Well, week seven of Endurance Nation triathlon training is in the books! I’m not sure why, but this seemed like a particularly long week.

I did my Sunday ride on Friday so that I could have a day off and I missed a swim during the week. So Saturday was a FULL day of swim, bike and run. The swim I had to make up was a 260o meter workout with a bunch of 300′s and 50′s. A couple of hours after completing the swim I managed to sneak in the three hour bike ride (all done on the trainer!) and then had a GREAT brick run of half an hour.

Hope your training is going well.

In going through the Endurance Nation triathlon training, I have to say that I consider cycling to be my weakest sport. So when Saturday rolls around and I know it’s going to be a big day of intervals on the bike…I get a little cranky.

This past Saturday, the end of week six, called for a 2.5 hour ride with a good majority of that spent around zone 4/5 (1/2 hour) and some zone 3 (one hour). Because I am not using a power meter, just HR, it’s hard to tell the progress I am making.

However, when I got off the bike and did the twenty minute run, I felt GREAT!

Well, yesterday was Thanksgiving in the U.S. and it also included a full day of endurance nation training. Having missed my swim the previous day, that meant I would have to double up on 2500 yards of swimming and an hour and twenty-five minutes of running.

The main sets of my endurance nation Thanksgiving training extravaganza were as follows:

Swim - After a warm-up the main set was – 3 x 100 (1st easy, 2nd a little harder, 3rd race pace – 5 seconds) and repeated two more times for a total of 9×100; 1 x 100 sprint; 2 x 300; and 4 x 25 at a sprint.

Run – Warm-up 15 minutes in Z1; 25 minutes Z2; 10 minutes easy; 2 x 10 minutes at Z3 (w/5 min easy between); remainder of workout in Z2.

I can’t think of a better way to stave off the Holiday pounds! Hope you’re training is going well.

Well, it’s week five of endurance nation triathlon training for Ironman San Juan 70.3 and after a day of rest this past Sunday, I’m looking forward to a week of smashing myself.

Today, Monday, included a pretty light swim of 2800 meters and I might actually throw in a couple of extra swims this week just to try and improve my fitness. And I’m really looking forward to biking and running in the days ahead.

In 70.3 San Juan news, Ironman  World Champ Chris McCormack is slated to compete in the event this March and rumor has it that one Juan Pelota, aka Lance Armstrong, will be racing as well.

Hope you have a great week of training!

The Endurance Nation triathlon training got a bit more challenging this week (not that it hasn’t been challenging before!) as the plan called for lactate threshold testing in both the bike and run.

After participating in an Olympic triathlon this past weekend, my timing was probably not that great as my legs feel dead. However, I thought I could get a good sense of where my fitness is after almost four weeks and went ahead and did the 40 minute hard bike ride (on the trainer) and ran the 5k.

My HR numbers weren’t great 145 LTH on the bike and 157 LTH on the run. Next I will plug the information into the Endurance Nation data tool to see where my cycling and run pacing should be.

Hope your training is going well!

This week begins my fourth week of half Ironman training with the Endurance Nation plan. Monday was a scheduled day off and I am also taking Tuesday off because I decided to test my fitness (after three weeks of training) and compete in an Olympic distance triathlon this past weekend.

Well, it was supposed to be an Olympic triathlon but it actually turned out to be further in distance in both the bike (26.5 miles) and the run (7 miles). Considering the winner finished in 2:21:37 I wasn’t too disappointed with my 2:44:11. However, I was really hoping for official distances because I wanted to go under/around 2:30 and I had planned to use the results as my time trial data for Endurance Nation. There’s always next month…

Hope your training is going well!

Man, Thursday was a long day! When it comes to triathlon training, we are all short of time. And trying to find the hours in the day to train properly can be difficult to say the least.

For the coming weekend I’ve decided to do an Olympic distance triathlon,  which means I had to move my Sunday long ride to Thursday and needed to fit in a long a run as well.

Unfortunately, my schedule on Thursday was going to be packed. Thus, I found myself getting up at 3:30am so that I could get on the bike trainer at 4:00a.m. for the two hour ride.

Once the ride was done, my workday promptly began and it was booked solid until 5:00 p.m. After a bit of a break, I managed to get to my one hour and twenty minute run done in the dark…

Hope your training is going well.

Well, I’ve just completed my first Endurance Nation “pain cave” cycling workout and it was a great intro for what I am in for over the next twenty weeks as I prepare for Ironman 70.3 San Juan.

When I looked at the plan I didn’t think that an hour seemed like much time, but the three sessions of zone 4 work certainly got my HR up.

Even though I am early on in my half Ironman training, so far I would have to say (for people with limited time) the Endurance Nation plan certainly delivers.

Are you thinking about training for a triathlon?

About twenty years ago I started running. Not competitively, but for exercise and to lose weight. Running has been a passion of mine for years, and as a form of injury prevention,  recently I have made the transition to triathlon.

To be honest, I have not really done much working out during the past month as I was away on vacation (read: eating and drinking too much!).

However, having completed numerous Olympic and Sprint tris, this is week one of my Endurance Nation triathlon training as I get ready for Ironman 70.3 San Juan, Puerto Rico. And I just completed my first Tuesday (trail) run under the EN half Ironman training plan. The run was only for an hour but the zone four work (2 x 1 miles at Z4) had me begging for mercy.

Now I’m off for a date with the foam roller because tomorrow is a brick workout.

For some strange reason, many triathletes FEAR the swim more than any other portion of the race.

If you’re not a strong swimmer or if you’re afraid of the open water, then I would recommend that you take a look at either the Total Immersion Book or Total Immersion DVD. I have always felt quite comfortable in the ocean and open water, but when I started swim training for my first triathlon I never actually realized just how much technique is involved.

Terry Laughlin, creator of Total Immersion, certainly has his critics, but for learning the basics of freestyle swimming, workout drills and proper technique the Total Immersion program is a great place to start.

With respect to the Endurance Nation plan, the first weeks swimming is fairly light at approximately 1800 yards per session. I am never going to be a “competitive” swimmer and I’m quite content to finish as close to front of the middle of the pack guys as I can.

My main goal with triathlon swimming is to achieve and maintain some level of fitness. Especially when it’s so difficult (time consuming!) to knock off 5-10 minutes in the swim and most of my Olympic distance times have been in the 25 min range.