Prep Begins Now - Building Base

While i am still trying to get my buddy to sign up for Ironman NZ in March next year, i think its about time that my training begins. Latest news is that he is keen to do the event with me, i'll just KIV.

This is going to be my event plan leading up the the A-race.

12 Jul 09: Port Dickson OD
1 Aug 09: Desaru HIM
16 Aug 09: AHM
11 Oct 09: Safra Quadthlon
Dec 09: Standchart marathon
Jan 10: ??
Feb 10: ??
Mar 10: Ironman NZ

My first pit stop will be Desaru and i have slightly over 60 days to train for it.

my plan will be as follows:
-first 35 days build base (build up till 2km swim, 90km bike & 21km run)
-next 21days will be speedworks, bricks, longer distances, test nutrition.
-last 7days will be tapering

ok that's all i can think of so far, will refine the plan and share later.

Botanic Gardens Run

Did the botanical garden route today with A*. Total distance covered was 5km. The terrain was mostly flat except in the middle 2.5km point there was a gentle climb. Overall it was a good route to train on. I did it in 25mins with an average heart rate of 90%. Next aim is to do sub 24min. BTW, A* completed the whole 5km run own her own in under 43min which is remarkable improvement. Yay.

My Usual Route

this is another ran route i do frequently which is flat and easy and cover 5km. I did this with A* the other day and she was putting in huge effort and managed to run non stop for 3km for 26 mins. well done! Then we did some easy walking for the rest of the route and completed in 45mins.

Mount Faber Run

went down to mount faber this morning for the first time to do my run. have driven up countless times on my car but today was the first time i went up on foot. So i took it easy and did a comfortable 5km up and down in total. Total time taken was 30:14 with an average heart rate of 163 (85%).

Training Day 2 (21 dec Sunday)

Today is sunday and was supposed to be my lazy day like it had been for the pass weeks. Since i have already started my regime yesterday i intend to keep to it as long as my mind and body allow.

It was suppose to be a 800m swim for me. However, by the time i got to the pool (4pm) it was packed with people. As if the whole of sengkang residents are here. Furthermore, the main pool was cordoned off for some traning and only like 2 lanes were left for the public - how ridiculous. So i decided to do a short bike ride instead since i like to keep my tranining going.

Did a 16km short ride (39min) under the hot sun. Short it may be but the intensity was high as the route was pretty hilly espcially wheni made the u-turn on the way back. I rode out from my place and hit yck road towards causuarina; made a left towards town along thomson road; made another left towards amk just before bishan park; then made a quick left turn to hit the steep ride up shangri-la estate before making my way back to yck road in the opposite direction. Another plus is i got a nice tan due to the strong evening sun and my tri-top print is visible again.

Tml is monday and will be my dedicated recovery day. Hope the coming christmas week will be an easy one on my tummy.

Back to Training - Day 1 (20 Dec Saturday)

I guess its time to start planning for 2009 events. My 'A' race should most likely be Aviva 70.3 on 22 march. So i got down to my laptop and created some excel table with training schedule on it. And it felt really motivating to put my 12 weeks plans down in black and white - you know what i mean. And yes, i went out today start my program leading to the race day.

Day 1
i started easy with a 25km bike (1hr) in the morning. Doing my usual route from home via jln kayu to yishun dam to mandai road and made a u-turn.

later in the evening i did a 6km run (44min) along ecp. started from fort road to mac and back.

Getting Started

I have decided that its time to begin my training for 22 March 2009 Aviva 70.3.

will now embark on a 20 week program. But i'm onlyleft with 18 weeks to go starting from the comin monday.

today i have already done a 25km ride in 1hr 10min. will be heading fo a 7km run later in the evening followed by a 600m swim to get things started. give me luck. cheerios

Quality Training Part 2 : Determine Your Training Zone

In this posting i will continue to write about how to have Quality training for a HIM. The article Jeff Devlin wrote in his website, http://www.jeffdevlin.com/articles/halfiman.php, on Half-Ironman Training was anchored on the base priciple of heart rate training. Again to make things simpler i have done up the below chart to help you determine your training zones, which you will heavly use as a guideline for all your sessions except swim sessions that uses RPE.

Triathletes have limited time to train multiple disciplines in any given week compared to a dedicated runner, swimmer or cyclist. Hence, there is a need to ensure that each and every sessions we have are optimised and could prepare use better for each upcoming event. Of course, for me i'm more interested in the variety this sports could provide me and ultimately some fun with friends.

There are 3 simple steps necessary to find out the zones you should train in so that you spend minimal time to reap maximal results - that's Quality training! The below has been done using my own personal heart rate baselines as an example. Simple formulaes have been created in an excel format, so if you like to have them do drop me an email.

(to view the image, right click and save then open)

Quality Training Part 1 : The Schedule & Workouts

I was trying to find a training program for HIM from the net. Either they were too demanding for a triathlete who holds a full time job; or the training schedules provided were just too complex as they changes from week to week. Either way they weren't very motiviational to start with as they made it looked like a daunting task.

I happen to come by this site, http://www.jeffdevlin.com/articles/halfiman.php, which i think makes lots of sense and most importantly simplified the whole approach to training especially for someone who wants a easy to follow and simplified training program.

Just a little about the article before i go on to dish out the training program. The writer talks about Quality training compared to Quantity training (against building rubbish mileage) and it provides a simplified approach week in week out. The fundamentals of the training was hugely heart rate based - using a heart rate monitor. This is nothing new to many seasoned triathletes i guess. But for amateurs who need some organised training program and has little time left till the next HIM (9 weeks), this is it! Of course, whoevers embarks on the said training program should be fairly fit and has certain amount of base fitness prior.

The write carefully dictate his training sessions in word form, so i took the liberty to simply it further into tables and charts for my own use. In this posting, i have summarise the whole lot of text into easy to understand/use tables to guide you in each session. There are 3 tables below for your use and i will explain what is it use for.

1) TRAINING SCHEDULE - WEEKLY

(to view the image, right click and save then open)

This is basically your weekly training program. Its simple and easy to follow every week as the sessions are fixed. This schedule will require you to put in 10-15 hours per week over 9 sessions. Do not that 3 AB sessions are good to have if time and body (recovery) allows. But minimally you must complete 6 key sessions i.e. 3 AT & 3 LG sessions

INDIVIDUAL WORKOUTS

(to view the image, right click and save then open)

This table basically break down each of the 9 sessions into details based on what you see in the training schedule. Firstly you will 3 sports segmented, then each sports segment is further categorised into LONG session (LG), Anaerobic Threshold (AT) session & Aerobic session (AB). Each session are aimed at achieving different purpose as per below:

1) LG = to build aerobic endurance; just below race pace intensity; teach your body to utilise fats

2) AT = to build your Tempo; race pace intensity; to improve your AT upwards

3) AB = to buid aerobic endurance; lowest intensity; easy mileage

Within each session, i have indicated the duration/distance, training zones (i will talk about this in my next posting) and workout aims (if any).

RATE OF PERCEIVED EXERTION CHART

(to view the image, right click and save then open)

This chart is very useful to help you identify your effort while workinh out. This is especially useful for the swim sessions whereby heart rate monitors are not being utilised to guide your effort.