Programming for a Triathlon

 Hello Fit Fam,

    

    It has been a while I know! I am in the final stretch of preparing for my first ever half Ironman in October 2022. This has been a LONG time in the making. Three years in the making to be exact! I signed up for Wilmington 70.3 back in 2020. I was all excited to race my first ever half ironman distance race but as we all recall covid hit and the world shutdown. My race got canceled which was disappointing but I knew I was going to get back to it the following year. It was just more time for me to train right....WRONG! I got pregnant in 2020 (YAY!) but that hindered my fitness more than I could have anticipated. My training almost halted in 2021 leading up to my due date. I attempted to stay as active as possible but symptoms and fatigue caused me to slow way down. I was starting from scratch about 6 months out from the race. I had to make the very unfortunate but right decision to postpone once again. I was able to defer one more time to the 2022 race and I am on track and feeling great! My training has been going "smooth" or as smooth as it can go through everyday ups and downs. 

    My life over the last year has looked very different from what it used to be and what I thought it would be. Becoming a stay at home parent has challenged me in ways I never saw coming. It also has granted me some of the greatest moments of my life. I have changed so much for the better and learned more about myself as an individual. I wanted to share how I trained and grew from this experience. As a fitness professional I took it upon myself to make my own training program and do the training on my own for the most part, minus some group rides and swims with my sister. I know this might sound dumb at first to do all this long endurance training on my own with no support or training partners but I have learned although I do enjoy people and being in group settings I thrive a lot when I am on my own. I am able to grow and explore my limits. I also have learned since I am not competitive that I enjoy leisurely training. I don't need to break any records or reach any performance goals other than making it to the finish and completing the total distance. I may be in the minority here but I enjoy the physical activity for what it is...movement. I don't need to be the fastest or have the greatest performance I just want to go the distance, literally, complete every mile that is asked of me, all 70.3!

    So when I started mapping out my training I would create an intended workout plan for the week with flexibility knowing my weeks were never the same and my schedule fluctuated a lot given my daughters sleep schedule and when my family was able to watch her so I could go train. I then would slowly increase my milage/distance each week with a few recovery weeks built in or planned vacations that would mess up my training plans due to equipment availability. I found some weeks I would not get all my workouts in and I would just modify when needed and start back up the following week. I would swap days around if and when I could not get to the pool or running outside was not an options. My favorite modification is when no one was available to watch my daughter I would wait till she went to bed and I would cycle indoors on my trainer as a worst case scenario. 

    In any given week I planned for roughly 7-8 workouts which included: 2 swims, 2 runs, 2 cycles, and a brick (cycle followed by a run), and a bonus swim if I had time. This may seem like a lot but when I scheduled my week out I normally was able to get most if not all of these workouts in. They might have been shorter than I wanted or at weird times of the day based on other factors but I would make it work with my daily life. Here is an example of a weeks training:

    The intention was to stick to this plan as best as possible but we all know life gets in the way and we have to modify often. I made the workouts fit as best as possible into my daily routine but I did have to change plans frequently. I think something I have learned from the best made plans is that modifying has made me more adaptable to challenges. I have still gotten the work in that I need in prep for this race and I am still on track to complete this race in a decent time and with minimal pain. I also have been able to stay healthy through my training and avoiding major injury. I have had some setbacks from being sick but that is to be expected with a 1 year old bringing home all the germs and a husband that works in healthcare also bringing home all the germs!

    I am very excited to see how my training has paid off. I know I could have done more. I know I could be faster. I will not break any records. I will not stand on any podiums other than I one I have built for myself. The podium of completion. I am proud and happy of where I started and where I have come. My journey is not over and there are still a few weeks of training and a race ahead of me. I can visualize the finish line and I am ready to cross it! So hopefully in three weeks I will be writing the update to this post to say I have completed my goal of racing a half Ironman. Until then, I will keep calm and train on!

Keep Calm and Exercise On,

~ Liz ~