Gym Induction / Training Schedule

I had my induction at the gym yesterday evening. The alarmingly young personal trainer (is it me, or does everyone in uniform look younger these days - especially police). The usual measures - height, weight, lungs, body fat, heart rate, BP, etc. As expected, I could do with losing around 1.5 kg (a massive 3lb) before races start, but everything else was just dandy.

Disappointingly, I DIDN’T get to get pushed ’till I dropped on the treadmill, and get the sexier max heart rate, lactate threshold, and VO2max measured. Some communication problems at the gym mean these’ll be done at a later appointment. Sigh!

So for the next three weeks . . .

  • Monday: Swim - 100m intervals
  • Tuesday: Spin class (psycho leader / instructor, who’s just got a new triathlete-specific programme. Lovely)
  • Wednesday: Swim - endurance, 800-2400m
  • Thursday: Run - 1500m intervals
  • Friday: Run - 6-10 miles endurance
  • Saturday / Sunday: Bike - 30-40 miles.
  • Saturday / Sunday: Rest (depends on which day I do the bike)

Additionally, I’ll be doing the 125 miles per fortnight on my bike.

After three weeks of this, I should be in better shape to start some weights work. Never done that. Should be a whole new dimension of ‘fun’….

Filed under: Cycling, Fitness, Running, Swimming, Triathlon

3 Responses to “ Gym Induction / Training Schedule ”

  1. zappoman on January 22, 2007 at 8:54 am

    Hmmm… sounds like a bait and switch on the fancy VO2max test!

    Love the schedule, looks pretty solid… I’m kinda jealous that you’re so organized. Me I’m still just randomly working in all the disciplines.

  2. karlmccracken on January 22, 2007 at 9:32 am

    Yeah, but as the man at the gym was overheard saying to his boss, “you shoulda seen the size of the one that got away!” Similarly, my thinking is that they will give me what was promised . . . . >:-(

    I may be organised enough to write down the schedule, but sticking to it’s a whole other ballgame. Actually, the act of writing it down, and then going public does make it harder to decommit on, which is a very good reason for this post.

    As I was writing it, I was reminded of exactly why triathlon is so hard. The individual elements are easy, but to prepare for them *ALL* takes up a huge chunk of your diary. If you don’t commit some fairly serious time to this, then on race day the combination of three relatively straight forward activities (unless you’re doing Iron Man that is!) can easily wear you down. Even at sprint distace, I’ve seen relatively fit people looking a complete mess by the time they reach the finish line.

  3. zappoman on January 24, 2007 at 6:22 am

    Someone once told me that the other reason triathlon is hard, is that you aren’t *just* preparing for 3 events… but you have to prepare for 1 event which is a combination of three very different activities.

    I have been fortunate in not yet experiencing the “I went too hard on the swim/bike so I just fell apart on the bike/run”… but it happens to the best of them.

    I was definitely thoughtful of this in my first year of triathlon, and I am being as thoughtful as I can about it this year. Which is to say… I’m trying to do bricks more. And as I do my individual workouts I try to visualize (in a whole body sense) that I have already completed an earlier leg or am about to start an upcoming leg of a larger race.

    I swam 1.5 miles today in the pool (55mins) and as I was swimming I kept visualize a T1 in a race. How am I going to take off my wetsuit, run to my bike put on my helmet, start riding, eat, pump those legs, go go go! Of course, as I got out of the water I just showered and drove home. But still I walked through the event in my head a hundred times.