OK my Lee’s Summit fitness friends…here is a wrap up of my first triathlon training.
I tried something new to fill my competitive drive and love of fitness, a sprint triathlon (500m swim, 11 mile bike, 3 mile run). A friend asked me to do the Matt Mason Cowboy Up Triathlon at Smithville Lake. I’m not a runner, not a swimmer, and an occasional biker. I can say by the time of the triathlon I was not just all three, but a triathlete as well.
My first step was to figure out how to train for this event. It was definitely a step out of my comfort zone of weight training and cardio. So I found a 10 week training program. There were many different variations. But, the one I chose fit my schedule and interest. So I printed it out and put it into action. My schedule changes, so each week I would put the different workouts into my Google calendar. This training program started me at a 20 minute run (which I could do) and worked up to a 50 minute run (which I dreaded, but it wasn’t bad). The plan gradually added time to the swim, bike and run workouts. The workouts I grew to love the most were the Brick workouts. This combined two in one. Example 30 min bike, 20 min run. These defiantly pushed my endurance training to a new level.
During my 10 week triathlon training, I continued to weight train. But, I shortened my time in the weight room. Since we have our own personal training studio, it is convenient to get my workouts in whenever I want. I started with 3 days and ended with 2 days, still doing split body workouts, just less time. My goal was to maintain muscle, not build. I definitely didn’t want to be sore leading into a long brick workout. Since the focus was the triathlon, I made my training focus there. You could say I spent my Summer “on the streets of Lee’s Summit.” Literally…running and biking the streets of Downtown Lee’s Summit and Longview.
My biking experience had been mountain biking and taking my hybrid on quick bike rides, usually sidewalk riding. But, I realized that wasn’t going to work for this training. So, I went to Bike Stop to get a road bike. Well, I now love road biking. It is my cardio of choice. I am fortunate that there are many great spots to ride. From our studio in Downtown Lee’s Summit, I can get on roads that had road diets to add in bike lanes. Also, from our house I can get to the Rock Island Trail or more paved bike lanes.
The 10 weeks of training did take place during the summer. In Missouri, that can be brutally hot. It was hot for some of the time, but then cooled off a bit for race day. During the heat I did make sure to stay hydrated. 99% of my run and bike training was done in the morning. One to beat the heat, two…I’m just a morning workout person. I would make sure to drink water before I went out to train, take 1-2 water bottles on my bike ride, and leave a water bottle outside on my run. Besides water, I would sometimes use electrolytes (contain sodium, potassium, and other essential electrolytes that we lose when we sweat). But not just a Gatorade, I would take a sugar free electrolyte drink, unless I was out for more than an hour. Then I would make a bottle of sugar free electrolytes and Glycofeed. This would give me some nutrients to finish my training. Also, I would make sure to eat some protein and carbs after my workout/training. My favorite was a smoothie with 1/2 c frozen berries, 1 scoop Titan Isolate Whey Cherry Bomb Berry, 1 scoop Titan PurGreens, ½ c oatmeal, 1 c water. This would blend into a tasty and refreshing post-workout meal.
After all of the 10 weeks of training and preparing, I felt ready to go. I never thought going out for 1.5 hours of endurance training would be my thing,
but I enjoyed it. I made sure to have everything loaded up and ready to go the night before the race, since I needed to leave by 4:30am. I arrived to a very well organized race. The staff and volunteers helped direct 600 athletes and spectators. I finished all three intervals of the race in the times I thought I would, even placed 5th in my age group. Competing in the triathlon was something different. I would definitely do another one. For anyone thinking of doing one, plan on taking some time to train and fuel your workouts!
So go swim…bike…run!!