'11 triathlon pre-season strength/conditioning

[D_51]

8/27

DL: 315 x 5, 5, 5
BP: 185 x 5, 5, 5

Stat Bike: 20min Lev 4 at 95-100rpm
One leg pedal drills: 3 x 30 strokes each leg

Ride felt good, pulse at 135 at 18 minutes in. Breathing was easy throughout.

[D_51]

8/31

Alternated sets
Dips x 10, 10, 10
Chins x 5, 5, 5

Hurricane was awesome, basement flooded, trying to get stuff dried out and back in order. The downside of having your gym in your basement.

[D_51]

9/1

Run: 10k - 50:16

Held an 8:00 to 8:10 pace and heart rate stayed steady between 132 - 136 bpm.

[D_51]

9/3

Alternatied sets of:
Dips x 10, 10, 10
Chins x 5, 5, 5

[D_51]

9/5

Run: 7.25 miles - 58:28

Fairly flat trail run at an 8:04 pace. Heart rate was at 152 throughout, probably a result of two bottles of meade Saturday night, but comfortable for the most part.

[D_51]

I want to close this out and get started on this year's training. I finished the season with a 1/2 marathon, a tri and a 25k run on consecutive weekends. In the weeks leading to these races I did dips and pullups and a few 6 to 8 mile runs. Overall I did well, 1:42:04 for the 1/2 and 2:01:28 for the 25k. I wanted to break 2 hours on the 25k, but it was good enough for 2nd in my age group. I had trouble with the swim and bike in the tri. I am going anaerobic very quickly and burning out fast. My aerobic conditioning is solid based on longer distance performances, but I am lacking muscular/anaerobic endurance for the shorter stuff. Two weeks after the last race I squatted 256x6 and pulled 355x5, so I kept plenty of strength.
So for this year I need to focus more on metcon workouts. In past seasons I did a lot of these instead of strength training and did much better at higher intensities in races. By continuing to train heavier I kept strength, but hurt race performance in the end. This year will need more balance between the two. I'll start my '12 log shortly and it should reflect some learnings from this year, race goals and a yearly plan that includes some peaking for big races.

[medwards]

Thanks for the update. I was worried you weren't going to post anymore. I'm interested in combining strength training with 5Ks and 10Ks, and I'm watching your training like a scientist watches a lab monkey. Except, without the fear of rabies or herpes B.

[D_51]

Cool. I hope some of this has been helpful. This year is going to be a bit more structured.