Day #2, Week #1: Sprints at Dawn

One of the beach boardwalks is perfect for my sprints

OFF TO a good early start today with a triple session from the new training programme. Sprints at dawn following my intermittent fast and I'm focused once again (Monday's are intermittent fasting days for the next 6 weeks).

I performed 15 x 100 metre sprints along one of the boardwalks on Playa Naufragos. I haven't done sprints for a while, my legs were a little sore afterwards.

Followed the sprints with an ab workout then jogged back to the apartment to put on my wet suit for a swim. I worked on my stroke technique with snorkel, paddles and fins for 4 x 350 metre laps in the marina paying special attention to the left arm position not crossing over my body on the pull.

In the evening out on the bike for intervals along the RSK Kanaltempo (the service road between San Miguel de Salinas and Villamartin).

Day #1, Week #1: Starting A New Training Programme

ENOUGH OF this doing triathlons for triathlons sake and "been there, done that" mind set.... time to get serious.

Starting today I'm committing to a new competitive attitude together with a 14 week training programme for the TriWhite Cup sprint triathlon on 4th October in San Javier. My goal is to challenge the age groupers in my class, drastically improve my fitness level, and post a competitive time.

Monday's are rest days, and for the next 6 weeks (base training phase) on Monday's I will incorporate intermittent fasting to help reduce my body fat percentage down to a lower athletic figure. The goal is to be under 10% by race day.

This mornings weigh-in

Swim drills + bike ride

AN EARLY morning swim in the marina practicing my stroke technique with drills for about 1500 metres, followed by some breakfast and then out on the bike for a casual ride along the coast with the missus for 23.5 km.

Running with Strava

WHAT IS the best running app?  I started using Strava for running this morning to compare with Nike+. One immediate advantage over Nike+ for bloggers is that you can get an embed code of your run. I ran a PB in the process at 28 min 42 sec, my fist sub 29 5k.

Calculating my Functional Threshold Heart Rate

TRAINING PEAKS explains "Your threshold heart rate will be the average heart rate from a recent intense race or very hard interval from a training ride, where you spent 45-60 minutes in duration at an all out effort."

Using a Polar FT7 Heart Rate Monitor I rode 60 minutes hard along the canal service road between Villamartin and San Miguel six times.  My average speed was about 31 km/hr and my average heart rate was 138 bpm.

Return to Training

AFTER THREE days of complete rest following my second sprint triathlon last Sunday I returned to training in the the pool today at the CDM Orihuela Costa 25 metre indoor pool in Playa Flamenca. I will have to use this facility for my next event because the 50 metre pool in Torrevieja is closed until September.

I performed a 400 m and 200 m time trial, to calculator my CSS (Critial Swim Speed) pace, 400 m at 11 min 12 sec and 200 m at 4 min 56 sec. CCS pace = 3:08/100 m .... that's slow!

The next event that I plan to enter is the TriWhite Cup sprint triathlon on Sunday 4th October in San Javier. With two sprint triathlons under my belt I now know I need to drastically improve on my swimming and running. So I'm setting some goals and implementing a training programme over the coming weeks to meet those goals.

Initial goal for August 1st:

Swim: 1000 m non-stop, 750 m under 20 min

Bike: 20 k under 38 min

Run: 5 k under 27 min

Intermediate goal for September 9th (my 59th birthday)

Swim: 1500 m non-stop, 750 m under 18 min

Bike: 20 k under 36 min

Run: 5 k under 25 min

Race day goal for October 4th

Race time: under 1 hr 30 min, to be estimated better nearer the event.

Race Day at Torrevieja

 

 

Swim: 00:23:05 - T1: 00:02:44 - Bike: 00:35:02 - T2: 00:02:47 - Run: 00:39:36 - Time: 01:43:14