Week 2: Workouts

Your workouts for the week have been post. If you think they are to hard or to easy let me know.

http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=tjZ9uTUJI68_yQJgOa0e2xg&output=html

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Common Mistakes to Avoid

The most common mistake is what I call under-resting, but is more often known as over training. This is different than doing too much too fast. Make sure you keep the hard work hard and the easy work easy. It is essential that you leave enough time between workouts so that your body can recover. Sleep is the ultimate way to recover, listen to your body. As we progress the workouts will change up to give you more variety.

Never training in open water. As we get closer to your race, I will have you get out in the ocean and swim 2-3 times so that come raceday you know what to expect.

Training too much, to fast. You might be excited to do your first race, but if you are new to running especially please do not ramp up to quickly. Make sure you follow the plan to help avoid injury. One of the most common reasons for injury is when people new to running try to run to fast or run to much instead of building a base. It takes longer for the musculoskeletal system to adapt to the unique demands of running. The golden rule is to make haste slowly.

Hydration. As a goal really shoot for those 6-8 pint glasses of water each day. Stay away from any and all sugary drinks when possible.


Sticking to rigidly to "The Plan." I am trying to provide an outline for your to adapt to your life. If you only do 25min of a 30min session the sky will not fall down. On the same note do not cut workouts short just because. Get work done now, enjoy the day later. If you are having a good time riding, keep riding. This should be fun.

Remember that the reason for doing this sport. It should be to keep you competitive, healthy.

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Essential Training Gear

Now that you are committed to the race, your race, a race what do you need? You can stay cheap, practical and economical when it comes to triathlon or you can go out and spend any amount of money you choose. Where you decide is up to your budget and what you think will work best for you. The things

Swim:

• Proper Swim Attire. A one piece bathing suit for the ladies, and jammers for guys. Both may feel awkward at first, but are essential to proper pool swim training. A two-piece can more easily expose and why bring extra unwanted attention to yourself? For the men, you can wear board shorts, but they add a large amount of drag and hamper any speed work.
• Goggles. Proper fitting eye wear will save your eyes from chlorine, and allow you to see underwater.

Bike:

• Helmet. Not only are they required in races, but most states require that you wear them at all times. Going beyond that, why increase your risk of brain damage?
• Bicycle. Again this could be any sort of bike, borrowed, or owned. 

Run:

• Shoes. Please, get yourself a decent pair of running shoes.

Simple enough? Get out make sure you have the basic equipment so you can start getting your workouts in. The gear above is everything you need to be prepared to get across that finish line. Beyond this everything else is just extra. Later up I will present things that are great to haves, but need absolutely necesary to succes. 

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Week 1: Workouts

For your swim workouts substitute yards for meters if you swim in a yard pool. Most pools are either 25meters or 25yards long. Next week will get into more specific workouts.

There is also a Google Docs version of the above workouts, if you would like another format please let me know. Click here to view the document.

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Triathlon Time Management

Before your first weekly workout log is posted on Sunday, I wanted to go over some ideas on how to squeeze extra workouts in. Like many of us you may have a family, kids, a job and other obligations. One of the biggest things you can do is wake up before the family is up. 

1) Wake Up Early. Believe it or not, but gyms are open long before dawn, some even 24hours/day. Get to the gym (see #2), get your workout in. Get home and make pancakes for the family. They will not even miss you, but should be excited by the prospects of pancakes.

2) Bike or Run into work. You might just be surprised at how much your fitness and bike handling skills increase just by cycling to work or the pool. Understandably we don't all have the flexibility to use these options. However, putting yourself in a position of being able to utilize your time is probably the most important point. Examples of this include, joining the gym/pool closest to work/home and using their shower and change facilities. 

