Monday, February 28, 2011

Triathlon Training Weeks 1 and 2

Last year I trained for and completed my first Olympic distance triathlon. I had several people helping to keep me motivated to train last year... this year, it's all me, and I'm waaaaaay behind where I was at this point a year ago. To keep myself honest, I'm going to post my training log here (since I barely use this site for anything other than a repository for humorous quotes I come across in watching endless hours of television in my boredom). I have found myself wanting to post more, so possibly, posting any information here will encourage me to return to the usage of this site and the hordes of readers, who have been weeping at my absence, shall rejoice!


Week 1 - Finally seemingly over my back problem induced by lack of core workouts, I am back into training.


Monday Feb 14 - Valentine's Day - regular basketball session is canceled because some people have lives... lame. I end up spending an hour in the gym doing a shoot-around instead - 1 hour


Tues Feb 15 - Rest


Wed Feb 16 - Rest


Thurs Feb 17 - 45 min shoot around, then Rec-league game on Thursday night - best game of the season


Friday Feb 18 - I chose to ditch friends... to do a 3 mile / speed run workout. I did a 1-mile run at fast pace (sub-9 min - geez, I'm slow compared to last year, but that's what 20 extra pounds does to somebody, I guess), followed by a 2 mile alternating quarter mile walk/run.

Macken Park Run - Speed Training by daskaff at Garmin Connect - Details

Saturday Feb 19 - 20 lap speed training swim (27:30 total time) at the university pool. Start with 7 lap (350 yd) freestyle swim at faster than normal (for me) 6:46 - normally average 1:05 per lap, so I'm pretty happy with that. Another 7 lap (350 yd) freestyle (6 lap) and breast stroke (1 lap) combo - (7:44) which is still fairly fast for me. 2 lap breast stroke (2:44), then a series of freestyle 'sprints' - (50 yd - 57") (100 yd - 1:47) and (50 yd - :49)

Swinney Lap Swim by daskaff at Garmin Connect - Details

Sunday Feb 20 - 5.1 mile run in the hills of Platte Brooke North. It's pretty windy but in the 50s so I got to run in shorts and a long-sleeved shirt...in mid-February. WTF? The first mile is relatively flat on the trail. Miles 2-4 have giant hills that are a real struggle. Mile 3 has the absurd 130 foot climb in 0.4 miles, which I have yet to be able to run through. Overall, a decent run and my back feels alright. Last time I did this run, my back felt like shit and I couldn't run for at least a week.

Platte Brooke North Trail Run + Hills by daskaff at Garmin Connect - Details

Week 2


Monday Feb 21 - Basketball was back on this week. 90 min. Ended up guarding only much smaller opponents, which ended up putting a lot of pressure on my ankles, chasing guards around the court. Probably had my best performance (offensively especially) of my life... until the next to last game, when I pulled down a rebound, faked a shot to get a defender in the air, then raised to take the shot only to have the faked-out defender came down on my shoulders on my way up... re-fucking up my back. I managed to finish the day but suffered the rest of the day, having to shuffle my way through the rest of the work day - still worth it though.


Tuesday Feb 22 - Rest. Walking better, back improving.


Wednesday Feb 23 - Rest. Feeling at least 90%


Thursday Feb 24 - 30 minute shoot around before rec-league game. Ankles feel fine, back is somewhat weak, but good enough to play in the night game (last of the season). Played the rec-league game but my back tightened up early and got worse as the game went on. Pushed through it, but definitely needs some rest to heal.


Friday Feb 25 - Rest (lame). I wanted to run, but I know damn well that a run will only make my back worse... and the weather is ultra-shitty, so outdoor run is not possible (and I'm still too heavy for treadmill run, so that's pretty much that).


Saturday Feb 26 - Rest - Back is feeling better but will wait until at least mid-next week to run again. Both ankles have healed.


Sunday Feb 27 - Reluctantly resting again. Lame. Training is not getting off to a good start. I've already postponed starting training because of injuries about seven times already in the last two months. And guess what... another injury. Not happy.

6 comments:

Gina said...

A little birdy told me about your triathlon training! Good luck!! Looking forward to seeing how you progress in the coming weeks. I'll be checking back here. No pressure. : )

Steven said...

Hey that sounds like more activity than I've had in a year!

Maybe you could try some low impact stuff until you feel better / when you have minor injuries. Maybe stationary bike, or some aerobic workout DVD type thingy. I am trying to ease back into exercising by doing the "30 day shred" dvd. Kim probably has some better suggestions for you.

Andrew said...

Gina - Thanks for the support! I'm glad to hear that news of my training has made it all the way to NY before I posted about it. I'm pretty sure that progress is going to be slow, so maybe keep expectations to a minimum. Haha!

Steven - Easing in to exercising by doing the 30 day shred? Why don't you just start with the P90X to ease into it? Ha! You are right, I should be doing more low impact stuff, but I'm stubborn... as you are probably already aware.

Steven said...

I am only doing the 30 day shred 2 or 3 times a week. I'm lazy. I'll get back into it eventually. I DID do Ab Ripper X the other day and actually didn't do too bad! I was surprised.

kilax said...

I am sorry some f*cktard messed up your back again (during that game). How is it feeling now?

You and I are totally going to dominate that 130' hill the next time we are there. D-O-M-I-N-A-T-E.

I like reading about your training! Keep and coming. And yeah - low impact - swim and bike. You can catch up on the running!

Andrew said...

Steven - The 30-Day Shred only 2-3 times a week? At that pace it'll be more like the 75-Day Pseudo-Shred? I did Ab Ripper X yesterday... and to avoid being in absolute pain, I only did about 1/3 of it... and I'm sore anyway.

kilax - That kind of stuff happens in basketball, it's not really anyone's fault. But with a few extra days off, it's feeling pretty damned good now.
Ugh, that hill sucks so bad. It's still killing me, but it's conquerable.
Yeah, yeah... low impact... blah, blah. Problem is, with a sore back, you really can't do much of anything... except bitch and moan, which, I might add... I can do rather well.