Training with the "Plan"

Valentine's Day with 3 laps to go 'til I finish the tri...
2 laps...
1 lap...
Finished!!!

My first triathlon finally done. 2.4 mi swim, 112 mi bike, and 26.2 mi run all complete. Of course, it took me 14 days to do it, but it was all fair and in the rules. This was the YMCA indoor ironman triathlon the only rules based on time were that you had to complete the course within the month of Feburary. "Normal" triathletes complete this course in one day, some in under 10 hours!! I have a whole new respect for these people, and hope one day to be able to stand with them, drian bramaged as we all may be.

That all said, those last few laps above were not made while I was running. Oh no. I was one hurting unit at that point. Given my body's reactions the next few days, I'm certain that I overdid it, and fairly certain that I was close to doing some damage to myself.

Now that we've decided to do this tri in June, both of us are taking a much slower training pace as to not injure oursleves. Becca will have to tell you about her plan, which I think is based on slowly increasing workout time and speed until the tapering point. Mine is a slightly different approach, and one that I had to modify a bit; based heavily on heart rate. I am to stay within a 10-15 bpm aerobic heart rate zone during all my workouts, but especially during the run portion(my weakest point). The idea is pretty straight forward. If you exit one phase of the tri with too high a HR zone, the next phase will be comprimised. For instance if you get out of the swim with 175 bpm, it will drop on the bike to about 155 or so, still above the anerobic threshold (at least for me). Not only will this wear you out more on the bike, but come time for running, you could well be out of gas.

So I've been keeping to that as much as I can, with two exceptions. The swim that these guys put out is ridicously easy for me. The first few weeks limit me to 200-300 yds, about 4-6 laps. Folks, that boils down to about 5 min in the water for me. Not much of a workout, so I had to shake it up a bit. For instance, this week my "long" swim will be 1000 yds or 20 laps. (5 warm up/cool down, 5 speed work laps, and 10 laps (the length of the tri swim) at a relatively easy pace.) It should take me about 25 min, if I rest like I'm supposed to. (That's the trick, isn't it? Resting before you wear out).

The second is a temporary thing I think, until it gets nicer out. The exercise bikes in the gym are pretty nice. Electronic, HR monitor, comfy cushy seats, cup holders, even fans in the console to cool you off. Heck, you can damn near nap in the recumbant versions. They're comfortable, air conditioned, with everything thought of with one exception. This is about the farthest thing to riding a bike as you can get. Oh, sure, you're spinning the pedals around and if you do it right, you even get a decent workout. But, really! Where is the sore butt? Where are the crazy drivers trying to run you off the road? Where is the combination of satisfaction and malcontent that only arises from a long saddle-weary ride? Well, although I can't really do much about the 2nd one at the moment, I have found a suitable alternative for the slushy, wet, or frozen weeks ahead. Spinning class.

Spinning class? But Jeremy? Isn't that the same thing? After my first class, I can honestly answer a resounding no. These precisily engineered pain machines, although self adjusted, are orchestrated by a very pleased looking bone fide speed demon in the front commanding us to sit, stand, raise or lower the tension level, all while trying maddly to keep pedalling at a certain pace, called cadence. I got through the intro/safety class without problem, (yes, you actually have to take a safety class to get on these things, I should have known) but I was unable to keep up during my first 'real' class. About 10 min before the end of the class, I'm already tired and sweating like I was in Panama again, when the smiling instructor clues us into our final challenge for the day. "Okay, the last hill we'll be doing today is FO."

A collective groan rises from the room. Maybe its the exercise getting to my brain, or maybe I'm just a little tired that morning, but it takes a couple seconds for that sentence to find the appropriate picture in my mind. Then it hits me. County Rd FO! Ironic that just the day before I drove out this rout just to see how long and how painful I could possibly make a ride. FO is not so much a road, as a hill. A big hill. A hill that I doubt seriously that I could design in a more sadistic manner and still have it drivable by normal cars. (I did find an even more difficult hill in the area, but I'm trying to block it from my memory. I think the smiling instructor can read minds.) County Rd FO, is just about 2 miles long, with a progressively increasing incline. Near the top, I'm not even all that crazy about driving on the thing. Its just too steep! Hit one patch of black ice and it could be all over. This is the route he chose, and subsequently the part of the class I was unable to complete.

I left class that day, tired, dripping sweat, toes numb, and addicted. There was something about the group mentality that made it a little more enjoyable. Perhaps it is that misery loves company, or all the scantily clad college aged women in the class, though I doubt it. Like I told some coworkers, I didn't have enough in me to have a glance around. It took everything I had to make my feet go in a circle, and there was not a drip of water, nor drop of blood for any extra thoughts. Well, that and I was too busy trying desperately not to look like a walrus on a unicycle. I have to go back. I have to prove that I am not that blubber bound body bounding on a bicycle, and if I go long enough my HR will be able to handle a faster running pace. (My first and foremost reason for the class)

This is running a bit long, but since I brought it up, I'll close with this thought. Using last years results as a guide, my current paces of 2:20/100 yds swim (A easy and very sustainable pace for me), ~19mph bike (At the upper end of my HR zone for bike), and a 5mph run (Don't laugh...its the best I can concievably manage after a long bike at the moment) I would place in the upper 300 to lower 400 range, out of the 587 that finished last year. I suppose I should ultimately hope and pray against a dreaded DNF (Did Not Finish), but my pride wont let me come in dead last either. My current goals are <10>20mph bike, not easy but achievable, and the doozy, I want to run <9 min miles. That one will be pretty difficult by June 1, but maybe byt the end of the season I can knock that one out. For the Pigman, I would be overjoyed if I came in under 30 min on the run (about 6.2mph). I'm pretty sure that Becca will beat my run time by then, since she used to be very fast, and I've always been a little slower on the run. Since we do have a little competition between us though, I'm hoping that I can get far enough ahead on the swim and bike to make up the difference.

Any thoughts?