Mini Triathlon Training

After spending essentially a full year swimming, biking and running, I definitely wanted a break from triathlon after the Ironman. My motivation to get back in the pool or on the bike has been low. Running, my favorite of the three sports, hasn’t been coming easily recently either. To be honest, I’ve been in quite a triathlon slump.

However, with a sprint triathlon rapidly approaching, I knew last week after AFC that it was finally time to get back into training, even if it was just for the two and a half weeks until race day. So last Monday, the day after AFC, I headed to the gym to get in some laps. I discovered very quickly that arriving at the pool at 5:30 on a Monday evening was not smart. I had to wait for about 15 minutes for one of the three lanes to open up. Once I was in I figured I better at least get a half hour of swimming in to make up for the wait.

If someone could have listened to my thoughts throughout the 1,500 yard swim, they may have thought I was bi-polar.

• First 50 yards – Oh yeah this feels great! I missed this!
• 2nd 50 yards – Slowing down already!? I’m a wreck!
• Next 100 yards – How will I ever make it 1,500 yards?
• Next 100 yards – Breaststroke makes everything better.
• 5 x 100 yards – Ok I can do this. This isn’t so bad.
• 100 yards of breaststroke – I wish this stroke was as fast as freestyle.
• 5 x 100 yards – This feels pretty good. Maybe I should go back to Masters swim!
• 1 x 100 yard cooldown – Thank god it’s over. How did I ever swim 4,000 yards in one workout?!

So, my first pool session was a semi-success. At least I got through it! On Wednesday I got up long before dawn for a 5:45 spin class. This is the 5th time I’ve been to a spin class post Ironman and I’ve actually been enjoying the classes, after I curse the world when  my alarm goes off of course. I have a couple of friends that also go to the class and knowing they will be there definitely motivates me to get out of bed. Although I didn’t use spin classes in my training for Ironman, I’m ok spinning instead of riding my bike for the upcoming sprint since I’m taking it less seriously. After spin, I got back in the pool for 1,000 yards of swimming. Once again, I met the self-professed inventor of Masters Swim who told me that my form needs work (although he did tell me that my breaststroke is fantastic and that I should join a Masters program and compete).

The real test was when I actually got back on my tri bike on Saturday! Friday night Mike put the pedals back on my lonely bike, Rory, and Saturday morning I packed him up and met up with Asia and Jeremy in Oceanside. We wanted to avoid a lot of stop lights (and Leucadia where Asia had her bike crash) so we decided to ride on base in Camp Pendleton.

Asia was told to ride 2 hours (or 4 if her foot was feeling ok) and I figured 2 hours was a good amount of time. I rode with Asia for the majority of the first half. After we met up at the bathroom at about the halfway point, I headed out on my own to try out a 12 mile time trial. The upcoming triathlon’s bike portion is 12 miles and since it has been so long since I raced a short race, I wasn’t really sure what kind of pace I could sustain for 12 miles. I pushed it pretty hard for the next 12 miles, keeping my heart rate in Zone 3 for most of the time. I had fun passing some guys out there and laughed when one tried to pass me back but then I dropped him again. Obviously I can’t sustain that pace for very long  but it was fun to ride hard for 12 miles. Once I was finished with my mini time trial I happened to run into Asia and we rode the rest of the way together. In total I got in 33 miles of riding and felt pretty good about it. I had planned to run afterward but the adventure to Oceanside took longer than expected and I had to get back home to get ready for a wedding so I skipped it.

Despite a pretty successful first week back into triathlon training, this week isn’t looking so great. I started this week already with a sore throat paired with lethargy so I’m not sure how the rest of the week will turn out. At the end of the day, I plan to go out and do the sprint and have fun with no expectations for time or age group placement. Of course I’d love to do well but I also know that I’m not as prepared as I could be. But that’s ok too!

Here are some fun pictures from the wedding we attended this weekend!