Happy Wednesday! Welcome to another edition of Workout Wednesday. Every Wednesday I will post a new Triathlon specific workout. If you like the workout, fit it into your training plan for the week. If you don’t like the workout you’re crazy, all of my workouts are brilliant pieces programming. (HAHA)
Long runs are the bedrock of all running programs. Long runs help you to build endurance through time on your feet. Also, through low instensity training, your body learns to use more fat as fuel. Even though long runs are included in most training plans, many athletes perform these workouts incorrectly. They focus too much on the challenge of a new distance or speed, and turn a lower intensity effort into a death march.
Welcome to a special edition of Fantastic Finish Photo Friday. We want to bask in your awesomeness from your finish photos. A finish photo captures a moment in time, where you overcame the challenges of the race and training, and reached your goal. The feeling of elation as you cross the line is what keeps us pushing our own limits. Please consider sharing your own photo to inspire others who are working toward their own finish.
This week’s photo is from Danni Buddenhagen (My Wonderful Wife):
Danni, with myself and our two little volunteers
Danni: Back in February Shawn suggested that I complete in an upcoming Triathlon scheduled for August. Now, if you know anything about me, then you would know that I do not have an athletic bone in my body. But, being who I am I was up for the challenge. So, with August in my not so distant future, I began going to the gym and practicing on the bike. The swimming is an entirely different story.
Before I knew it, it was the big day. Of course, I was nervous, but one thing still sticks in my mind. While getting my number written on all kinds of body parts, the guy says to me, “Oh, next year you will be in a different category”. (Um-Yes, he was referring to the age category.) At that time, I was thinking, yeah right- next year! But, he was absolutely right. I managed not to drown during my first triathlon and make it to the finish line. Having my family cheer me on and hand out water at the 2 mile marker was definitely a motivator to keep me going until the end. I survived, I crossed the finish line and I can’t wait to get even better for next year!
Danni like many first time triathletes did not have an athletic background before the race. She raced a few 5ks, and did some spin classes. She had not swam any distance and needed develop a freestyle stroke. With that in mind, I wrote up a 8 week training plan for her, and by race day she was well prepared.
There’s no need to wait for proficiency in all three disciplines before signing up for your first race. Find a race you want to try, and build on what you can already do. If you can run or cycle a bit already. Build on those strengths, and work on the weaker sports.
Do you have a photo you would like to share? Don’t be shy, send it to firsttimetri@gmail.com, Please add a quick paragraph of what the photo means to you. Please share and be an inspiration to others.
Happy Wednesday! Welcome to another edition of Workout Wednesday. Every Wednesday I will post a new Triathlon specific workout. If you like the workout, fit it into your training plan for the week. If you don’t like the workout you’re crazy, all of my workouts are brilliant pieces programming. (HAHA)
Today’s Workout – Hill Repeats
Hill repeats are one of the best bang for your buck workouts. They can be done in a short amount of time, and the pay back is strong speedy legs. Also, you have less chance of injury, because the uphill grade will lessen the impact.
Things to focus on during hill repeats:
Use your best running form. The repeats will be short, so focus on holding the best from possible.
Focus on quick turnover. Push yourself to really pump your legs quickly.
Give an all out effort. Push yourself hard on each repeat. When you feel you effort level dropping, rest until you can put in full effort again.
Hill Repeats
Warm up – 10- 15 minutes
4 hill repeats – All out on the way up/ Recover on the way down
Rest 2 – 4 minute
4 hill repeats – All out on the way up/ Recover on the way down
Cool Down
Ideally this workout should be done on a hill that takes 20- 40 secs to climb. Take your time coming down as that is your rest. If you are doing this workout on a treadmill, be sure to use plenty of incline. Also use a 1:2 work to rest ratio. If your repeat is 30 secs, take a minute of rest.
If you decide to try this workout, let us know how it went in the comments.
Welcome to another edition of Fantastic Finish Photo Friday. We want to bask in your awesomeness from your finish photos. A finish photo captures a moment in time, where you overcame the challenges of the race and training, and reached your goal. The feeling of elation as you cross the line is what keeps us pushing our own limits. Please consider sharing your own photo to inspire others who are working toward their own finish.
