Training for a shorter Tri

ST - sounds great!

Oh, no Jevans! This is not making me feel any better. I am just dreading having to learn how to change a tyre. And I can just picture the scene in your house cos that would have been my hubby and I! Who are you going to raise money for?

Well, after a hard training week I had planned yesterday and today as rest days. Pleased I did cos I woke up yesterday morning with a sore throat. I'm hardly ever ill. In fact apart from the occasional migrane I think the last time was last winter. Am still not feeling 100% and have been eating far too much chocolate over the weekend  - the huge box I was given for my birthday last week.

Hope to feel better tomorrow cos I want to cycle. Am going to give my foot another day of rest. 

Bootsie - did you get your bike ride in?

Razor- hope you are feeling better.

no bike ride done but managed 11.17 miles and ended up with tired legs and a big blister on my foot!!!

will try and get home in time to do a bit of biking outdoors this week.. nightmare in the dark! 

Tomorrow's the first day of my 16-week training plan. Going to make this a swim focus week, and hoping to get 3 swims in, plus some riding and running. Also got a cicuits class and would like to go skating, so the week could fill up quite alarmingly.

Today I cycled 20+ km aroungd the South Circular, and managed to tag a 1.3km run (well, more like a sluggish plod) on the end before pottering round the London Wetlands Centre and cycling home in the dark. I was pleased that I managed it up the most challenging hill in both directions without discomfort, but good grief it was cold out there today.

Hope it warms up soon.

Erm, 'plan' is perhaps overstating it - I'm using ideas from this thread to split the 16 weeks into four four-week periods with one week focussing on each discipline, followed by a drop-back week.

I'm maybe a tad unusual in that my cycling is by far and away my best discipline, and swimming is slowish but steady with no difficulty at all about the distance, while my running is ropey - I've only just got back into it after a break, have never done much and have always been slow, so can only just manage the race distance at a slow jog at the minute, though I know I can improve on that quite quickly.

 *thud*

Pleased to report that over the wekend, went to the pool and had a splash - could hardly call it a swim, did 4 lengths of backstroke legs only, used the good arm for half of it, but went even more sideways than normal. Physio suggested it to loosen up wrist, but did not really enjoy as could not swim FC or breast stroke, wrist felt worked out as I did the sculling as told, plus the water felt cold.

On Sunday Mr Steady was suprised at me going out for a LSR, I do not know why, seems to have had a mad thought I might not want to get up early and go for a run, (he is a non runner). I did 5 miles in just over the hour doing run 5 mins walk 1 min, oh boy, did it feel good to be back outdoors and getting sweaty and a bit breathless. Normality has been resumed, albeit with a sort of swimming.

Physio this morning and again next Monday, she is pleased with my progress so far, I am now getting impatient wanting to ride a bike holding the bars correctly.

Hi All, I've been reading this with a lot of interest.... I've found a Sprint at the start of May which I really fancy.  I've been mainly running (slowly!) for the past few years, and did a marathon at the end of 2009.  Last year, I started cycling more, as training for a cycle touring holiday in the summer.  And I've always done a bit of swimming.  So triathlon been at the back of my mind for a while now.

Does anyone have any advice on how I should change my current schedule to train for it?  At the moment, I alternate cycling and running to work, so lots of short, hilly, 5-mile cycles in a week, and a few 5-mile runs, plus a shorter run.  Plus usually a 1-mile swim once a week, and either a longer run, cycle, or a body pump class at the weekend. 

Over the winter I've been adding a 1.5 mile run onto the end of my cycle home occasional, just to see how that felt (generally pretty good), and going for a quicker than usual "transition" when I've cycled to the pool (i.e. not drying my hair after the shower ).   In the summer I did a 20-mile cycle followed by a 1-hour run round an orienteering course (followed by lunch then 20 -miles home) which was fun.  So that's my closest so far to brick sessions so far.

I guess my best bet would be to increase the cycling distance a few days per week, and maybe add a swim?  Then add some running to the end of the shorter cycles?  When it gets lighter I'll switch to a 18-mile route to work one day a week, but it's still dark at 8.30 at the moment, which makes it harder.

Been good to read about so many people at a similar stage to me.... I'm sure I'll be back with lots more questions soon.

Hi Fay - welcome - good idea to start sticking a swim in every week. Many people swim Breastroke in Tri's so don't worry if your not a Front Crawler - I still can't do more than 6 lengths Front Crawl without having a breather, so I  mix up Crawl and Breastroke. I've been enetered for a Swimathon in March - "only" 2.5km my Iron man mate said!! Try a swim/bike brick too ie ride home from the pool, and a swim/run brick works well too - the last one I did was 1k in the pool then 8k run. The run felt quick because I was so warmed up after the swim!

Chili / ST - your training is putting me to shame! Good for you! Going to sit on my swiss ball tonight and watch telly. Run tomorrow night after work, 7 to 9km at 4.5mins/km with some speed work to try to get my 10k time down to under 40mins by Spring. Wish me luck!

Decided to give my Mojo a kick up the arse today and managed to get a 4.5 mile run in. 

Felt a bit sluggish at first but loosened up after a mile or so but got a few aches in my calves and quads which I put down to my new trainers, otherwise I'm ok.

Hi  Fay welcome aboard.

Ginger.......are you doing the Ribby Hall Tri, (or all 3). What else are you doing ,thinking of doing that one myself and maybe the Liverpool half marathon.

Well done Steady, a great effort to get back into it.

Swam today. Did my 800m Winterswim and then some other bits and bobs for another 20 minutes or so. Went well until the buggers moved the lane rope  across my lane while I was swimming a 50m sprint. Couldn't work out why I was grazing my arm on the rope until I looked up. They didn't give me any warning and it wouldn't have taken long for them to wait till I was at the end of the pool and tell me.

I also unintentionally cycled 20km. Went to Saisburys from the pool, then found out I'd left my debit card at home and had to cycle back to get it.

Gah.

Well, it's all good training, I suppose. Except by then I was starving and accidentally had a cream tea in the store caff.

Whoops.

love cream tea!!

45 mins on the turbo trainer followed by 1.3 mile run.. actually good enough timing

Yersinia - yes, a cream tea is deffinitely acceptable! Especially on top of all that training.

Welcome Fay. This is my first year doing Tri so I am pretty clueless, but if I was doing your kind of distances I wouldn't be worried about a Sprint! Great to have you join us though.

Steady - am very impressed with your patience and persistance. 

Well, this is my 3rd day of no training. I'm feeling a bit better but my throat is still sore and the weather has been rather bitter. SO I decided I really didn't want to risk a bike ride in the chilly wind. Did a Davina McCall exercise DVD instead.  I suppose it does theuse the muscles in a different way, but didn't get my heart rate up and was a bit boring.

But tomorrow is another day and being Tuesday I hope to fit in a swim at lunchtime and a run in the evening. Have got my new trainers to try out.