So tomorrow morning I kick off my 2009 racing season with a ½ marathon. It’s a B race since I’ve been in a run focus since January and am hoping for a pretty substantial PR (~4-5 minutes). Since it’s a B race, I didn’t perform a full taper. It was actually a run-specific taper which is something I just planned on my own (the fun of self-coaching). Basically I performed a week and a half taper on my runs while keeping my bike and swim workouts in a steady build. I feel well rested and my legs are eager, so signs of success I guess. Of course, it’s also a recovery week in my overall cycle so training hours are down…that might be part of it. I know I’ve been talking about this race for a while now, but it’s been over 6 months since my last race…that’s a long off-season for an impatient triathlete.
Anyways, to keep me busy pre-race (my mind, that is), I’ve decided to work a little on my training plan for May. Yes, my overall “skeleton” has been structured for quite some time, but after looking at where I’ve made big gains, and where gains are still to be made I decided a few weeks ago that starting next week I’ll be shifting into a bike focus. I’ve only been riding 2-3x per week while running 4-5x. Essentially I am just going to drop a run and add a bike. Here is ideally what I’d like my weekly schedule to look like for the next couple months:
4 Bike workouts per week—1 endurance/long ride, 1 intervals/speedwork ride, 1 hillwork/strength ride, and 1 recovery ride)
4 Run workouts per week—1 endurance/long run, 1 speedwork run, 1 easy/recovery run, and 1 transition run)
2 swim workouts per week—1 tempo/speed swim, 1 endurance swim
1 lift per week—strength maintenance/injury prevention/core work
That’s easy enough to figure out and I feel like if I can hit a schedule like that, I’ll be wicked fast come August and my first A race…compared to my past results. I am not adding any actual sessions to my schedule, but fitting that into the days of the week will still be a challenge, especially since I will start grad classes in late May on Tuesday and Thursday evenings.
Now, I know that looks like a lot of work and lacking in swimming...so let’s break it down and maybe I can answer any of the question marks you may have.
· Swimming: You wouldn’t know from my schedule, but swimming is my weakness. I also don’t enjoy it nearly as much as the other disciplines (surprise, huh). I was in a swim focus through the latter part of last year and have improved some…I know I have plenty of work to go, but don’t have the time or resources this close to racing season to devote to further coaching, so I’m now in more of a swim maintenance mode. I know I can do the distance and be MOP…now I just want to keep the fitness and work on making it as effortless as possible to save energy for the other legs.
· Biking: Since I’ve been in base mode, basically all of my rides have been steady endurance efforts. I’m only up to about 2h40minutes and want to be comfortable for closer to 3h30 minutes to make the 56 mile HIM leg seem short. However, the endurance ride will continue to build on total time in the saddle in a ride. It’s time to work in some speed. My interval rides (probably on Wednesdays) will either be on the bike path so I can push hard w/o much worry to traffic, or will be group rides/short crits. I’ve not done crits in the past, so it will be a new addition to mix things up. Hill work will probably be 1.5-2hr hill repeat rides, and my recovery rides will probably be after my weekend long runs.
· Running: This still looks like a pretty heavy running load, but it’s actually only 3 runs and only 2 should take a significant toll. The transition run will either be after my interval ride or after my endurance ride (but not both) and will be no more than 20 minutes, more likely 10-15 minutes. The endurance run will usually be in the 10-15 mile range, and the speedwork will probably be fartlek intervals usually during a 4-8 mile run. The recovery run will be technique focused.
I’ve got a basic layout in my head for how this will all fit into the days of the week, but I’m not 100% pleased with it yet. However, I am 100% pleased with the concepts from above. In fact, just writing about this upcoming training is getting me excited to train…I’m a little disturbed like that.
To close, I’ll come back to tomorrow’s race. I will be running, then hopefully taking pictures post-finish of the rest of my family/friends doing the race. There are 7 people (self not included) running total that I will be looking for…my wife, my mom, dad, and sister, my uncle, my wife’s friend, and my wife’s classmate. I’ll have a write-up on the day as soon as I can manage it. I’m really trying to improve on making my race reports more interesting/engaging. Feedback is appreciated. Have a good weekend.
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