Recommendation for 1/2 IM training.

Mark said:

I absolutely suck at swimming. Have never swam in my life. Am swimming twice a week now but intend
on increasing that to 3 times a week. Initially I couldnt get past the breaststroke. But in the
last two weeks I am swimming front crawl for 90 % of the swim. I perform sets
10x25. 7 times, equating to a mile. My goal has been to string 10 into 20, and eventually 20 to
40, then 40 to 80x25. Not sure if this is a good way to train or not, but I am seeing
improvements everytime I swim as far as endurance.

You sound like you're fine in every respect but this. Get a
coach/class/friend with a clue/masters program to help you with
some swim drills, and with your current aerobic capacity, you'll
be just fine. You just need the technique, and the practice.

You probably want to take the swimming up to 3x/week, though. You should be able to make very
rapid gains.

You might find that you'll benefit by slowly building up to 3 running and biking workouts per
week. Of course, that means you'll also be in the two-a-day workouts range, but it's really not
that bad. 🙂 All depends on how much time and energy you want to throw at it, of course. How much
time per week do you want to throw into your training?

See "the triathlete's training bible" by Joel Friel as a good, comprehensive reference. It doesn't
necessarily spell out "do this workout on this day," but it'll give you the clue you need to plan
and _understand_ your own workouts.

-Dave

--
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not accept unsolicited email. Do not mail me.

You might check out Total Immersion. It's a very effective swim system developed by Terry Laughlin.
Form is everything in swimming. I've been competing in Tri since '97 and had done very little
swimming prior. To this day I still do periodic private lessons with a local swim coach at the Y. At
the 1/2 IM distance, getting through the swim comfortably and as efficiently as possible should be
the goal. Get some formal coaching and definitely check out Total Immersion.

[email hidden] (Mark) wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

This will be my first triathlon. I have chosen a lofty goal of a 1/2 ironman (Pacific Crest in C.
oregon to be exact). I have always been more of an extreme sport athlete rather then a traditional
endurance athlete. Alpine climbing, surfing, mtn biking, snowboarding, and rockclimbing. I have
been running for years for cardio workouts (5-10 miles, twice a week). In the past I have also
seriously trained for road bike large elevation gain century rides. 100+ miles with 6000+
elevation gains.

The 1/2 ironman race is June 30th. I will be attempting an Olympic distance before that on May
30th. Also another century bike ride (6000 ft elevation gain again) on June 8th.

I have been not been training to long, maybe since Jan. I am 5'11 165, slim, 32. I am currently
running twice a week:

1 short run - 5-7 miles 1 long run - 10-15 miles.

I have been in a few half marathon distance races in the last month. Running 8 minute miles or so.

I absolutely suck at swimming. Have never swam in my life. Am swimming twice a week now but intend
on increasing that to 3 times a week. Initially I couldnt get past the breaststroke. But in the
last two weeks I am swimming front crawl for 90 % of the swim. I perform sets
10x25. 7 times, equating to a mile. My goal has been to string 10 into 20, and eventually 20 to
40, then 40 to 80x25. Not sure if this is a good way to train or not, but I am seeing
improvements everytime I swim as far as endurance.

I am biking about twice a week. 10-20 miles of hills. Then 40-60 endurance, with an avg speed of
20+ mph.

I intend on ramping the running up to 20 miles then decreasing back down to 13.1 before the race.

Biking distances will increase as well, with more intense hill workouts. And hopefully within 2
weeks will begin bricklet training
15b/2r or so.

I am doing this triathlon do or die, regardless of the late start in training. I just want to
finish and am competent I can do so. The time might be laughable though. I would be very happy to
finish within 6 hours.

I would say I am a very strong biker, avg runner, and crappy swimmer.

I guess I'm looking for feedback based on what you have read. Training schedules, for swimming,
biking, runnning, times per week, distances/times, how you ramp it up and taper it off before the
race, etc. Any and all comments appreciated. Thanks

Mark

TI is rubbish, Chris and you know it. What does swimming over barrels have to do with swimming fast
in a 1/2 IM? There's a backlash against TI right now and for good reason. It's a waste of money.
Rubbish, I tell you.

[email hidden] (Chris Maginn) wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

You might check out Total Immersion. It's a very effective swim system developed by Terry
Laughlin. Form is everything in swimming. I've been competing in Tri since '97 and had done very
little swimming prior. To this day I still do periodic private lessons with a local swim coach at
the Y. At the 1/2 IM distance, getting through the swim comfortably and as efficiently as possible
should be the goal. Get some formal coaching and definitely check out Total Immersion.

Well now this is the 2nd time you've decided to reply to one of my posts. How flattering. Guess it's
time to move on again. Hasta la vista.

[email hidden] (Dr. Steven Walker) wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

TI is rubbish, Chris and you know it. What does swimming over barrels have to do with swimming
fast in a 1/2 IM? There's a backlash against TI right now and for good reason. It's a waste of
money. Rubbish, I tell you.

[email hidden] (Chris Maginn) wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

You might check out Total Immersion. It's a very effective swim system developed by Terry
Laughlin. Form is everything in swimming. I've been competing in Tri since '97 and had done very
little swimming prior. To this day I still do periodic private lessons with a local swim coach
at the Y. At the 1/2 IM distance, getting through the swim comfortably and as efficiently as
possible should be the goal. Get some formal coaching and definitely check out Total Immersion.