Triathlon Training: 1500 Yd Swim + Ab Ripper X

The countdown is on ... 6 days until my race!

I am not at all nervous, somehow I have been born with out that emotion, but I am anxious!

This afternoon I went to the pool to do laps and practice my bilateral breathing and Total Immersion technique. I am happy to report that today was my strongest swimming day in months! I did the first 20 laps (500 yards) focused on alternating breathing every 5 and 3 strokes. So my cadence was like this: 5 underwater strokes - Breath, 3 underwater strokes - Breath, 5 underwater strokes -Breath ...repeat .... I would normally take me about 17 strokes to per lap so I was breathing an average of 4 times per lap. And by breathing on odd numbers it has me alternating on the left and right while taking my breaths

The next 20 laps I just breathed every 5 strokes. This went much better than the last few times I have done it. The best apart about this is that you can really work on your freestyle technique when breathing doesn't get in the way and I was moving like a fish through the water! By far the best my TI stroke has felt since I began swimming a few month back. I am pretty pumped about this development more importantly confident.

The next 20 laps I did a pyramid. 6 laps (30 sec break), 5 laps (break), 4 laps ...etc. I stopped at 2 laps because it was the side of the pool I started on and I had to grab my towel and locker key! The last 4 laps of the pyramid I did the backstroke. I decided that if something went wrong (cramp, muscle pull, elbow to nose...) with my freestyle stroke at the Tri I better have a back-up. I was surprised at how well the backstroke went for me considering I had no idea how to do it. But if something does go wrong I'd be cool with doing this for a little bit.

I have started to lay the supplies out that are going to be needed for the race. I bought myself a bag that is made for Triathlons. It has a ton of compartments and a little chair/bench that comes off so I can sit down in the transition area to put on my shoes. It also has a compartment that is water proof to put your swim gear in after the race - very cool. And it comes with nylon mat that can be used to stand on in the transition area. Yeah, I took that out because a towel will be fine! Anyways, my dining room table has become my staging area and will continue this way until Thursday night when I pack everything I need in the bag.

Tomorrow is a running day. Will try and do 4 miles on the treadmill.

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Triathlon Training Day 44: Timed Swim and Interval Laps (+ My Goals)

Today I decided to time myself swimming 500 Meters to see how I am doing with my Total Immersion Freestyle technique. I used the lap clock that is on the wall of the pool. And my time was 11:00 minutes flat! I focused on just swimming comfortable and did not try and kill myself. I figured this could be a starting point for me to build on and continue to get better. Overall, I was pretty happy with the time. I then checked the results of last years Triathlon and this time would put me right in the middle of the pack of my age group! After the timed swim I decided to do some Interval swimming. I'd swim one lap very slow. Then the next lap a little more rushed and final the last lap as quick as possible. This really got my heart rate going and I am going to incorporate more of this into my training.

Back to my time today. This got me thinking about what I'd like for my goals to be in the Triathlon. Well, when I first began this little journey of mine my goals were twofold: 1 - Just Finish and have Fun; 2 - When standing at the starting line I want my last thought to be, "I am ready" and not, "I wish I trained more!".

But being that I am stat guy and am pretty confident both of the previous goals are going to be accomplished I am now going to add some time per event goals.

Swimming Goal - 10 minutes - Based upon today's time and the fact that I have never done an open water swim (OWS) this is a solid goal for me. In my age group (30-34) wave last years race had 102 people. So chances are I might be a bit freaked with that many people kicking and slapping around and a bloody nose or foot to the jaw may slow me a few seconds!

Cycling Goal - 49 minutes - This is an average of 17 mph over the 14 mile course. From reading the message boards about the race the cycling conditions are not ideal due to the large amount of participants and narrow bike course. I'd be happy to average 17 mph and hopeful I can avoid the crowds and do better than 49 minutes.

Running Goal - 27 minutes - Running right now is my weakest of the three disciplines. If I can average 9 minute miles after swimming and cycling I will be very pleased. I also believe over the next 60 days running is the sport were I can make my greatest gains.

Transitions - 6 minutes - I have been practicing the transitions in my garage on brick days. However, until I do it for the first time I am not sure what to expect! Six minutes for the two transitions is probably more than what I will need but chances are I will screw something up here!

Total time - 1 hour 32 minutes.

Tomorrow is a Running Day. Gonna try and do it in the morning -- bedtime now!

Triathlon Training Day 43: 15 Mile Cylce + ARX

Yesterday was a good Sunday. I woke up and had my usual Protein Shake and then it was on the bike before it got too hot outside.

I ended up getting in 15 miles before I had to go home and help Annie with preparations for her baby shower. I had a pretty good ride. The streets were a little busy so I had to slow down and stop a few times but other than that a good workout was had! I averaged about 18 mph - a little less than what I want but my track is not the most ideal.

Today is swimming. I am confident about my ability to swim the 500 meters, now I need to work on getting a faster with my Total Immersion technique. So for the next few swim days I am going to work on quickening my freestyle stroke.

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Triathlon Training Day 40: Back & Biceps

It is about two months to go until my Triathlon and I am feeling great physically! Since I am only doing strength training once or twice a week I have noticed that some definition in my arms and chest has gone away. Not a ton but I'm not as ripped as I was at the end of P90X. It is more of a vanity thing at this point. You go from being fat and flabby to pretty ripped and you like the way you look.

The cool thing is I checked my BF% today on the digital scale and with calibers and I came in right at 10%. I was hopeful to be around 12% so the 10% was a nice surprise. I was around 17-18% starting my second round of P90X and if I remember correctly (too tired to fact check ..lol) I finished around 13-14%. So, in the 40 days of blasting myself with cardio I have dropped another 3-4% - guess this is why all the body builders do so much cardio before competitions.

