8 Weeks To Your First Triathlon: Weeks 3 and 4

Holy Lost Time Batman! Robin has been busy. Between last week's birthday shenanigans for my mom and this week's marathon dance recital rehearsals for my daughter, plus the fact that hubby is traveling three out of every four weeks these days (leaving me to fend for the two kids and seventeen animals all by my little ol' self)  I got sidetracked in a major way. Not only that, but when it came to 11:00 every night I actually for once in my life did the sensible thing: I went to sleep instead of staying up and working on my blog.

But what that means is I'm a bit behind in posting my training plan updates, for which I heartily apologize!!  So without further ado, here are weeks three and four in the eight week triathlon training plan.

As always, you can find the whole plan HERE in Google Doc format

The plan in an easy-to-print  2-page table format is here

Week 2 is here.

Week 1 and the plan overview/explanation are here.

WEEK 3


DAY 1: BIKE 7 Miles

DAY 2: SWIM 6 x 100
10 minute warm up
100 Timed Swim (4 lengths of a 25 yard pool) at your medium (distance) pace
5 x 100, rest :60 seconds. Try to hold the same pace per 100 as your first one
10 minute cool down.

DAY 3: RUN 3 x 800 Meters + 1 x 400 Meters
Warm up  with 10 minutes of running or run/walk, do joint rotations
Run: 800 Meters or ½ mile, rest :60 seconds, Run 800 Meters or ½ mile, rest :60 seconds, Run 800 Meters or ½ mile, rest :60 seconds
Cool down with 10 minutes of running/walking
 

DAY 4: SWIM 2 x (200 + 50 Breaststroke) + 2 x 100
10 minute warm up
Today we’re going to add in some breaststroke to our workout. Breaststroke is a great stroke to use for sighting in an open water (lake) swim because you can easily keep your head above water.
200,  rest :60
50 breaststroke, rest :30
200,  rest :60
50 breaststroke, rest :30
2 x 100, rest :30
2 x 100, rest :45
10 minute cool down.

DAY 5: BIKE 8 Miles

DAY 6:  2 x 1200 Meters
Warm up  with 10 minutes of running or run/walk, do joint rotations
Run: 1200 Meters (3 laps of a track, or ¾ mile), rest :90 seconds
Run 1200 Meters, rest 90 seconds
Cool down with 10 minutes of running/walking


DAY 7: REST

WEEK 4

DAY 1: BIKE 9 Miles

DAY 2: 10 Minute Timed Swim
10 minute warm up
Use your watch or the pool clock to time yourself for a 10 minute swim. Count the number of laps you swim in 10 minutes. Write this down in your workout log.
10 minute cool down.

DAY 3: RUN One Mile Timed, plus 2 x 800

Warm  up  with 10 minutes of running or run/walk, do joint rotations
Run: One mile (1600 meters or 4 laps at a track), time your mile with a watch, rest 2 minutes
Then run 800 meters (1/2 mile), rest :60 seconds

Run 800 meters, rest :60 seconds

Cool down with 10 minutes of running/walking
 

DAY 4: SWIM 300 + 2 x 150 + 2 x 100

10 minute warm up
Swim 300 (12 lengths of a 25 yard pool), rest 2 minutes
2 x 150, rest :60
2 x 100, rest :45
10 minute cool down.


DAY 5: BRICK!

BRICK stands for “Bike, Run, ICK! Now you’ll find out why. Hint: Your legs feel funny when you run after biking.

Set up a “transition area” at your house, garage, a track, or even in the back of your car or van, where you have your running gear handy.

Warm up  with 10 minutes of running or run/walk, do joint rotations, then:

Bike 6 miles
Transition to your running gear and lock up or stow your bike
Run 1.5 miles
Cool down with 10 minutes of running/walking


DAY 6 & 7: REST