Half Ironman Training: Week #1
My first week of half Ironman training for the Beach2Battleship Half Ironman is in the books. (To see more about my half Ironman training plan, click here.) Although I had to miss several of the prescribed workouts due to my schedule and travel, I feel good about the 5 days of work I got in and for doing 4 of the 5 workouts in the morning before 8 a.m.
Here is what the week looked like.
Monday
Monday is always a rest day in my training schedule, but since I was going out of town on Friday morning, I started the week of workouts on Monday to use my rest day on the weekend while I was gone.
Swam 1,500 meters:
300-meter warm up
8 x 25-meter drills with 10 seconds rest between each
5 x 100 at moderate intensity with 5 seconds rest between each
8 x 25-meter kick only with 15 seconds rest between each
300-meter cool down
I was supposed to get in an hour on the bike on Monday evening, but since I had biked for an hour and 10 minutes the day before, I was content with just the swim.
Tuesday
Ran: 4.17 miles with 6 x 30-second sprints during the middle part of the run (My plan called for a 30-minute run. I ran for about 36 minutes.) It was 90 degrees outside so this run felt tougher than it was.
Strength trained (1 hour): Kettle bell workout focusing on Turkish get ups:
Wednesday
Brick: Biked and ran
11-mile bike on the trainer (45 minutes)
I watched the most recent episode of the Real Housewives of Orange County to pass the time. (My guilty pleasure!)
I followed my bike ride up immediately with a 2.2-mile run. My plan called for a 15 minute run. I ran for about 18 minutes.
Thursday
Swam 1,450 meters:
300-meter warm up
8 x 25-meter drills with 10 seconds rest between each
4 x 100 meters building and descending with 5 seconds rest between each
8 x 25-meter kick only with 15 seconds rest between each
350-meter cool down
Friday
Biked 1:10 (24 miles) on an indoor spin bike
I woke up at 4:45 a.m. to get this in before an 8:50 a.m. flight to New York. Ideally this would have been a 90-minute ride and 30-minute run, but I was glad to get this in with my limited schedule.
Saturday and Sunday
I was at a bachelorette party in the Hamptons in New York and was not able to work out due to our schedule and traveling. The workouts I missed were a 1,600-meter swim and 1-hour run. Although I’m bummed I wasn’t able to perfectly follow my training plan during week #1, the weekend off will motivate me to have a great week of workouts this week.
My mileage was low this week since I missed 2 runs, 2 bikes and a swim (sad face). I did 6 workouts for a total of about 43 miles. I’m quite embarrassed about my running mileage. *Eek.*
- Swim: 2,950 meters (missed 1 swim)
- Bike: 35 miles (missed 2 bikes)
- Run: 6.37 (missed 2 runs)
- Strength training: 1 hour (missed 1 strength training session)
My goal for this week is to follow my plan strictly and not miss any workouts.
How did your workouts go last week? Do you stick to your training schedule exactly, or do you change things up to fit workouts in where you can?
Comments
I think you still had a good week. It’s hard to get workouts in when you’re traveling and things aren’t setup to be a workout heavy weekend. I had the same issue when we went to the beach two weeks ago. You’ll make up for it. I am planning to do Miami 70.3 and won’t even start training until July 1 (I don’t think). I’m just base building now on the bike and swim. You’re going to be great! And are you following the workout from the book you said (Ironman 70.3 training level 5/6) exactly? I’m wondering if I should do that (but at a lower level) or modify it a little bit…
Hi Meghan! Thanks so much for all your encouragement! I really appreciate it. I’m excited for you to start your training as well! I am following the level 5 plan exactly, but will likely begin modifying some runs based on the Run Less Run Faster plan (which provides more detailed workouts for speed and also a bit longer mileage). Since this is your first half Ironman, I would definitely recommend one of the lower levels. Maybe level 2-3? Keep me posted on how everything goes for you! Have a great training week ahead!
Last week went alright. Jury duty caused me to miss a day but I made up some of the cross training mileage here and there. Completely skipped a Pilates session and a weights session. Usually I stick to the schedule but I will switch days around if I’m particularly busy or the weather doesn’t want to cooperate.
That’s awesome that you’re training for a tri! 🙂 good luck!
Sounds like you had a good week, Joanna! Doing what we can when we can is the best we can hope for sometimes. Have a great workout week ahead!
I switch up my workouts to fit my schedule and I unfortunately only got in 16 miles instead of the 20 for the week that I had planned because I overslept on Saturday and missed my workout window. Oops! I’m not training for anything right now though, so it’s okay and I plan on doing better this week. Between yesterday and today, I’m at 5.5 miles for the week. So let’s keep up the momentum…. I know that’s not a lot to start, but it’s definitely a good foundation for a good running week!
I managed to get all of my workouts in, but I did need to move things around and make adjustments. That’s how it goes, though. Just part of balancing life and training 🙂
I’m not on a training plan so I didn’t really have anything to compare but I do try to stick to one that’s in my head 😉
Great week of workouts! I think training plans are always going to be bent slightly because life needs to be lived. You just have to bend it to your own routine and commitments.
I try and follow a rough routine when I’m training for a race but usually Im never able to stick to it perfectly. It’s just life!
Great work! Turkish getups are tough but once you get the hang of them they are a fantastic exercise! Managed to stick to my training last week (for once!) I refused to let work get in the way!
That’s still a great week! I will have to check out that triathlon book. I created my own plan for the Augusta 70.3 based off of my Florida 70.3 trial and error. All my running workouts are straight from ‘Run Less Run Faster,’ and for biking and swimming I have changed the focus to time versus mileage, weekly frequency, and including speed/tempo to ensure a quality workout. I’ve also signed up to receive free body weight workout e-mails from bodeefit.com for strength training at home to make sure I don’t have any excuse to skip it, even when I can’t make it to the gym. 🙂
Awesome, Amber! It sounds like you really have a solid plan and focus. I do recommend checking out the book. It may help a little with the frequency part. It has me swimming and biking more than I did when I trained for Augusta last year. 4 days on the bike makes me a bit green, but I know it will pay off 🙂 Happy training.
Pretty good week considering your schedule! I am not currently training for anything so I don’t have a real plan but I have managed to get in a workout everyday 🙂
Still an Awesome week! It’s only week 1… Nothing to be worried about!
I had a great work out week..it was my last big week/weekend for my A race! I am officially in taper now and feeling good!
I shuffle work outs if need be! No biggie!