Sorry for the picture quality - that's a dragon fly on Mrs Nitrox's finger that has R1 & R2 freaking out. Sigh, I am the father of 2 true blue city kids... :-)Sorry also for freaking about the 17 weeks to my 1st O.D. Triathlon. What can I say? It's been a rough week by all counts... (By the way, if you have any advice for my O.D. Tri Training Plan, I would very much appreciate it!)
- One of our pastors (whom I have come to dearly love and respect) had a terrible family tragedy, and all we could do was pray for him and give him a hug...
- The HUGE merger at work is now underway, and there is STILL no news about what our roles are in the new company months from the start of planning. As expected, some folks have been busily building "empires" while the new organisation is being formed, and it really ilks me that the rest of us seem to be at the receiving end of their posturing and "land grabbing". I KNOW God is working to prepare the path ahead for me (just as He has always done), but my lack of faith makes the journey more than a little unsettling. What a clear example of the difference between HEAD knowledge and HEART knowledge! Lord, help my unbelief and restore me to the fullness of life in accordance with Your perfect will!
- On the training end, I finally had a break through last Sunday in the 50km bike / 5km run - for the 1st time ever, I actually felt strong on the bike AND the run, and got some respectable timings. And then the very next day, the familiar "runny nose, sore throat, cough" feeling came back. Sigh, what a let down! :-( It's been stressful since then trying to toe the fine line between meeting my training commitment and getting enough rest to fend off another full-blown infection. Not a good thing to start my 17 week plan by missing work-outs, but it looks like this is exactly what's gonna happen.
Quite a few of you reminded me that I did not state my goal for the OSIM 2007 Triathlon in my last post. Well, it was semi-intentional. ;-) My timing for the last Sprint I did end 2005 was swim 21:36, bike 41:56, run 32:22 (inclusive of transitions) so I figure that I should aim for 2 X my Sprint timing which would take in account the on/off training I did in 2006. So my goal for OSIM 2007 is swim 40mins, bike 1:30, run 1:05 for a total of 3:15, which at this stage looks pretty much like a S-T-R-E-T-C-H target. So there it is, I have publicly declared my time target, now it's SERIOUS BUSINESS. :-)
Some initial thoughts/changes to my training plan after all that great feedback:
- My original plan is probably too ambitious, will have to scale down the distances somewhat and accept the fact that I will probably miss some sessions due to travel, family, etc...
- TriFeist reminded me that my ambitious Saturday bike/run distances will take a LONG time - I had forgotten to take training time per session into consideration. Duh... So some weeks I'll do 60-70km bike/5km run, and other weeks do 40km bike/10-12km run. I'll probably keep it random based on how I feel. I hear it is good to shock the body sometimes. :)
- Will limit run intervals to 1km or so and increase speed and/or number of repeats progressively. Will also introduce some stride work as suggested by IronPol. I also like Tryathlete's idea of running 2.4km time trials (like in the army).
- Will try to increase my long run and long swim distances - I think I'll need that extra boost of confidence come race day.
- Cliff made time during his vacation in Hong Kong to give me some pretty specific advice. My favourite being to week one in each 3 week training block with a lower volume and progressively add until rest week. I like that idea very much, my previous plan to rack up the mileage from week one was probably a little too unrealistic.
- I am also seriously looking at how I can insert a mid-week bike ride, maybe in place of a strength training session. Hmmm....
So it's obvious that the training plan needs more work and I will try to put up a revised plan this weekend. Meanwhile, train safe and God Speed! I will be going for Maundy Thurs service tonight and going to bed straight after, hoping to wake up feeling good enough to go for my missed 12km run.
Happy Easter everyone! Remember that Christ died to buy us fullness of life, so don't let the world rob you of the freedom you already have!
5 comments:
You are in my prayers. I pray that you can stay healthy, grow from this work experience, and be a support to your pastor.
Train smarter, not harder! :)
Hmmmm, the pattern you have developed, getting ill after training, makes me wonder. Could you be suffering from allergies that are bringing on the symptoms? Maybe tree pollen or something outside in your environment? I get a sore throat every spring from tree pollens. It feels just like the common cold, but isn't. Just wondering if an antihistamine wouldn't help you.
I'm trying to estimate my oly times, but I don't think it will be 2x my sprint times because I can go harder on the shorter distance than I can on the farther distance.
Happy Easter - He is risen!
You need to take your boys out more often, haha. Don't let them become suaku!
You're kids are so cute! Seems like you have a lot going on. Remember to take a deep breath and to be patient and forgiving of yourself.
You'll do great at your first Olympic distance. 17 weeks is definitely enough time, and you've done a lot of background reading. Remember not to overthink it. It's easy to make it more complicated than need be. Joe Friel's stuff is good but I think he makes things a little overcomplicated for us novices just wanting to go out there and have a good time.
As for the details, you'll figure it out as you go along. Remember to be flexible. However, consistent, small bits of frequent training are better than killer weekend sessions. I try to swim, bike, and run 3x/week each and do weights 2x but this is ambitious (and time-consuming). I've read you can do 2x/week in each discipline and still be fine. Take 1 day a week off and reduce volume by 50% every 4th week to allow yourself to rest. If you can do a sprint tri and a 10K before your race, it's great preparation. Taper for 10 days up to your race. Hope this helps!
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