The photo is week is from Jamie Dewdney:
“All those gruesome hill climbs, choppy swims and wet and windy runs are worth it when crossing the finish line of my first triathlon, bring on the next one!”
Nice work Jamie! Training is the hard part. The race and the finish are the pay off. Best of luck to you in your new triathlon journey.
Do you have a photo you would like to share? Don’t be shy, send it to firsttimetri@gmail.com, Please add a quick paragraph of what the photo means to you. Please share and be an inspiration to others.
Happy Wednesday! Welcome to another edition of Workout Wednesday. Every Wednesday I will post a new Triathlon specific workout. If you like the workout, fit it into your training plan for the week. If you don’t like the workout you’re crazy, all of my workouts are brilliant pieces programming. (kidding)
Today’s Workout – Run Intervals
If long steady runs are the bread of your training, Intervals are the butter. If you want to run faster, sometimes you have to run faster. Makes sense right? The danger comes from trying to run every run faster. The added stress of those faster runs impacts your ability to recover and you get injured. The better way to run faster is Intervals. Periods of hard effort followed by rest, and repeat.
Intervals
Warm up ~10 min
5 X 2 mins fast/ 1 min easy
Cool down
* Pacing – If your normal pace is 10 min/mile, then start the first interval at 9 min/mile and progress from there. Resist the urge to go at an all out sprint. If the first couple seem easy that is OK. Increase the speed for the last intervals. Focus on staying relaxed, breathing, and moving your feet quickly.
Sounds simple? This is a beginner interval session meant for athletes who are new to running. Interval workouts should be done no more than once a week for new runners.
If you give this workout a try, leave a comment below and let us know how it went.
Welcome to another edition of Workout Wednesday. Every Wednesday I will post a new Triathlon specific workout. If you like the workout, fit it into your training plan for the week. If you don’t like the workout you’re crazy, all of my workouts are brilliant pieces programming. (kidding)
Today’s Workout – BRICK
A quick intro: A BRICK is a bike to run workout. The purpose of these workouts is to work on your transitions from the bike to run. It’s a good idea to fit in a few of these sessions to your triathlon training cycle. Don’t get carried away, and think you have to do these workouts all of the time. It is better to work on biking and running individually, and sprinkle in some bricks.
BRICK workouts are also a great chance to practice your transitions. Set up a mini transition area in your driveway, and treat the workout like a race simulation.
BRICK WORKOUT 1
Bike – 25 mins
Transition
Run 3k
Bike- Ride at race pace for the first 20 mins, and try to pick up the pace for the final 5 mins. Work on keeping your legs moving quickly for the last 5 mins. You want this to feel like the end of the bike at a race.
Run – When you start running concentrate on keeping your legs moving quickly. Try to match your cadence from the bike. Focus on breathing deeply and find your rhythm. The transition from the bike will feel funny. You will feel like you are moving slowly, as you are accustomed to the speed from the bike. Also, you will experience less wind to cool you down, be mindful that you are not overheating.
I hope you enjoy this one. The distances in the workout are for a person training for a sprint distance tri. If you are training for a longer distance event, you can adjust the distances. Just don’t get carried away. BRICKS are meant to work on that bike to run transition, not run you into the ground.
The saying goes a picture is worth 1000 words. This is true, but doesn’t tell the entire story. A finish line photo is the snap shot of your achievement, but we want to hear the story as well. How did you feel at that moment? What struggle did you overcome? Did you just complete something you thought was impossible?
This where I need your help. If you have a fantastic finish photo, please consider sharing it. Actually the photo quality might not be great, but it brings back all of the feelings of that moment when you see it. Along with your photo, add a paragraph or two that explains how you felt as to crossed that line. Not a full race report, just what this photo represents to you. The more emotion the better.
My plan to is feature at least one of your photos every Friday. Let’s celebrate that sense of achievement as you crossed the finish line. Your story will inspire and uplift others that are working toward their own finish. Also, we are hard on ourselves most day. We should take a moment to look back and remember our own greatness.
