Weekly workout log for Feb. 5-11, 2007

Had a bit of a cut-back week this past week in my triathlon training. My body was feeling exhausted, so I didn't do as many workouts as I've been doing lately. Still a good week, and I'm proud of my progress. I think my swimming is coming along fine, although I could use some work on the bike. I had a planned bike ride on Sunday morning, but had a flat. Tried to patch it, but it didn't work for some reason (need to practice that) and so I gave up and went for a run instead.

• Mon., Feb. 5: evening: ran 4.5 miles (including 5 intervals of 800m).
• Tue., Feb. 6: morning: rode bike to work (10 miles, 45 minutes); evening: swam 1,100 yards.
• Wed., Feb. 7: evening: rode bike home (10 miles, 1 hr - up hill!).
• Thu., Feb. 8: evening: ran 2.5 miles (including hard mile in middle).
• Fri., Feb. 9: evening: swam 1,000 yards.
• Sun., Feb. 11: morning: ran 4.5 miles; evening: swam in ocean, about 800m.

Weekly Workout Log for Jan. 29-Feb. 4, 2007

I've decided to post a weekly workout log to document my beginner triathlon training. It's been a bit off-and-on, because my body is adjusting to cycling and swimming and all the extra work I'm giving it, but overall I haven't been doing too bad. I'm pretty happy with my progress -- my philosophy is to progress slowly and build up over time.

Here are my workouts for the last week:

• Mon., Jan. 29: morning: strength workout 15mins (50 pushups, 3 sets bicep curls, 1 set crunches); evening: ran 4 miles.
• Tue., Jan. 30: morning: rode bike to work (10 miles, 45 minutes); evening: swam about 900 yards total.
• Wed., Jan. 31: evening: ran 5 miles at the track, include middle 4 miles at tempo pace.
• Thu., Feb. 1: morning: yardwork (1 hr); evening: swam 900 yards.
• Fri., Feb. 2: morning: strength workout (2 sets each bicep curls, shoulder lifts, crunches, 3 sets 15 pushups).
• Sun., Feb. 4: morning: biked 11 miles (including San Ramon hill - very hard!)

Should I do it or should I not?

I recently completed my first triathlon, just a super-sprint one with a 200-meter swim, a 10K bike and a 2-mile run. Pretty easy, unless you're a novice like me.

But I just found out about a swim-run biathlon coming up in about two weeks, and while the 5K run doesn't sound hard at all, the 1-kilometer swim does. That's five times the distance I did in my first triathlon. I don't know if I can do that yet.

Of course, my goal this year is to complete an Olympic-distance triathlon, which has a swim of 1,500-meters, so it would be a good idea for me to try to swim the 1K distance as part of my training.

So I'm torn. I'm not sure what I'll do yet.

First triathlon? Check.

OK, so it was probably the easiest triathlon possible, but I completed the Stick-n-Back Triathlon on January 13. It's a super sprint, with distances of 200m for the swim, 10K (or 6.2 miles) for the bike, and 2 miles for the run.

I started the race pretty nervous, as I was afraid I wouldn't complete even that short race. I have been swimming a couple times a week for about a month now, but I still have no endurance. The swim portion is only 200 meters, but when I tried to do 200 meters without stopping in practice, I was wiped out. In addition, while I knew the 2-mile run wouldn't be a problem, I had ridden my bike exactly once before the race, so that was a big worry.

But when the race started, the swim was actually not as hard as I thought. The main problem was swimming in the middle of a bunch of other people -- you are surrounded by thrashing arms and legs, and it's very common to get kicked in the head (I did, twice) and it's very difficult to get your stroke going when you have no room to maneuver.

The bike leg was harder. I didn't know what gear to use, so I kept changing it to try to find one that was comfortable and yet fast. I never found it. I was pedaling way too hard, and people were shooting by me, looking like they were just out for a nice stroll. I ended up racing a little girl (who did excellent in the race) for most of the bike leg, as we kept shooting past each other. When I finally pulled ahead of her for good, I counted it as a moral victory.

I tried to make up for the time lost in the bike portion with a good run, but the run portion was way too short and my legs were dead in the first mile or so. I finished strong in the last mile, and crossed the finish line to the cheers of the very supportive triathlon community.

Overall, I had a great time. Congrats to all the other finishers, and first-timers, and thanks to the triathlon community for the excellent first race. I'm hooked now.