Triathlon Workout

Since this blog is in theory about my plan to compete in the USAT Championships this summer I thought I should probably report on how I am training to reach this goal.


My primary triathlon coach is Craig Strong. Each week he sends me my weekly training program. I am racing at Lake Havasu on March 21 so Craig adjusts my training regimen as the race approaches.

It’s important not to overtrain and Craig’s workouts always call for a tapering off as the race day approaches.

My training so far this year is more arduous than it was a year ago. Two reasons for that.  First I am participating in the Masters swim program at the Evanston Y (Craig builds that into my program) three mornings a week – and I am pushing myself more than I have in the past. My times are coming down as a result. Now I can sustain workouts at 1:50 per hundred pace for an extended period.

The second addition to my training this year is that through the initiative of my chiropractor Tony Breitbach  (The Wellness Revolution) and Craig Strong there is now a computrainer set up above Tony’s offices and training sessions are held several mornings a week. I work out Wednesday and Friday mornings with a group “ride” managed by Alicia Riggs, who works with Craig.

Here is the workout for the week just ended:

Sunday – Basketball 7 to 9 PM with a group of old guys that I’ve been playing with for the last fifteen years. I guess we weren’t that old when we started.

Monday – Spin 7 am to 7:30; this is just an easy spin to stretch out the sore muscles from basketball the night before;

Monday – Strength Workout – 7:30 to 8 am with Nibra White, my personal trainer at the Y. Nibra varies the workout each week. We focus on core strength and balance.

Tuesday – 6 am to 7:15 am – Master Swim with Craig Strong at the Y. We usually swim about 2,000 yards in combinations of 50s, 100s and 200s and 400s.

Tuesday – 3 pm – one hour run on the treadmill; speed workout on slight incline;

Wednesday – 6 am to 7:15 am – computrainer workout led by Alicia; she mixes it up but everything she comes up with is tough. Lots of intensity. There are usually four or five us riding;

Wednesday – I was supposed to have a strength / stretching workout on my own, but I went to see Tony B. as my neck was stiff. He gave me some exercises to do to help stretch those muscles;

Thursday 6 am to 7:15 am – Masters swim with Joe Agnew;

Thursday 3 pm to 4 pm – Ran outside; after warming up, ran 12 minutes at 85% effort, cruised for 4 minutes and then ran another 12 minutes at 85%; Overall ran about 6 miles at a better than 8 minute pace, which pleased me. I want to be under an 8 minute pace for the Lake Havasu run.

Friday 6 am to 7:15 – Another computrainer workout; this time we did something I thought would be easy; after some warm up riding we did 10 seconds all out and then 20 seconds no pedaling and we repeated that ten times. Then we went 20 seconds all out and 30 seconds easy spin and we repeated that ten times. I was wrong. It wasn’t easy.

Saturday – normally on Saturdays I do a mini-triathlon workout. Masters swim – then a run and then I finish with a spin class with Heather. But today, Craig had me working on transitions. So I swam five minutes in the pool, then ran upstairs in the Y to the spin bike and rode for 15 minutes and then ran 10 minutes on the treadmill. And then I repeated that two more times. It is sort of pain-in-the-ass to have to jump in the pool three times, but it helps get my body used to switching gears from one sport to another.

Saturday Massage – and for my final workout of the week I treated myself to a massage with Arawa. She’s a great masseuse and also a spin instructor at the Y. I’m planning another massage after the Lake Havasu race.

And tomorrow I am going to sleep in. Not get up until 7 am or maybe even 7:30.