If you would like to share your greatness, leave a comment below, or email me @ firsttimetri@gmail.com.
I’ll start things off:
Photo above was taken with my two girls at the Beach 2 Battleship IM, my first IM finish.
Finally, I arrived at the final downhill ( Das upper thigh crusher), and started toward the finish. As I came down the final 500 yards, I could hear the cheering from people in the restaurants, and a live band rocking past the finish. I saw the bright lights illuminating the finish area, and I picked up the pace. I felt the culmination of all that training and sacrifice, as I crossed the line and looked up to see my family. The volunteers handed me a WWF belt buckle (medal), and a hat. I stood there for a moment, exhausted, but elated and completely at peace. What an awesome experience.
In Part I, we discussed Body Position and Breathing. Those two skills are very important, but don’t get you anywhere. You need oars to get the boat moving. Your stroke is your oars, and that is what we will cover in this post.
This post in not meant to be the definitive post on stroke technique. The goal here is to master the fundamentals and set a good base for refinement as your swimming progresses. A perfect freestyle stroke, if there is really such a thing, takes years to develop. With a good fundamental stroke you will be able to cover longer distances with better efficiency.
The freestyle stroke can be broken down into four parts:
In the first post on the added benefits of triathlon, I talked about looking sexy in lycra, and sweet tan lines. There are so many additional benefits I didn’t list, that I decided to make a Part II. There may be some people on the fence about triathlon, and the a collection of distance stickers wasn’t enough to get them to dive in. So here are some more “tidbits of awesome” about triathlon.
1. Get up super early – You feel guilty when you don’t get up before the sun. Everyone knows that pool swims only count when they are finished before 6:30am. You have a four hour ride planned for Saturday, and your significant other is complaining about you training too much.. What do you do? Leave at 5 am and hope to make it back before they get up.
2. The world is your buffet – At the Mexican restaurant you order the Mucho Loco Burrito with an extra side of guacamole. The others at the table look in horror as you demolish the entree meant for three people. You look up and say, “It’s cool, I’m in the peak of my training cycle”, and then wipe the cheese from your chin.
Gel Buffet
3. Energy Gel Sommelier – The average palette can’t discern the slight nuisances of the Powergel orange from the Gu mandarin, but you can. Your heightened awareness of these differences comes from years of consumption of these slimy delicacies. You would rather bonk than slam down that wrong brand being offered on the course.
4. Ability to time illness one week out from your “A” race – You never get sick. You are healthy as a horse. People in the office are going home weak with the flu, but you superior immune system is kryptonite to viruses. That is until the taper period of your most important race of the season. A week out from the race you are in bed sore and aching, wondering how you are supposed to race in 5 days.
5. Calf Sleeves – I may offend some here, but calf sleeves are nerdy. They are essentially tall socks with no feet. From the amount of people wearing them, you would think there was an epidemic of calf muscles exploding before their invention. Triathlon is no fashion show. If you really need the super calf support, buy the brightest neon ones you can find, and rock that kit.
6. Get clipped – There are two types of cyclists; those who have fallen over in the parking lot while still clipped in to the pedals, and those who will. It happens to everyone. You get those brand new clipless pedals and shoes, pull in to the parking lot at the end of the ride, slow down, and proceed to fall over like a tipped cow. Don’t be embarrassed. Laugh it off, as everyone else on that ride has done the same thing at least once. Welcome to the club!
7. A bike more expensive than your car – After years of hard training, you will decide that training is too time consuming and difficult. Forget training on the bike, go and buy some speed. You walk into the bike shop, and there it is. A beautiful carbon fibre rocket ship of a bike. Once you astride this piece is speed sculpture, PR’s will fall, and the road will submit to your will. On the way home from the shop you look at your ’03 Subaru, and realize the blue book value of your car, is less than that new bike purchase.
* The car will seek revenge. On the way home from a race, you pull into the driveway headed for the garage, and forget your bike is on the roof rack. The car will let you drive into the garage, while your bike is smashed against the top of the garage.
First Time Triathlete 
