Irongeezer.org

Irongeezer     A Guide to a Healthy, Active, and Fit Lifestyle     Irongeezer

Tell us about you workouts & races on the new facebook page "IronBoomer.com" the wall is yours Training or injury questions? Post them on facebook - IronBoomer.com - page and they will be answered by a coach or mentor Exchange ideas with other active people and coaches, training, travel, diet, you name it, it's a networking page - Ironboomer.com - on facebook IronBoomer.com is an affiliate of Irongeezer click HERE for facebook IronBoomer.com

GOING FOR A 2.4 MILE OCEAN SWIM Cliff the IRONGEEZER age 74 Sprint Triathlon - Swim - Bike - Run Your 12 Week First Sprint Triathlon Training Plan  This program is for beginners of ALL AGES! It is not based on speed, but on endurance. You can go as slow, or fast as you want. The training schedule is in minutes, not yards or miles. Since this is your FIRST triathlon, the goal is to finish and to have fun! This plan is a record of what we did. We are not recommending that you follow this plan. Your plan is up to you, your doctor, and your coach. Before starting this program, you should have been walking, biking, or running consistently. If not, work on being able to swim for 20 minutes, bike 30 minutes and run/walk 20-30 minutes. If you can't do all the minutes in the program below, don't worry. 45 min. of running or 35 min. of swimming does sound like a lot. Just do the best you can. On race day, you will get an extra boost from race day adrenaline. However, make sure that you have done at least one 800 yard swim before your event, especially if your first tri is in a lake or the ocean and not in a pool. Biking will be easy at the sprint tri distance. During the run, you can stop and walk as much as is needed, it's allowed in an event. This plan will be posted here thru 2016. Put this site in your favorites, and refer to it as often as you need to when you start your training plan. Tell a friend about this program! No sign in - No spam - Free You also need to cross-train, great training workouts are listed on the "home page" of this site. A typical sprint triathlon is a 500 yard swim, 12 mile bike ride, and a 3 mile run. These distances are often expressed metrically: 400m swim, 20k bike and a 5k run. This training plan is in minutes, not miles or yards. Naturally, you can change the days of the week to suit your schedule. Week Mon Tue Wed Thur Fri Sat Sun 1 Swim 15 Run 20 off Bike 35 Run 20 Swim 30 off Bike 40 2 Swim 20 Run 25 off Bike 35 Run 20 Swim 30 off Bike 45 3 Swim 20 Run 25 off Bike 30 Run 25 Swim 35 off Bike 45 4 Swim 20 Bike 30 off Run 25 Swim 25 Bike 45 off Run 30 5 Swim 25 Run 30 off Run 25 Run 30 Swim 30 off Bike 45 6 EZ Run 15 off Bike 25 Run 15 Bike 25 off Swim 20 7 Run 20 off Bike 30 Bike 25 Run 20 off Swim 25 8 Swim 25 Bike 35 off Run 35 Bike 50 Swim 30 off Run 35 9 Swim 25 Bike 35 off Run 25 Swim 30 Bike 35 Run 20 off Run 35 10 Swim 30 Run 30 off Bike 45 Run 45 Swim 35 off Bike 60 11 Swim 20 Bike 30 off Run 25 Bike 35 Swim 20 off Bike 55 Run 30 12 Swim 20 off off Run 30 Bike 45 off Swim20 Race off Bike 15 off Swim 10 Run 10 off Race enjoy! START - SWIM - TRANSITION #1 - BIKE - TRANSITOIN #2 - RUN - FINISH The Start: Your race may start on dry land, or in the water. This information will be available when you sign up for the event. Find out about the start, and practice that type of start. Transition #1: Known as T1, swim to bike. After leaving the water, you will proceed to a transition area. You will need to don and fasten your bike helmet, shoes, glasses, race number, and whatever you need before mounting your bike. Your race web site and race packet will explain where the transition area will be located, and how to enter and exit. If not, check this out first thing race morning. Be sure to practice the swim to bike transition during your training. Transition #2: Known as T2, bike to run. You will return to the area that you left on your bike. You will remove your bike helmet, after racking your bike etc. Put on your running shoes, cap and any other special equipment (no personal audio equipment) that you prefer to have while you run. Practice the bike to run transition in your training. Tip 1: If at all possible, we recommend that you watch a triathlon