Week 2: Monday Swim

One piece of advice I received multiple times, and one I think makes a lot of sense, is to train with a buddy. A friend of mine, from my college swim team, signed up for the Nanticoke Triathlon with me. We both have busy schedules, so we're only able to meet up once a week for a swim. But in that one day, we talk about different things concerning the tri: Should I get a trisuit? Renting a wetsuit? How should we practice transitions, etc.?

Anyway, here's what we did:

Warm Up:
400 swim

Main:
8x25 kick (free/fly)
4x50s (odds-EZ, evens-sprint)
4x75s (IM switchers)
2x100s (build to sprint)
4x75s (EZ, drill, fast)
4x50s kick

Cool Down:
300 swim

This totals to 2100 yards.-- about 2.4 times as much as the tri distance, though broken up. As I get into training, I'd prefer to do longer sets that focus more on long, smooth strokes. But, this workout was a fun,easy way to get back into it.

Getting Started: First Bike

The bike portion is what has me the most worried. I learned to ride a bike a bit later in life than what might be considered normal. I've rode a bike as a means for transportation, but racing is a complete foreign concept to me. This is likely the area I could use the most training.

Because it's still quite wintery (snow and all), I'm starting to train for the bike indoors, on a plain-old stand up stationary bike. I'm not sure how close this is to the real thing, but I figured it couldn't hurt.

I got the gym and set the bike to a random course, with an average level of 9 (from 1-25). I biked for the distance of the bike portion of the Nanticoke triathlon, 15.2 miles. Right away, I could feel in in my legs. But, I finished up the 15.2 in just about 54 minutes.

Until the weather eases up, I'll be sticking to stationary biking. I'm interested to compare the feel of it (and my times) once I can switch to street cycling.

Getting Started: First Swim

I signed up for the triathlon this past Monday. On Tuesday, I swam laps for the first time in about a year. It was nothing too intense, just trying to get back into the feel of things. I swam an easy 400 yards, thinking about long steady strokes. My shoulders felt tight, and I definitely wasn't feeling as fluid as I remember. I transitioned into a few 50s: drill down, easy back. I finished with another easy 100 yards and called it a day.

Over the next few weeks, I'm planning on increasing my yardage and working on incorporating drills that emphasize stroke efficiency though long strokes and a powerful kick.

First Post

This blog is my personal log as I prepare for my first triathlon. I have signed up for the Nanticoke River Triathlon (http://www.nanticokeriverswimandtri.com/), which takes place on May 3, 2015. That is 9 weeks, 2 days, and 11 hours away. This is a sprint triathlon made up of a half mile swim, a 15.2 mile bike ride, and a 3.1 mile run. On this blog, I'm planning to include all of my workouts leading up to the tri, as well as general thoughts as I prepare. While I'm mainly writing this for myself to keep track of my progress, I'd be happy to hear from other people training towards a triathlon, or people just thinking about it.