Tri This: Month 6

Six months. Half a year. Goll-eee. A mini-milestone.

I’ve been training at triathlon for six months. Six months seems like a long time and yet it feels as though I am still finding my way. Its easy to notice significant progress, particularly with running. Given that running for more that 2 minutes was really hard on my body when I started and that I now run anywhere from 2-4 miles each training run, that’s an obvious change.

With biking and swimming, the events that I already had some base level of fitness in when I began this project, progress is also present, if less dramatic. In both of these events, I notice that my efficiency has improved more than anything. I can do my routine distances with relative ease, and the longer workouts are noticeably easier. This is more obvious to me with swimming, where the formerly long swim of 800 meters is now a light workout, and 1200-1600 meters is the norm. Its similar with cycling, although its less obvious given the time of year, where shorter days and lower temperatures constrict outdoor training to some extent.

Which brings me to indoor cycling. Fine for a warmup, no fun for a long training ride. The phrase dead boring comes to mind. Even with a podcast or audiobook to listen to, and one of the bikes (recumbent or standard) that has a sort of interesting video journey, its really hard for me. That the seats are incredibly uncomfortable probably doesn’t help my attitude, either. If I can bike outside, I’m going to do it. Inside rides thus far are staying in the 30 minutes or less category.

My monthly review questions: 1. Am I having fun? Yes, and I like mixing up my training with semi-goofy stuff like Tri-angles workouts. After my first attempt broke down when my legs cramped swimming, my next go worked well, with 20 to 22 minute legs. I think I’ll keep playing with these from time to time, as a way to both do a 3-event day and keep it fun, which does matter to me.

2. Is this a good use of my time and energy? Yes. I’m continuing to feel physically stronger, mentally clear and more energetic, particularly if I stay away from my nemesis, Sugar!

3. Do I want to stay with this for another month? Yes.

4. Goals and questions: I’m thinking about a few areas of exploration going forward. One is looking at the options for competitions in 2018, and even if not yet entering, giving that some consideration. I’m also thinking about doing some strength or interval work to add some variety to training and a different muscular challenge. I’ll see what I discover over the next months.