in person, before you participate in your first one. It will make your first triathlon a little easier. Tip 2: Know the course. If the course is near your home, and it is safe to do so, practice on that course, at least once. Tip 3: Know the rules of triathlon. A sanctioned race - sanctioned by the governing body USAT - will adhere to the competitive rules of that organization. You should review these rules, especially the drafting rules. www.usatriathlon.org Tip 4: You will here the word "brick" from triathletes during your training. A brick is when, in your training, you swim/bike, or bike/run, or swim/bike/run quickly in that order. It is what you will do in a triathlon, so it is a good idea to practice bricks. It will help your muscles adapt to the demands that you are making on race day. Reading List: Your First Triathlon. Joe Friel. A 12 week program for the beginning triathlete, that will allow the newbie to complete a sprint triathlon with a five hour a week training program. Caution: Always check with your doctor before starting any new exercise, or increasing the intensity of your present programs. The source for some of the information on this page is from: www.beginnertriathlete.com & www.irongeezer.com

Special Announcement:  While anyone can call themselves a coach, few have the credentials to back up that claim. Certainly, Joe Friel, a local Arizonan, has the ultimate coaching credibility backed up by thoughtful, science-based writings, such as The Triathlete’s Training Bible, years of experience as a certified, certifying coach, as triathlete, cyclist and premiere mentor to many a professional and elite age group triathletes. Now he and Martin Boddie have forged an alliance and are putting on high quality camps for Joe and his company, TrainingBible.  Listed below are the camps offered for this fall and next year in Arizona, Colorado and Europe, where a recent spring camp in Mallorca was a great success.   Here is a summary of the events offered: www.tridynamic.co.uk -Jim Vance London Swim Seminars & under water analysis, Hampton Pool, London, Sat 11th & Sun 12th Sep 2010 -Joe Friel & Adam Zucco, Laying the Foundations Testing Camp, Scottsdale, Arizona, 22nd-29th Oct 2010 -Joe Friel & Jim Vance Tenerife Triathlon Camp 21st-28th Jan 2011 -Joe Friel & Jim Vance Women Only Triathlon Camp, Barcelona, 8th-15th April 2011 -Joe Friel & Dirk Friel Boulder Climbing Camp, Colorado, 8th-15th May 2011 (details coming soon) -Joe Friel & Jim Vance Switzerland Middle & Long Distance Camp, nr Zurich, Switzerland, 10th-17th June 2011 -Joe Friel Coaching Seminar, London, SAT 18th June, 2011 -Joe Friel Coaching Seminar, The Lake District, UK, SUN 19th June 2011 -Joe Friel/Jim Vance Italian Triathlon Camp, September 2011 (details coming soon) Follow: http://twitter.com/tridynamic Contact: martin@tridynamic.co.uk

Link to Irongeezelle.com - CLICK Click on the photo for a link to the special webzine, "Irongeezelle." It's for active, savvy, smart women! More stories like this one below. Lessons From the Smartest Triathlete Alive   How one rookie's mistakes helped transform her into a better athlete. Sent to us by Kathryn Bertine  When a fellow triathlete once asked me what my background was, I told him that I was from New York. By the time I got around to my French Huguenot ancestry, the man clarified himself. “What I meant was, are you a swimmer, biker, or runner?” Oooooooh. That background. I mumbled something about running in high school, and then quickly slunk away. I had a lot to learn about triathlon, including how to spell the damn word so that it has only three syllables. Three years have passed since I did my first tri-ath-a-lon. Although I have a lot more to discover, my understanding of the sport has grown considerably. I have learned that with flip turns you will get superior momentum if you push off the wall with your feet instead of your head. Hence, the flip turn should be performed before you hit the wall, not as you do so. Goggles do not need to be asphyxiate-the-eyeball tight, and goggle marks should disappear after a few hours, not a few months. Learn the metric system: one lap of a long course pool is not 100 kilometres – it is best to find this out before you swim with others. Bathing suits