Anywho, I did P90X Back & Biceps this evening. I didn't overdo it again and used only the 25lb dumbbells for most of the curls. Even though I haven't been weight training like I have in the past I almost feel stronger -- which doesn't make a lot of sense? Maybe the swimming is the reason because using the Total Immersion technique does give me one heck of an upper body/core workout.

Tomorrow is the last day of the month (fiscal) for me at work - which is always an adventure - I am planning on running tomorrow but I haven't taken a rest day this week so it may happen if things get crazy. I'd like to get up early and go but I have to be on the road by 6:45am so that isn't going to happen. Especially because Annie is working until 11pm tonight and I usually can't sleep until I know she is home. We shall see. If no run tomorrow then a brick on Saturday!

Triathlon Training Day 13: Swimming + Ab Ripper X

Practiced my Total Immersion swimming drills today. I feel like I took a small step back today. For some reason I just didn't feel as balanced in the water today? At times I did, at times I just felt awkward - very weird. I guess this is to be expected when learning something new but it is still frustrating.

Overall, my swimming today was still pretty good. I tried to keep track of my laps and did close to 35 total ... plus or minus a couple. It was a crowded day at the pool and I got caught up in conversations with people and lost count a few times.

Before I did my swimming I went to the weight area to stretch and do Ab Ripper X. I've done ARX so many times now that I no longer need Tony and the video. They have a soft mat there that is much better than the Yoga mat I use at home. I added reps to every move and did a total of 400 in all!

A funny thing happened right after that. I was walking to the locker room and a guy came up to me and asked if my name was "Jeff". I said yes, but didn't recognize him? He asked if I did, "that P90X blog?" .... I started to laugh. His name was Ken, so Ken is you are reading, it was nice to meet you and good luck getting started with P90X!

Tomorrow I have to go help a Doctor with an Implant case at 11am. So, I am going to try and get up early and get in a 20 mile Bike ride before that. I'd like to get in Core Syn or Yoga tomorrow too but I have plans with a buddy in the afternoon and then Annie and I are going out for a friends Birthday. Might have to wait until Sunday!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Triathlon Training Day 10: Ab Ripper X + Swimming Drills

Today was a very wet day! First, I woke up and my city was pretty much underwater. We had 11-inches of rain in a 24 hour period and the flooding was just awful. Of course, i had a bunch of appointments scheduled on the NW side of the city and had to go drive in this stuff - not good times!

So that was the wet part of my work day and after such a lovely day of sloshing around I had the urge to go to the pool and try out my new swim techniques I learned from the book, "Total Immersion". I got to the pool and did a couple of laps the "old way" to get warmed up. Then I started on the first Drill the book has me working on. It basically has me learning to float on my back comfortably. I was able to do this pretty quickly and then focused on doing it while on my right side and then my left side. This took some more effort and got frustrating but I eventually became comfortable doing this. Then I would swim a lap on my back. Then one on my left side. Then one on my right side. Next thing I know I was at the pool for over an hour! In between doing the drills I would do a couple of laps and try to focus on what I had learned - which was learning how to use my body as a buoy and swim on my side.

Before it was time to leave I did 6 quick laps trying to focus on the new technique and I cannot believe the difference after only one day of doing drills! My form still needs a ton of work but for the first time my freestyle stroke didn't feel like "work" to me and felt really natural. I could have jumped on my bike and rode 14 miles easily and I bet I did over 30 laps at the pool.

Today was the first day I enjoyed swimming and cannot wait to go back again!

If any of you reading this are thinking of taking up swimming I highly recommend - Total Immersion: The Revolutionary Way to Swim Better, Faster, and Easier. By Terry Laughlin -- Thanks again to Boomer for recommending this book! This $12 paperback isn't quite as compelling as most Dan Brown novels but the content and theory is beyond solid and it should become a great reference for as long as I keep swimming.

Also, I just finished up Ab Ripper X. I absolutely blew through this today! I did extra reps on every exercise and finished up Mason Twists with 65 reps - just killed it and my abs are screaming a little at me now - but it was worth it!

Tomorrow is Cycling and Core Synergistics! I'm loaded up with appointments so I might get up at 5:30am and Cycle and then do Core Syn tomorrow night!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Triathlon Training Day 8: 5K Run

Today I wanted to do a 5K run and get in the P90X Chest & Back workout. Well, I was able to do the 5K run but my body was not ready to do Chest & Back. When I did the Brick yesterday I felt very good afterwards. However, today I was feeling a little tired. I probably just should have done Chest & Back but Annie wanted to jog so I did that first thinking I could do P90X when I was done but that did not happen!

The run today was one of my better efforts despite being sluggish. I started out rather strong doing my first mile in 7:53. Once again the wind was blowing at 30 mph. It doesn't bother you as much as it does when on a bike but it still requires you to work a little harder. When we were done Annie looked at me and said, "that wind was a bitch"! She was so right!

Anyways I did the 3.1 miles in 25 mins and 43 secs today. This is by far my best time and I am happy that each time out running I am getting stronger and stronger. When I first began I was running on the lower range of my target 147-155 heart rate. Now, as I feel stronger, I am keeping the BPM right at 155. Sometimes I catch myself up around 160 and have to back off but for the majority of the runs I am staying in the aerobic zone!

Today I am schedule to swim. I may not do this and Chest, Back, and ARX instead. The reasons are that I really want to get a P90X workout in and I am in the middle of reading, "Total Immersion", a book about Freestyle swimming techniques. So far this book is awesome and has totally changed the way I view swimming. It has a bunch of drills for me to practice and will probably end up changing my entire workout schedule for the better! I just need to finish the book so I can figure out how to incorporate my new fish-like swimming technique!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff