Tuesday, May 24, 2011

New Training Plan

Before I get into the details of the training plan I started Monday for Santa Cruz's Big Kahuna 70.3 Triathlon in September, I want to make an announcement.  From this day forward, my goal will be to find and then enter races that collectively have the worst possible names and/or logos.  It's arguable that "Big Kahuna", roughly translated as "Big Shot", is a bad name.  I personally think it is, anyway.  Well, maybe "bad" is the wrong word.  "Cheesy" may be better.  It's certainly neither tough like "Ironman" nor artfully post-modern like "Rev3", that's for sure.  But the name is downright poetic when you factor in the logo.  Warning!  This logo is what can happen now that anyone can download simple graphics rendering software from the Internet.

But screw it.  I'm going anyway.  And hopefully I'll rock it.  I probably won't leave Santa Cruz a "big shot", but I think I can put myself on the good side of "medium shot".

Oh yeah, the plan.  I actually put a lot of thought into this and ultimately decided that simpler was better.  So I decided to use a very broadly defined plan from amateurendurance.com.  Instead of drilling down to the specific minutia of each and every workout, it allows for some personal coaching.  Entries include "Track - 60 Minutes" or "Swim - 75 Minutes".  I decide how that is translated into actual workouts.

I am making a few changes though.  Like most plans I reviewed, there are a few weeks of "ramp-up" where total weekly volume is about 7 hours.  I'm not into this.  So I'll be adding in some time the first few weeks, mostly on the swim and the run.  I'm not going to add it all back in, though - my body could use a few lighter weeks before really hitting it.  But I plan to more or less track the volume of the plan after week 3.  The plan also calls for a weekly spin class, I presume for some sort of structured bike intervals.  I'm not into this, either.  But conveniently, the spin session is always scheduled for Tuesdays.  So I'll be substituting in the weekly criterium instead.  Because the crit involves plenty of interval work and I'm a firm believer of racing your way into form on the bike.

All that said, I really like how the plan is making me look at my training differently.  I'll admit it, with the bike and the run I've been pretty much sticking to aerobic base training all year - longer efforts at a moderate pace.  This plan will dice things up - for a large portion of the plan I'll do more sessions per week by sport than I have been but generally for shorter periods of time and in many cases at higher intensities.  The plan also calls for 2 bike/run bricks most weeks, and one of them always falls on Saturday.  This is cool, as it means I'll still be able to ride with OC Velo.  But at least for the first month or so I'll have to stick to the shorter "B" ride and the skip the coffee stop at the end - I'll have to head home and run instead.

I'll need a really badly named half marathon to enter next February.  Anyone have any suggestions?

21 comments:

XLMIC said...

First of all, that tiki is bitchin'.

And the Disney Princess Half-Marathon is in February 2012 and has CHEESE written all over it! Wait... I think you have to be a chick to run it. Damn.

Okay... the Lame Name CA choices for Feb '12 are: Hugs & Kisses (major cheese), San Dieguito (cheese WHIZ), the Buzz half-marathon and the Rocky Road.

Of course you could always wait until March when there are all of those St. PATRICK's Day races.

Joel said...

Good luck with the training. I really like plans where I have some structure, but I can spice it up. Adding in some anaerobic work (sprints in the pool & bike + intervals or fartlek on the run) will be a good thing, too.

I like the concept of doing cheesy named races! Great idea.

And @xlmic, I don't think you need to be a chick to run that Disney Princess race. Patrick, I'm thinking you should put on a tiara and a skirt and give it a shot!

Petraruns said...

The disney princess race is yours. And the big kahuna makes me think of Pulp Fiction which is a bit more hardcore no? So no shame, no shame.

Interval training works. Hate it, but it works. Good luck with it - review the program as you go.

Matty O said...

Haha, love your goal for poorly named races... Indirectly I apparently race the races with the crappiest medal and T-Shirt designs haha.

Like the approach on the plan. Our plan was from beginner triathlete and was pretty much the same, it gave base numbers and target intensity but swimming was the only distance it actually gave. The bike and run were just time amounts.

Don't look down on your aerobic build over the past year man. That is a SOLID base for you and you should take very well to whatever speed work you may be introducing with your training now.

Keep up the good work!

Tri-James said...

Follow a plan, any plan and you will make gains.

Matty-o is right. You will build upon that big base!

Christi said...

I love your goal for your races. I think that will make things very interesting!

KovasP said...

Disney Princess would allow you to sport that aero tiara Mary got you. Snow Joke might be a fun one, or, if Hawaii is an option, you can Run For the Whales.

Shannon (IronTexasMommy) said...

Come to Texas and run the "Cowtown"!

Tri4Success said...

Sounds like a good plan! Did you notice that the border on that logo is dented in on one side? It would go through the tiki's nose if they kept it rounded!

If you don't want to be a Disney Princess you could always do the Goofy Race and a Half - it's a half-marathon on Saturday and full marathon on Sunday.

Unknown said...

The poorly named/logo races should be rather easy to find right?

Good to hear you got a plan that will work for you -- also good to hear you are not doing spin class. A bunch of people I know did a bunch of spin classes for IM training to substitute mid-week interval rides. I did not. Nothing beats the real thing! You hear that crossfitters?

TRI714 said...

Your options for names are wide open. I like your brick approach. Spin class, could not even hold a candle to Tuesday night worlds, you would have people walking out of that class at the pace we ride.And then sueing for punitive damages.

Lucas R. Tucker said...

a 70.3 in Santa Cruz? Would that be a 1.2 mile paddle on your surfboard, 56 mile skateboard cruising, and 13.1 mile bong carry?

XLMIC said...

OMG... Luke's comment just killed me :)

Emz said...

Let's start our own marathon.

Seriously. we can do better. What could be bigger?!

tomatoes.
tomatos.
[uggg and I'm not even freaking Al Gore]

Unknown said...

I love corny race names, makes the hype of it all seem less intimidating. Enjoy your training!

Anonymous said...

Maybe the cheesy named event goal can be a group challenge. I bet there are plenty of them out there!

Good luck on the training. I like that you're dissecting plans and making it work for you!

The Green Girl said...

Um, not to be contrary, but I don't think Big Kahuna is that bad a name?

JessiePants said...

Well, there is a "Love the Run You're With" in Steamboat. It's only 10K though...
I'll keep looking for you.

Big Clyde said...

The Half-Mary-Jane.

No water stations. Instead, they are bong-water stations. No bananas...just herb.

Doritos and Zig-Zag would be the sponsors.

Jill said...

There's a Big Kahuna bike shop here in Denver; my friend wanted to take me there to look at bikes...um, no. But if you're in Denver, I'll take ya there for sure if you wear your race shirt!

Chris K said...

Hard to beat the Disney one. I did a little googling and did find the boringest name: 3M Half Marathon next Feb.

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