No Rest for the Wounded August 19, 2007
Posted by chadaustin in Running, Training.add a comment
Despite the lingering soreness from yesterday’s fall in the Ramble Trail 8K, I had to get out the door this morning for my weekly long run. With the Chicago Marathon seven weeks away, I’m entering the peak portion of my training program in which the distances of my weekly long runs build to the 20-mile mark. This morning, I went 16.1 miles in 2 hours, 45 minutes for an average pace of 10:14 per mile. In two weeks, I’ll go 18 miles. In four I’ll go 20. Then it’s a three-week taper before heading to the Windy City.
Ironman in a Month? July 2, 2007
Posted by chadaustin in Training, Triathlon.1 comment so far
Anyone think I can complete an Ironman triathlon in one month’s time? That’s a 2.4 mile swim, a 112-mile bike ride and a 26.2 mile run.
Even though I’m training for the Mission Man Sprint Triathlon scheduled for later this month, ramping up my training to do an Ironman seems a little (OK a lot) ambitious and unrealistic. After all, the Mission Man is a half-mile swim, 15-mile bike ride and a 3.1-mile run.
But what about completing the cumulative Ironman distances in each discipline over the course of one month’s time? I think I can do that, and I’m making that my personal fitness challenge for the month of July.
I actually got the idea while at the Freedom Run 5K in Oakboro over the weekend. A fellow runner was wearing a T-Shirt from an area YMCA which hailed “Ironman in a Month” as its fitness challenge this past April. So the idea was born.
I’m fairly confident I should be able to complete the running and swimming distances. It’s the bike I’m concerned about, since I don’t ride as much as I run and swim.
While 112 miles on the bike in a month seems like a lot to me — especially since I don’t ride a lot — the distance works out to 28 miles a week, which seems do-able. So I’m taking on the “Ironman in a Month” challenge in July. I’ll post updates here to track my progress and keep myself accountable.
Back in the Pool March 7, 2007
Posted by chadaustin in Training, Triathlon.1 comment so far
I’m planning on doing the Mission Man Triathlon again this year, so I’ve deciced to slowly incorporate swimming back into my training regimen. I’ll soon have to add cycling back in the mix as well. So today, I returned to the pool for my first swim workout in seven months. I took it easy with a 400-yard workout, consisting mostly of 25s and 50s.
While I enjoy the variety that multisport training provides, I feel like I need to be a bit smarter about it than I was while training for last year’s Mission Man. Last year, I incorporated swimming and biking into my workout regimen while keeping my running mileage up near my marathon training levels. At times, however, I felt like I overdid it with the swimming and the running, which I feel contributed to some IT band troubles last summer.
This year, my plan is to once again keep my running mileage up for marathons planned for June and October, and add in swimming and biking. This year, however, I’m not going to be so gung-ho about going above and beyond the prescribed training in the tri plan I’m following. If anyone out there has any advice on building a basic sprint triathlon training plan around marathon training, I’d love to hear your advice.
