The Value of Goals

Last year my only goal was to finish an Olympic distance triathlon. Specifically, finish the NYC Triathlon. I had a lot of work to do. I'd never swam other than for recreation. I'd never run after biking. My fitness level was 0. Knowing that I had a lot of work to do, my only plan was to do a lot of work. I ran, I biked, I swam, I went to Crossfit. I did whatever I could whenever I could and I always went for maximum effort. Each workout was an attempt at a personal best with the assumption that I was more fit each day than the last. This assumption was incorrect. In fact, I was creating an increasing amount of fatigue. I'm quickly discovering the disadvantages to the way I approached training last year.

With a plan and clear goals, each workout has a purpose. Right now, coming off a long break and a minor injury, I have an overwhelming urge to run a 5k as fast as I can, or jump on the bike and sprint over the Manhattan bridge. Though it might be fun and a great release of energy, it won't do a whole lot for building the foundation I'm looking to develop in the coming months.

This morning, for the first time ever, I timed my 100m swim at my race pace. I swam like I needed to swim 1500m and recorded the 100m splits a few times. Now, keep in mind, I'm a novice swimmer. My 100m split was 2mins. That puts my 1500m at 30mins. This is bad, but hey, that's my time. Without this embarrassing truth, I wouldn't have a clear goal and therefore a clear direction for my training. My immediate goal is to get my 100m split down to 90sec by March 31st (1500m in 22.5mins). I've got 2.5 more weeks of general fitness building and then a solid 8 weeks of speed and endurance training to achieve my goal.

I'll do time trials this weekend for running, biking, and a Crossfit workout that will serve as a strength test (sets of thrusters/pullups for time, aka: Fran). In the past, all I ever did for running and biking was lay down some miles. This year I'll do drills as well as the long endurance runs. Reps on hills, sprints, intervals, etc... I want to get my race pace on the bike to 25mph and my run to 8min/mi after a 30 mins on the bike. I'll want to boost my 10k run time to something like 45mins. My immediate running goal is much more modest, get my 5k (3miles) down to 22mins by March 31st.

The last goal that will help all the others is to get a handle on nutrition and drop down to 175lbs. I've already shed 6lbs in 2 weeks so I should be able to get to 175 by March 1.

And there you have it, clear cut goals that will help define each workout. I'll do testing every 4 weeks to see how I progress and adjust accordingly. Each workout will then have a clear purpose - speed, endurance, or power or a combo of both. Easy, right?

Preparation to Train

I've divided my training into several phases: Preparation, Base, Build, Peak and Race. The idea is to manage my fitness level so that when the NYC Tri comes along on July 14th, I'm in the best condition possible. Last year, I feel like a peaked early, trained too hard for too long before the race, and burnt out right around race week. I also developed IT Band Syndrome later in the year - basically from not warming up, cooling down, and stretching properly. I couldn't run more than a few yards before my knee was burning in pain. Luckily this occurred right around the holidays so I gave myself an "off season". This year I'll be more careful about building slowly and tapering off correctly while incorporating more rest and recovery.

My "off season" may have seemed like a good idea at the time, but it left me 20lbs above my goal race weight and back to square 1 as far as conditioning goes (I'm 5'10" - 190lbs). The advantage I have over last year is that now I have a plan, I know how to swim (somewhat), and I have a clear picture of my weaknesses. Now, in the Preparation Phase, and for the next 3 weeks I'll slowly building my strength and cardio then ramp it up in Base Phase 1. I'll do 2 strength workouts, 2 swim, 2 bike, and 2 run for the week. Each swim/bike/run will be broken into 1 speed and 1 endurance workout. At the end of 3 weeks, and every 3 weeks from here on, I'll do speed tests in each discipline to gauge my fitness level.

I haven't run since early November when I discovered the injury. Tonight, I run. I'll take it slow (10min/mi +) on a treadmill for 30mins and see how it feels in the morning. I'm looking at the week and it looks full, but totally manageable. I'm also looking forward to steak and scotch Wednesday night with a friend of mine. Just because I obsess about tri-training doesn't mean I have to stop enjoying life! If anything, all this training gives me more energy to spend time with friends and family. I'll be working hard to create a balance between training and real life. I'm not trying to go pro here, just to set a difficult, but reachable goal. In order to reach that goal I'll have to live a happier, healthier lifestyle. And there you have it, that's my motivation.

1 Year Later

I am a novice triathlete. It has been just about 1 year since I started training for my first triathlon. In 2012 I completed 1 Sprint Tri and the Olympic distance NYC Triathlon. Completing the NYC Tri was the single most significant athletic achievement of my life. I also went on to run a half marathon later in the year. Prior to January 2012 I had never swam competitively, run more than 7 miles, or biked more than 20mph. I'll admit it, I was a couch potato. I ate garbage, I drank alot, smoked occasionally and spent alot of time in front of the computer screen. After watching from the sidelines as my wife trained for and completed the NYC Triathlon in 2011, I started thinking more and more about transforming my life.

So here I am a year later. I know I can do the distance. I know how hard it is. I know I can train better. I've just finished laying out my training plan for the year. The Triathlete's Training Bible by Joe Friel is an amazing resource for setting personal goals and then organizing your training appropriately. This year I want to boost my time in all 3 events. Run speed, swimming technique, and biking power are the 3 main areas of focus. The other thing I really need to work on is nutrition. I know little to nothing about what and how much I should be eating. My final goal is to run a half-ironman in the next 3-5 years. From there, who knows?