do in fact have a life span, and if you try to convince anyone otherwise, they will quite literally see right through you. When racing, if you are on a first-name basis with the man in the kayak, you need to practice swimming a little straighter. I have also learned a thing or two about bikes. It is possible to fall off your trainer and have a near-death encounter with the coffee table. Helmets with big vents let in lots of nice, cool air. And small, mean bees. Spare tubes work best when taken with you on a ride. That spongy thing that comes with an aerobar water bottle is there to keep the water from splashing out over your bike and body. Do not throw it away thinking it is part of the packaging. The Big Chain Ring and the Little Chain Ring like to leave constellations of grease marks on your calves, which can later be observed on the southern hemisphere of your white couch. A derailleur is not a French dessert. Every bicycle component has an actual name, but the best bike mechanics are fluent in “thingy.” Odd entities appear in bike lanes, and the discarded Happy Meal toy can be just as deadly as the bulky two-by-four, although more fun to collect and trade. I have learned that for best results while doing a brick workout, you should change out of your cycling shoes before the run. Drinking or chowing down too much before going on a run is not advisable, but you have to do it once or twice to fully understand the repercussions. Eating or drinking too little will trigger an energy-depleted, ego-sapping condition known as “bonking,” the athletic synonym for “duh.” Running is most enjoyable with thin socks, cool weather, a hydrated body, and a well-fitting sports bra, of which only the first three exist. If it is true that we learn best from our mistakes, then I just may be the smartest triathlete alive. The best advice I can offer fellow rookie tri-geeks is to laugh at these moments of absurdity, because if you stick with triathlon for a while, you’ll have some good material for the self-deprecating comedian in you. Laugh at the goofy mistakes now, and you may be smiling at some pretty savoury successes in the future. After all, if you are tough enough to collide with a cactus in practice, do you really think that a sweaty, thornless human competitor is going to be as difficult to pass during a race? Every beginner’s mishap is destined to be a positive deposit in the experience bank. Except road rash. That’s just plain awful. 70.3 half ironman  Before starting this 12 week training plan, we were working out six days per week. Our physical conditioning was at a level where we could swim 4000 yards or more without stopping, bike 100 or more miles per day, and complete a 26.2 mile marathon.  This plan is a record of what the "Irongeezer & "Irongeezelle" did. We are not recommending that you follow this plan. Your plan is up to you, your doctor, and your coach. This table will be posted here thru 2016.   Week Swim yds Bike mls Run mls Walk mls Weights minutes 1 5200 90 14 6 :80 2 6000 100 14 0 :65 3 6500 94 15 3 :30 4 6500 112 15 4 :70 5 8500 130 17 5 :50 6 4500 80 26 5 :30 7 7500 200 14 0 :20 8 8200 105 21 5 :30 9 6600 90 9 5 :15 10 2500 56 10 5 :15 11 1000 15 4 2 :00 Race  2100 56 13.1     This chart shows the weekly totals of what we did the last 12 weeks of our training to prepare for a 70.3 half ironman distance race. Our stated race goals were: to have fun, enjoy the experience, and finish in the allotted time. For us walking was an important part of the plan. We are not as young as we used to be, and walking was much easier on the body than running. We mention this because most plans do not include walking as part of the training. All training is done using a heart rate monitor. Most training is done at an aerobic level.   