During the last month of training I battled the hamstring pain with a daily regiment of ice and anti-inflammatory meds. I finally managed to run again, but carefully so the shin pain wouldn't return. Luckily I live near a five-mile wooded trail loop that is easy on the legs. I also began to understand how to use heart rates to control workouts and the importance of easy days.

After Vineman I continued to train smarter with a ton of easy days. I stayed fresher for my once a week (per dicipline) speed work days. My hamstrings were still painful now and then but I didn't need the drugs to cope. During that last month and a half I saw my biggest increases in bike and run speed. Finally I felt like a triathlete and not a walking injury. I can only hope this will carry over to my second season.