Triathlon Training Plan

A little bit of background first…

I have had a gym membership for a few years now, but find that I have a hard time working out unless I have something specific that I am working towards. Last year, I decided to register for a triathlon 4 months down the road which would serve as my end goal. I followed a plan (overstatement) in a book that I bought, but wasn’t super committed; I changed a lot of the workouts, neglected lifting more than I should have, didn’t really change my diet, and basically decided that my goal was to FINISH the race, not to do well. Surprisingly, even with my crazy ass hours, I stuck to working out 5-6 days a week, which also equated to 80-90% of my plan hours. When race day came, I still just wanted to finish. I finished, and I actually did pretty well (even considering flat tires and asthma attacks). And, I hate to admit it, but I had fun. So, for 2008, I have decided to give this triathlon thing a pseudo-serious try. I have picked up a lot of gear since this summer (including a wetsuit, which I was laughing at people for wearing), done a good amount of reading about diet, lifting, etc, and have formulated an annual training plan…

Tomorrow marks day number 1 of my plan. As simple as it sounds, the annual plan is accompanied by very descript weekly plans and daily training/health logs. I went for the middle-of-the-road number of annual hours for a Sprint plan (or the lower end of an Olympic distance plan). I didn’t want to set myself up for failure by planning too many hours. This boils down to 400 hours per year, which works out to a maximum of 12 hours per week. This seems a little overwhelming to me, but I know I can do it because I’ve made the time before. Once I have the plan finished, I will post it. Putting this out for other people to see gives me a certain sense of accountability.

The first week, the “transition period”, is actually just a week devoted less to working out and more to mental preparation. But, starting January 7th, it’s on.

I have picked a handful of races, all of which are USAT certified, so that this year I can actually take part in the ranking system:

Rochesterfest / June 29
LifeTime Fitness / July 12
Chisago Lakes / July 27 (finished in 2007)
Brewhouse (Duluth) / August 3 (finished in 2007.. not sure what is possessing me to go back there)

Ready, set, GO.