3) Plan Your Week. Take my schedule when I post it, and customize it to your life. The same basic structure will be used for most of the program. You will find that if you get you study and prepare your week ahead of time, the entire week will flow better. Simply spend 10min Sunday night or early Monday morning going over your schedule will make sure you're on track. If you live with someone else, now is the perfect time to plan when you will eat dinner together and when you may need a bit of time to yourself. Doing the weekly grocery shop on Sunday (early) mornings can help make Mondays great - no empty shelves of milk or entire families browsing the cereal isle to slow you down. 

4) Extra Kit. Keep a spare set of running and swimming gear in the car. While you may not be able to swim anywhere, you can run just about anywhere. Keep it simple. Keep an extra pair of running shoes, shorts, socks and a top. For swimming, keep a bath suit, goggles and towel. It may help to keep some basic toiletries in the car as well in case you need to freshen up. With these two “kits” in the car, a workout can happen almost anywhere, anytime. 

5) Be Creative. If you are going somewhere a few miles from home with your spouse, friend or someone that can drive a car. Bring you bike, get your errands done, and then ride home. You can also choose to run home. Easy and simple way to get an extra bike ride or run in.

Remember, this is supposed to be fun, and proper time-management will enable you to reach your goal sooner, instead of never. Just think about what the other people at the race are doing right now, as you are reading these posts or watching TV. Life happens, nothing will go perfect every week. Live with it, move on and keep going forward. Deciding how you use your available time and choosing what to and what not to do will influence your ability to progress forward in any sport.

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Free Stuff and What to Expect

Everything on this site is being provided for free by me, Aaron Davidson as a resource for The Norwich Bulletin. In a bid to enhance the overall fitness level of the local area the following will be provided for readers.

• Weekly training schedule
• Group workouts
• My knowledge
• My Experience
• Q&A With Professional Athletes

Each week I will be providing you with the key workouts needed to help prepare you to compete in your first triathlon. Along the way I will discuss topics such as nutrition, recovery, running techniques, swim techniques, how to choose your gear, among a wide variety of other topics. I will also be able to provide question & answer sessions with professional athletes.

If the demand is great enough, I will also host complimentary running workouts.

Feel free to contact me with any suggestions you may have or questions.

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Can You Do It?

The simple answer is, Yes! Of course you can as long as you have the determination to set aside a few hours a week. My goal here is to provide all of the information that you need, including what workouts to do each week in preparation for racing your first triathlon.

I am writing this a a person who has raced triathlons for four years. I have raced everything from local sprint distance triathlons to the Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii. Over the years I have helped others train for their first triathlon and achieve a healthier lifestyle. I am often asked general questions like “How do I get started,” “What type of bike should a person get,” “Do I really need a coach,” "How do I finish?"

I am not an expert, but I have tried just about every trick out there, bought most of the gear available and can easily distinguish between the message that we get from advertising, and what we really need complete a triathlon. If there is a topic that I may lack information, I will consult experts.

You can do it. Many people have little to no background in swimming, biking, and running. All you need is the desire to create a healthy lifestyle. I simply lifted weights before my first race, since then I have lost 25lbs, and gone from back of the finishing pack to a consistent top 10 finisher.

The commitment is probably less than you think as well. For the race coming up in August, you can train an average of 3 to 5 hours per week. All ages compete. There are races designed for children and people at 80 years old who are still finishing Ironman distance races.

Triathletes are a diversified group. You will find people of all shapes, sizes, and colors. Looks can be deceiving, but the largest asset you can posses is simple determination.

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Assumptions

For those of you following along, and hopefully training to race along side me. I will be making a few assumptions about you. I am going to assume the following:

• You have the ability to swim 1 length of the pool.
• You have access to bike
• You are in good health
• You want to do this and create a healthy lifestyle 
• That you will consistently follow along  

If you can not swim and have never swam, please contact the YMCA to learn about beginner swim programs. If you do not have access to a bike (Mountain Bikes and borrowed bike are fine), then you will not be able to compete. If you are not in good health, please see your Doctor.

Like in any athletic endeavor or training program please first consult your Doctor.




The Olympic Symbol of Triathlon.

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