140.6 ironman The chart below shows what we did the final 16 weeks leading up to a 140.6 full ironman distance race. As stated in the 70.3 plan above, our goal was to finish the event. "Enjoy the day and the experience," was our motto. Week Swim yds Bike mls Run mls Walk mls Weights minutes 1 8500 155* 18 3 :10 2 10000 100 5 6 :00 3 3500 30 19 5 :15 4 7200* 100 16 12 :40 5 3500 80 10 6 :30 6 4500 196 18 4 :30 7 5000 140* 32 2 :00 8 6500 197 26 0 :30 9 4800 35 16 8 :10 10 10500* 160 16 10 :20 11 6500 156 25 8 :10 12 9000* 105 12 4 :40 13 6000 145* 8 2 :30 14 3200 75 10 0 :25 15 1000 35 3 0 :00 Race 4200 112 26.2 0 0 Swim * = Swam 4000 or more yards without stopping during that week. Bike * = Cycled 100 or more miles in a day that week. Weights = Minutes are "net" time working out. Weights also includes cross-training such as sit-ups. Before starting this 16 week training plan, our physical conditioning was at a level where we could swim 4000 yards or more without stopping, bike 100 or more miles per day, and complete a 26.2 mile marathon. We start our 140.6 training about six months prior the race day. All training is done using a heart rate monitor. Most training is done at an aerobic level. This plan is a record of what the "Irongeezer & "Irongeezelle" did. We are not recommending that you follow this plan. Your training plan is up to you, your doctor, and your coach. This table will be posted thru 2016.

How to measure your exercise intensity! Exercise intensity is a measure of how hard you're exercising. Here's why it matters — and how to measure it.You may have heard people talk about exercise intensity. But what does it mean? And more importantly, how do you measure it? Consider these simple strategies for monitoring how hard you're exercising. Exercise intensity definedThe intensity at which you exercise reflects the amount of oxygen your body uses to do an exercise and the number of calories you burn while doing it. In aerobic exercise — such as walking, swimming or cycling — intensity translates into how hard the exercise feels to you. As a general rule, moderate-intensity exercise is best. If you exercise too lightly, you may not meet your fitness or weight-loss goals. If you push yourself too hard, you may increase your risk of soreness, injury and burnout. Moderate-intensity activity decreases these risks and may even increase your odds of continuing your exercise program in the long run. Measure your exercise intensityModerate-intensity exercise should feel somewhat hard for you. Watch for these telltale signs: You're breathing faster. You're developing a light sweat. You're feeling some strain in your muscles. You can also use the talk test. If you can carry on a conversation of brief sentences but you can't sing a song, you're probably exercising in the recommended moderate-intensity range. Do the mathIf you'd rather get more specific, use your heart rate to measure your exercise intensity. When you exercise as hard as you can, your heart beats at its maximum rate. If you're a healthy adult, strive to exercise at your target heart rate — between 60 percent and 85 percent of your maximum heart rate. If you have an irregular heart rhythm or you're taking medication that affects your heart rate, ask your doctor about the best way to measure your exercise intensity. Here's how to calculate your target heart rate:Subtract your age from 220. This is your maximum heart rate. Determine the low end of your target heart rate by multiplying your maximum heart rate by 0.6. Determine the upper end of your target heart rate by multiplying your maximum heart rate by 0.85. So how do you use this information? While exercising, check your pulse. To check your pulse over your carotid artery, place your index and third fingers on your neck to the side of your windpipe. When you feel your pulse, look at your watch and count the number of beats in 15 seconds. Multiply this number by 4 to get your heart rate per minute. To check your pulse at your wrist, place two fingers between the bone and the tendon over your radial artery, which is located on the thumb side of your wrist. When you feel your pulse, look at your watch and count the number of beats in 15 seconds. Multiply this number by 4 to get your heart rate per minute.  Reap the rewards If your heart rate is within the range you calculated above, you're exercising at about the right level. If your heart rate is too low, pick up the pace. If your heart rate is too high, back off a bit. You'll get the most from your workouts if you're exercising at the proper intensity. Whether you gauge your intensity by how you're feeling or how hard your heart is beating, know that you're doing what it takes to maximize your workout. Source: Mayo Clinic