Just over a month ago, on my first day of vacation, I broke the little toe on my left foot. This has meant that I didn't snap my training lull after a May race. At the time I should have been increasing my training and preparing for the
Maine Sport Triathlon in September, I had to virtually stop training. I booked our accommodation near the event before my injury and the thought of camping there that weekend without racing is eating at me.
So, with 7 weeks until the race, I'm back to training and will be working to make up ground. For the next couple weeks I'll be focusing on the swim and bike portions to give my toe more time to heal before running. I should be fine on the swim as that's my best part of the tri (though sadly the shortest). My goal is to work on improving my cycle time. Given this is the longest part of the race, it offers the best chance for improvement in overall time and I've added
clipless shoes to the mix which should help my control on the bike and hopefully foot strength on the run by taking pressure off my arches during the bike.
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| My open water training spot |
This year I'll be focusing more on brick workouts (swim/bike or bike/run
in a single workout). Last year the plan I used didn't have many
bricks and I found that the transitions were difficult so I'll be
incorporating two per week. I'll also be pushing the endurance pieces
quickly up rather than a gradual incline.
My plan, as it stands, is below. It was constructed based on my experiences and referencing other tri plans for the length of particular workouts during the training period. All elements are in minutes unless otherwise specified. Some plans focus on mileage while others focus on time. For a longer race such as this, I like the time approach as it's about endurance, though I will be tracking my mileage, speed and pace using the Garmin 10 sport watch (more on that another time).
Week of July 20
- Monday:Swim 30
- Tuesday:Bike 45
- Wednesday:Brick Swim 20/ Bike 30
- Thursday:Swim 40
- Friday:Bike 45
- Saturday:Brick Swim 20/ Bike 60
- Sunday: Rest
Week of July 27
- Monday:Swim 40
- Tuesday: Bike 60
- Wednesday:Brick Swim 20/ Bike 45
- Thursday: Swim 30
- Friday:Brick Swim 20/ Bike 60
- Saturday:Bike 75
- Sunday: Rest
Week of August 3
- Monday:Brick Swim 30/ Bike 45
- Tuesday: Run 20
- Wednesday: Bike 75
- Thursday:Run 30
- Friday:Swim 30-45
- Saturday:Brick Swim 20/ Bike 30/ Run 20
- Sunday: Rest
Week of August 10
- Monday: Brick Swim 30/ Bike 45
- Tuesday: Run 30-40
- Wednesday: Bike 90
- Thursday:Run 45
- Friday:Swim 45
- Saturday: Brick Bike 45/ Run 30
- Sunday: Rest
Week of August 17
- Monday:Swim 30
- Tuesday: Bike 105-120
- Wednesday: Run 45
- Thursday: Brick Swim 20/ Bike 45
- Friday:Bike 105-120
- Saturday: Run 60-70
- Sunday: Rest
Week of August 24
- Monday:Swim 20/ Bike 45
- Tuesday: Bike 75
- Wednesday: Run 60
- Thursday:Swim 30
- Friday: Bike 60-75
- Saturday: Run 45
- Sunday: Rest
Week of August 31
- Monday:Brick Swim 20/ Bike 30
- Tuesday:Run 45
- Wednesday:Swim 20
- Thursday: Bike or Run 30
- Friday:Rest
- Saturday: Swim 15 / Run 15
- Sunday: Race Day
