Training for a Triathalon in September..Need Help

[surfinillini]

Anyone wanna put me on a plan or point me in the right direction. I'm most concerned about the running, I'm not very concerned with the swimming or the biking portion. Basically I want to get better with the cardio but do not want to lose much of my recent strength gains or muscle.

Stats:

5'9"
175lbs
Lift weights 5x/week
Do cardio sporadically
Eating pretty healthy for the last 4-5 months. I'm taking in roughly 1500cals/day and 100g of protein...low carbs too.

Just a thought on my progress I was 205lbs in October and a fat [censored] like nation

Also just got my cholesterol and triglycerides tested and I have a 161 cholesterol and 78 triglycerides which the doc said was pretty good. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[SmileyEH]

Intervals plus one long run a week sounds like a good start.

For the intervals start with something like run 400m, rest 2min for 4 rounds. Next time decrease the rest to 1:45 etc. until you are down to 1min rest then change the distance, the number of rounds etc. etc. all the while focusing on increasing overall intensity.

[surfinillini]

[ QUOTE ]
Intervals plus one long run a week sounds like a good start.

For the intervals start with something like run 400m, rest 2min for 4 rounds. Next time decrease the rest to 1:45 etc. until you are down to 1min rest then change the distance, the number of rounds etc. etc. all the while focusing on increasing overall intensity.

[/ QUOTE ]

400m = how many laps on a treadmill?

[StaticShock]

Nice, nice job on the progress dude. A triathalon is a great idea - just prepare well.

I would suggest setting aside the weights for now and concentrate on the running, biking, and swimming. I know several people who do triathalons at a high level and they spend very little time in the weight room. It's hard enough fitting in the necessary specific workouts without trying to cram in weights as well.

Once again Smiley is giving the right advice with advising interval training.

I'm not sure about the treadmill question...
400m = .25 miles = 1 lap.

What kind of distances are you doing?

[surfinillini]

the triathalon is on Sept 9 and is in LA

distances are as follows

swim 0.9 mile
cycle 24.8 miles
run 6.2 miles

Like I said, I'm not too concerned about the biking, or the swimming really, just the running which I'll admit I was always a bad runner...

I have also taken pics of my progress and will eventually post pics once I get to my goal physique and training ends...

Its sick to think that when I graduated high school I was 155lbs and 8% bodyfat and pretty [censored] ripped...although I've gotten stronger over the years, esp in college when I started lifting heavy weights, I have also gained lots of weight in the process.

Goal is to be 160-165 by June 1st...original goal was 145-150lbs but I think that might be a little too skinny, but we'll see how I feel. Its all relative to BF% at this point.

[StaticShock]

10K huh? Not an impossible distance by any means.

You basically have five months to train. I would build a schedule around 4-8 reps of intervals starting with 400s, then 800s, then even a few workouts of 3 or 4 repeat miles. In between intervals jog as slow as you need to. I'd come back down in distance of the interval and increase the speed as you get into the second half of your five months.

This whole time you want to have a long run on saturday or sunday that gradually gets longer and longer up to and even beyond the race distance. The pace on this isn't as important. Just get the miles in with minimal stops during the run.

Once you get further into the training routine it's time to drop in a few tempo runs. Once a week go out and run 2,3, or 4 miles at 85% of your max effort. (These are a bitch, no lie.)

This is a basic plan that may be more work than you're looking for. It's not the only way, just one way.

Edit: I know you usually workout on treadmills, but it really would help if you could find either a local track or some trails to do this work on.

[kerowo]

If you only do sporadic cardio why aren't you worried about the 24 mile bike ride?

[surfinillini]

[ QUOTE ]
If you only do sporadic cardio why aren't you worried about the 24 mile bike ride?

[/ QUOTE ]

for all of jan and feb of this year I used to do 20 mile bike rides along the coast of CA with no problems at all.

[Colt McCoy]

[ QUOTE ]
Intervals plus one long run a week sounds like a good start.

For the intervals start with something like run 400m, rest 2min for 4 rounds. Next time decrease the rest to 1:45 etc. until you are down to 1min rest then change the distance, the number of rounds etc. etc. all the while focusing on increasing overall intensity.

[/ QUOTE ]

Exactly what I was going to say, although my idea of interval training is a little different. I was going to recommend 2-3 weekly runs of like three miles with 3-4 short controlled sprints of say 50 yards imbedded in each run. Then do one long run of 6+ miles each week.

[BreakfastBurrito]

I'd recommend completely scrapping your current program. Quit lifting except for possibly a couple times a week for basic strength maintenance. Dump the low carb diet. Those are essential for an endurance athlete.

As a beginner triathlete, you're looking at close to 3 hrs of continuous exertion. That is a very significant endurance challenge. HIIT seems to be very popular amongst the weightlifting crowd, but I don't believe that will be adequate to build the kind of endurance you'll need. More long runs and less intervals to start with.

I know you're not concerned about biking and swimming, but mixing in those activities would be very helpful in reducing the injury risk from building up to running more miles. Also, once a week you should probably mix in a medium distance bike and run back to back to get your body used to the transition. Maybe 15mi bike followed by a 3-4mi run.