A Reason to Live (Part II) - Triathlon Training

First and foremost, my sincere apologies to RobTheRunner and other friends out there tracking me through bloglines. I was silly enough to switch to blogger beta and apparently there is some issue updating bloglines. Was searching the 'Net for some answers, but there does not seem to be a clear fix, just a lot of unhappy beta bloggers airing their grievances. :(

Also, sorry that Part II to my previous post took so long in the making. It is partly due to an extended break in Triathlon Training (I have run out of excuses - sickness, bad weather, you name it...), and a short get-away with the family in Sentosa (an island resort connected to Singapore by a land-bridge). It didn't occur to me to take a picture of the chairlift (yes, that's how irregular I have become in blogging), so I stole one from the 'Net for ya. Chairlifts in Singapore? What will they think of next? A ski resort?!?! :D

So back to the subject of training plans for 2007. I am the sort of person who reads the ending of novels before I start, so here's the conclusion: there will NOT be a Ironman 70.3 for me in 2007, just Sprint and Olympic Distance Triathlons.

I've been thinking a lot lately about why I am continuing Triathlon Training - so much so that I have had to read my own post on this subject back in January. Reading the Triathlete's Training Bible also helped put things into perspective - there was a quiz in the early part of the book that measures mental attitude, and my score quite literally said that I should seriously think about why I am in Triathlons! :)

So the short of it is that I am still committed to Triathlon Training because my reasons for doing so has not changed, but instead of setting impossible goals and then getting depressed about not being able to meet them, I've decided to set realistic goals based on the amount fo time I have to train. There is a very interesting table in the Triathele's Training Bible that lists the estimated training hours annually for a Sprint, Olympic, Half Ironman, Ironman, etc... I estimate that I would have a maximum of 6 hours a week for training and 4 weeks off a year - that's a total of 288 hours, which according to the table, puts me at only Sprint Distance Triathlons. :) In fact, given that the Olympic Triathlon in Singapore is in July, that translates to less than 150 training hours! Of course, we have to temper what we read with what we know about ourselves, so I sticking to my original target of doing my first Olympic Distance Triathlon in July 2007. Given my current lack of training time, and additional distractions to come in 2007 from R1 going to Primary School (i.e. Elementary School) and the huge merger happening at work, I think I will have to take up qcmier's offer to do the Singapore 70.3 Ironman in a couple of years. :)

So here's my draft race calendar for 2007. Given the difficulty in getting some sort of race calendar for Singapore, this is highly subject to change and probably a little too agressive (it would take a lot to be able to join the overseas events).

• Mar '07 - 11 Mar '07 Singapore Duathlon or 17 Mar '07 Singapore Biathlon (1.5km swim, 10km run). Don't think I can do both and the Duathlon details are not out yet.
  
• 26/27 May '07 - Aviva Bintan Triathlon (Indonesia) (Olympic - 1.5km swim, 40km bike, 10km run)
• *"A" Race* 7/8th July '07 - Singapore Triathlon (Olympic - 1.5km swim, 40km bike, 10km run)
• *"Stretch" Race* Oct '07 - Pulai Triathlon (Desaru, Malaysia) (Long - 2km swim, 60km ride, 15km run)
• 3 Nov '07 - Corporate Triathlon (Sprint)
  
• Dec '07 - Half Marathon

So much for planning, now it's time to get off my ass and start training again. ;) Until next time, train safe and God Speed!