#triathlon blog

[greenironman]

10 good reasons to start another triathlon blog

Starting a new blog is like starting a new cold water swim: it’s fine once you’re in! Hello, everyone, and welcome to Green Iron Man! My name is Vic and I’ll be writing this blog for as long as I’m interested in triathlon, so probably a long time. There are thousands of good triathlon blogs out there – full of guides, articles, videos, and brilliant resources. So why would I want to start another…

[dlakecreates]

Maffetone Method | November Totals | 2013 Goals

November Totals

swim 

11.25k | 7 miles | 6 hours 51 mins

bike

282k | 175.2miles] | 13 hours 35 mins

run

80k | 49.7miles] | 8 hours 22 mins

post workout strength training [light weight | high reps]

2 hours 30 mins

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I said i was going to do this daily, then i realized that’s lame and i should do it weekly, then i realized that’s even more ridiculous so i came to the monthly conclusion… but I didn’t stick to that either. so here is november’s totals/december’s update.

[side note - I’m ditching Strava while I do this new low intensity aerobic base building training.  The Garmin Connect online program is actually more powerful than strava as it shows other sports rather than just cycling/swimming]

Im on about week #11 (as of dec 10). I’ve noticed some prety interesting shit.  i thought i would hit a gain around week 7-8 but it actually happened around week 9. Its actually hard to get my heart rate up to 150 on flats and downhills while cycling. swimming is about the same now that I figured out a new technique/stroke.  I’m also finding it takes a lot of effort to get my hr up.  Running is still hard because im going slower than im used to (my 7;30/mi pace is getting really close but I’m around 8:20/mi pace on flats). Cycling is def the most fun because i can actually go fast without exceeding 150 hr.  i might be adding 1 more cycling per week since i like doing it so much (huge might).

My swimming is improving “heaps” (as the Aussie’s would say).  I read some wrong information online about form/technique that was contradicted by aTriathlon 220 Magazine article I read the other day.  For the last few months I’ve been extending out and gliding my stroke and wondering why I’m so damn slow, but Chrissi Wellington in the article spoke about being in open water and having to have a fast choppy type of stroke (kind of like distance running esp when you get tired… you need to have more of a shorter and choppy step instead of trying to stretch out and coast) to get over dead spots and pauses in the water because of waves, etc.  Makes sense… so I tried it the last swim… wow. Same amount of energy but I was about 4-5 mins faster on my 1k Swim workout. Very interesting. So I’m not as slow as I thought I was in the water.

I found out that squatting a bit more weight weight with the same amount of reps isn’t smart for me.  It’s bad on my right knee, esp when I do a fixed gear ride I have some weird nagging & uncomfortable isues at the ends of my runs.  Def feeling good when I transition to another discipline after doing anything now (swim to run, swim to bike, run to bike, etc.)  The “dead legs” feeling is rarely there even after I’m in the weight room.

Im looking forward to my first proper triathlon on jan 5 (Hills Tri Series in Penrith) as I will still be towards the end of my base period but ill be figuring out the course/strategy/transitions and how to swim in a race in open water (scary larry).  It’s going to be a funny one as it’s an “Enduro” type of race, meaning you will do each displine (swim - bike - run ) twice which also means there will be 5 transitions. hahaha, this is going to be hilarious esp the run to swim part.  I hope no one tries to put their wet suit on after running (#fail).  Really good practice for my transitions (which need help like no other)

My 2013 plan/competition schedule is shaping up to look like this;

Aerobic base until early Feb

Tempo and Speed training from Early Feb to Early April

Maintenance/Aerobic Base for 2 Months

Half Marathon at sub 3 hour marathon pace (sub 1:30 half marathon with low heart rate) in June/July

A few fun Cyclocross Bike Races with hopefully my new self built cross bike (we shall see how the funds are for that) in June/July/August

Another 2-3 months of base from June - August

Duathlon in August and September

Blackmores Sydney Marathon in September and maybe the City to Surf Bondi Beach Run (It’s about 14k or 8.5 ish miles)

Olympic Distance Triathlon in Penright late October

2-3 months of Aerobic Base again from Oct - Dec

2014 looking to do a few Sprint Distance Tri’s and a few Olympic Distances to gear up for a half iron man in 2015…