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How seriously do you take TrIathlon?
TRIumphant
Posts: 850
in General Chat
I was wondeirng how serious about Triathlon most Forum users are, and how structured they ae in their trianing.
It's my first season, and I;ve taken it fairly seriously, and had a rough plan to follow. What I haven't realy done is any structured sessions concentrating on intervals etc. My sessions generally comprise spinning classes, bike rides of varying intensities, running and swimming, with some drills.
I've not been to sure whether I'm built for speed or endurance, so i've tried various distances (Supersprint, Sprint and OD), and stepping up to HIM to see which I prefer, and then over the winter be more formal with my training to concentrate on my preference.
My un-formal approach has privded me with some good results, and great enjoyment, and most of all it hasn't taken over my life.
It's my first season, and I;ve taken it fairly seriously, and had a rough plan to follow. What I haven't realy done is any structured sessions concentrating on intervals etc. My sessions generally comprise spinning classes, bike rides of varying intensities, running and swimming, with some drills.
I've not been to sure whether I'm built for speed or endurance, so i've tried various distances (Supersprint, Sprint and OD), and stepping up to HIM to see which I prefer, and then over the winter be more formal with my training to concentrate on my preference.
My un-formal approach has privded me with some good results, and great enjoyment, and most of all it hasn't taken over my life.
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I don't have a structured training plan,I just make sure I can do the distance required within the allotted time.
I must add that I did used to be competitive in sport,but I get more out of it now that I am old,fat,and balding.
Having said that, I won't be there to compete. I'll be there for the experience... It's all about keeping fit and enjoying it at the moment. I love it. I really do, although my stomach is in knots already thinking about London at the weekend.
Wish I'd taken it up years ago!
from there " i reckon i could handle an o.d." to " i think i could make it under 3hr" then you do 2hr 35.
next " i wonder haw hard a 1/2 I.M. would be etc. etc.
you may say you don't take it seriously, but it does take over your life, there are far worse thinks you could be doing, go with it while your fit & healthy enough.
I've been at it for 5 years now and each year I've got a bit better and I want to continue getting better times and setting new goals. I'm stepping up to 70.3 next season.
I do run races all year round, like monthly 10k races etc., but all year round I consider myself a triathlete, not a runner.
i have never been any good at sport but i have always enjoyed it. as long as i enjoy triathlons i will keep doing it, regardless of where i finish.
i'm considering a 70.3 next year but will have to look at how i slot in the longer distances into normal life. if i can't then i probably won't do one.
As for me, from being an overweight blob (I honestly didn't think I was that bad at the time) I am now doing OK but yeah - long beckons
So i went through a few weeks of training on hills which may have helped ,but my next race I suffered with the heat on the run (26 C) ,so I was slower the my first race 1hr 28 mins.
Since then I have tried to run when ever possible at the hotter part of the day (not that we've had much sun since June!!!) as my next reace is in August ,and me thinking it may be even hotter ....LOL
Back to the question :
I find it hard to get structured training ,but as long as your perceived fitness is improving all is well.
But just follow what your body is telling you ,ie if you are over training have a rest .
i am a beginner, only started structured training mid february this year, i train 6 days a week (2 of those twice a day), i have a coach and my bedroom floor is covered with tri mags...now this sounds pretty serious right?
however i think many of the people here who claim that it does not overtake their lives put in the hours and the effort and race continuously and frequenlty and with pretty good times too i am sure - and this is pretty serious for me - actually it is more serious than what i do!
i don't think that 'seriousness' about the sport can me measured by whether your diet has a 'name' and your training a 'structure' - it is more about how much of your heart and soul you put in it, we are all different people and all have different approaches
..and coma: well done for ditching that girl! being in the sport i would be really p****d off if a man told me to cut down on training time to 'put more into us' --- i'd say: 'if you want more put into us why don't you put on trainers and join me?' ....yeah that's right i am a girl!
I'm serious about enjoying a good summer of tri participation, but have found my own level where I happy to take it too. I admire all who take it that (or many) steps further and who knows, i may decide to get even more serious next year but for now i have cut right down on most unhealthy things (but for the odd reward) and training has replaced most of my spare time in the week, i like the idea of remaining fit and certainly don't want to roll back to how I was last year.
I've always been into swimming, running and to an extent a bit of cycling, and am enjoying seeing how good i can get this year at doing all 3 in sequence, but I don't really see triathlon as some kind of new revolution, in fact i remember watching Ironman Hawaii on tv when i was pretty young, still don't think I'll ever end up doing one .. but it's statements like that that get me saying "maybe I could?" .. depends how much I really want it. Leave that one for another year anyway .. this year is about the OD and once that's done then we'll see what the winter holds.
It does make me wonder a bit when people say 'i have just discovered triathlon and love it' .. i mean, the sports have always been there, have they just discovered that they love doing sport .. or specifically training to get the best time when doing all 3? For me, its the concept of transitioning between disciplines that I love .. I've done a marathon and that's a challenge of it's own, but there's something more adventurous, more military camp about a triathlon. I can see why people do these whole weekend adventure races without about 10 different disciplines.
I think triathlon has that perfect balance.
anyway, i've gone off topic .. i would say i am 6/10 serious about tri this year .. next year i would expect that figure to have either risen or dropped and replaced with something else. if i knew it was going to be exactly the same i would feel a bit dissapointed that my life wasn't due to change a bit. Not sure that makes sense...
more thinking, i shall do.
yoda.
2 - I'm going to convert my back garden into a 25m swimming pool, so I can practice swimming in cold dirty water whenever I want.
3 - I'm removing all seats from my house and replacing them with treadmills so I have to run all the time.
....that's how un-serious I am about Trlathlon (whatever that is!)