13 Days and Counting

My first triathlon is only 13 days away, on September 26 in Whitewater. I've been working on a 16-week training program that really helped me get ready (or at least I think it will). I'm able to swim the 500 meters in about 15 minutes, which is quite an improvement from when I started. And I can do the bike (about 14 miles) in an hour and the run (3.1 miles) in about 30 minutes.

My goal is to get 'r done in less than 2 hours, and I'd like not to come in last. So we'll see what happens.

More to come . . .

Seven tips to fix bad swimming

This is a great article about how to fix bad swimming habits. I identified several of my own bad habits that I'm going to try working on the next time I'm in the pool.

My training schedule

My first race will be a sprint at the end of April in Whitewater, Wisconsin. It is a long time from now, but I have a lot of work to do. Here's how I plan to get ready.

From now through the end of the year:
     Mondays - Swim or Eliptical
     Wednesdays - Run or Swim
     Fridays - Bike
To get my stamina and endurance up, I'll work to extend my workouts each time, instead of trying to get faster in a set amount of time.

January - February:
     Mondays - Swim or Eliptical
     Tuesdays - Run or Swim
     Wednesdays - Swim or Run
     Thursdays - Bike or Swim
     Fridays - Swim or Bike
During these two months I will complete the distances that I'll have to cover in the race.

March - April:
     TBD. I'll need to start bricking workouts so I can get the transitions down. Closer to the race I'll work on doing all three components at least once each week.

I put this together based on the article I read on one of my newest favorite tri sites.

Five things you need to know about training

This is a great article for beginners to learn about the important aspects of triathlon training. Hardest for me is the consistency - my schedule doesn't normally allow for me to get a workout in on a consistent basis.

Also, I'm going to try going to the breaststroke when I swim - couldn't hurt based on where I'm at now!

Improving shoulder strength

This is a great video about improving an important body part - shoulders. I'm going to try this to see if it helps with swimming. Let me know if it works for you.

Advice from a gold medalist

So I asked my friend Garrett Weber Gale about some swim techniques that can help me get started swimming. Here is what he suggests:

"The way to build stamina in the pool is by swimming. Slowly build yourself up. Don't try to do too much at the beginning because you will be exhausted and it is easier to burn out. Make sure you do more than just swimming. Use a kickboard and kick. Use a pullbouy and pull. Try putting fins on. Maybe go a 25 as fast as you can and then a few 25's really easy to recover. Throw some oddballs at your body and it will soon adapt to what you give it."

That's him on the left in the picture next to Michael Phelps after the 4 x 100 meter relay team won gold in the 2008 Summer Olympics. Garrett is a great guy - he's overcome high blood pressure early in life to become a world class athelete. And he's a great role model for kids - after he won his medals he came to my daughter's school and did an entire presentation. He answered all their questions and was a great influence on them.

Be sure to check out his Web site - http://www.gwgswims.com/ and his blog http://garrettwebergale.blogspot.com/
He is also a great chef - partly because of his high blood pressure - and has great ideas for healthy meals. I'm sure we'll see him on Food Network someday!

Thanks, Garrett for your advice. We'll see how it works, starting tomorrow!

Getting my sea legs

Swimming wasn't so bad today. I swam four laps, which amounted to eight lengths. I haven't been able to complete a lap without stopping to catch my breath, but I felt that I did better today.

I've really tried to eat healthy and watch what I eat. I try to avoid carbs if possible. It was hard today - a lady at work brought in a big pile of ho-ho's, twinkies and so forth. I opted to eat a bunch of cherry tomatoes. My wife was proud of me.

On to biking tomorrow.

A fish out of water

Did I mention that swimming is by far my worst event? Found this site for beginning swimmers that is good, although hard to read.

The triathlon I want to do starts with a 500-yard swim. That's 10 laps. Right now I can do one length, then I need to stop and rest. I can do about 6 lengths (three laps) before I'm ready to die. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Maybe I should take tips from my friend and Olympic gold medalist Garrett Weber-Gale?

Today's workout

Workout this morning: 6 mile bike ride.

Bike riding is by far the favorite part of my workout. I'm not worried about the bike riding part of the triathlon, I see that as my best event. Running would be next, followed in a distant, distant third by swimming.

When I played football I always hated running. That's why I was a lineman - run five yards, stop and rest, then start over. My kind of running. Always hated running in basketball too. Maybe that's why I was never very good.

I have a hybrid bike, and I think I'll stay with that for the time being. No sense spending extra money on a road bike, right?

Here's a good site with some tips on bike training