Since I started doing the 3 sports that make up a triathlon last year in April, I immediately jumped to the goal of doing a Half Ironman. A Sprint tri just didn't do it for me. I finished feeling like I could've done more miles on each! But then we moved to San Antonio for the summer, came back & got acclimated to like at home, marathon training started...and pretty soon I lost the bike & swim.
But I've decided I really want to go for it this October! The only limiting factor is the price. It's a $200 race entry. Plus $15 USAT fee. Plus a hotel for the night. Plus I assume there will be bike repairs that come along the way. And I'll probably need to get a tri-suit. And, well, money doesn't grow on trees.
For the time being, I'm going to try. I mean Tri! I also have to put weight lifting on the back-burner for this, as there just aren't enough hours/days in the week!
The hardest part for me is the bike. I will really struggle having my butt in that seat for 56 miles!!
For those of you who don't know - a Half Ironman consists of 1.2 mile open water swim, 56 mile bike ride, and 13.1 mile run!
The training consists of obviously getting strong in the 3 sports. The transition is also important, as your muscles need to get used to switching sports. So throughout my training, I will focus on "Brick workouts" - a brick is where you combine 2 of the sports (swim/bike, or swim/run, or bike/run).
Being I have a full time job, a social life, and a life in general -- I had to find a training plan that is realistic. And I'm kind of modifying it myself, as well. Some of the training plans have you training in the morning and night - and that's just not realistic for me!
Here was my week 1 workouts:
Monday: AM Brick - 1 mile swim (w/ drills incorporated) - 20 mile bike
Tuesday: AM 7 mile run (burpee/pushup/pullup/squat drill afterward)
Wednesday: AM 17 mile bike ride (1 hour 10 min)
Thursday: AM 4 mile speed workout
Friday: AM 7.3 mile hill run
Saturday: AM Brick - 15 mile bike - 5 mile run
Sunday: Rest & hydrate!!!
But I've decided I really want to go for it this October! The only limiting factor is the price. It's a $200 race entry. Plus $15 USAT fee. Plus a hotel for the night. Plus I assume there will be bike repairs that come along the way. And I'll probably need to get a tri-suit. And, well, money doesn't grow on trees.
For the time being, I'm going to try. I mean Tri! I also have to put weight lifting on the back-burner for this, as there just aren't enough hours/days in the week!
The hardest part for me is the bike. I will really struggle having my butt in that seat for 56 miles!!
For those of you who don't know - a Half Ironman consists of 1.2 mile open water swim, 56 mile bike ride, and 13.1 mile run!
The training consists of obviously getting strong in the 3 sports. The transition is also important, as your muscles need to get used to switching sports. So throughout my training, I will focus on "Brick workouts" - a brick is where you combine 2 of the sports (swim/bike, or swim/run, or bike/run).
Being I have a full time job, a social life, and a life in general -- I had to find a training plan that is realistic. And I'm kind of modifying it myself, as well. Some of the training plans have you training in the morning and night - and that's just not realistic for me!
Here was my week 1 workouts:
Monday: AM Brick - 1 mile swim (w/ drills incorporated) - 20 mile bike
Tuesday: AM 7 mile run (burpee/pushup/pullup/squat drill afterward)
Wednesday: AM 17 mile bike ride (1 hour 10 min)
Thursday: AM 4 mile speed workout
Friday: AM 7.3 mile hill run
Saturday: AM Brick - 15 mile bike - 5 mile run
Sunday: Rest & hydrate!!!
Comments
I'm excited you can work on your swimming when you get to MN! The lake is calling your name!