Triathlon Introduction

Since I've decided to do RAGBRAI(biking) and all these running races, I figured a triathlon is only a little bit extra training(swimming), and since I used to be a pretty good swimmer or at least good enough to teach Red Cross Swimming lessons and be a lifeguard at the good old Chariton Municipal Swimming Pool, I figured my swimming skills would come back to me.

My sister has done a few triathlons and my brother did his first one last year.  Since my brother has decided part of the challenge of a triathlon should be doing it without any training he wasn't going to be any help with setting up my training regiment, so I turned to my sister.

Cassie hooked me up with a couple books (Fitness Swimming, and Strength Training for Triathlons).  The strength training book had a suggested training schedule for a triathlon and I used that to set my schedule for the next 17 weeks.  The swimming workouts/drills I took from the fitness swimming book starting with the green(beginner) workouts and working my way through the purple(intermediate).

If everything goes as planned when the Copper Creek triathlon gets here I will have completed one competitive 5k(River Run), done 4 weeks of initiation work, 8 weeks of base work, 4 weeks of race work, and 1 week of taper.  I've set a very conservative goal of 80 minutes, but deep down I would love to break 70 minutes. 

My goals for each leg are Swimming: 13 minutes for 750m swim that's swimming at 1.04 meters/second, and would put me in the top 75 for that leg based on last years numbers.  Biking 33 minutes: for 20k(12.4 miles) that's riding at 22.5 miles per hour, and would put me in the top 50 for that leg based on last years numbers.  Running: 23 minutes for 5k(3.1 miles) that's running at 8 miles per hour or 7 minute 25 second miles, that would put me in the top 100 for that leg based on last years numbers.  My goal is to keep my transition times down to a total of 3 minutes.  Add that all up and you get 72 minutes, meaning I need to figure out a way to shave 2 minutes off those times.  That's what the next 4 months is about.  I think the running portion gives me the biggest room for improvement.

Tune for updates on the training and race results.