Okay, anyone out there who claims to be a fitness expert or coach or mentor or just really good at figuring things out, help me out here.
Right now it's hard for me to determine exactly what to do on a day-to-day basis, because I don't have any goal races specifically scheduled for 2010. Tentatively, I'm planning on the Salt Lake Century ride on May 15 and the St. George Marathon on October 2. Neither of these are concrete at this point. I'd also like to do at least one triathlon this year, probably either the Daybreak Triathlon May 29th or the Stansbury Park Tri on July 24th. In any case, I really want to get better at swimming, just for overall fitness. I'd also like to drop about 20 lbs (currently 6'1" 210 and no, it's not all muscle.)
Got all that?
Now, as far as time/equipment goes... we have a gym at my work that has dumbbells and a few machines, as well as an indoor cycle (Cycleops 300PT) that even has a power meter. I have access to a treadmill both at work and at home in our HOA clubhouse. I generally do something at lunchtime at work, either a ride on the indoor bike (or on my road bike, weather permitting - that is, north of 40ยบ), a treadmill run (or an outside run, weather permitting), or an upper-body (or full body) dumbbell workout. I plan on getting a membership at a local pool/rec center very soon for early morning lap swimming. When the weather improves and I'm not risking life and limb by slipping on ice, I'm not opposed to early morning running as well. That said, I would probably (on my own, but this isn't set in stone) limit 2-a-days to 2-3 times a week. Also, I don't work out on Sunday at all. That's non-negotiable.
So, as of late and because I haven't really narrowed down a goal, I've just been mainly exercising at lunch M-F, usually doing 1-2 bike rides (indoor this time of year), 1-2 runs of 4-6 miles each, and 1-2 dumbbell workouts. I also like to do combination cardio/dumbbell workouts where I'll run hard for 5 minutes, then do a couple of sets of an exercise or two, then run really hard for 5 minutes again, etc.
By the way, I'm a 35 year old guy, for those that don't know.
Assuming I'm going to ride the century in May (goal of under 6 hours), the Tri in July, and the marathon in October, what do you think I should be doing on a weekly basis? I'm just looking for general guidelines here, not necessarily a specific plan. Let me know what you think. The more opinions/input the better.
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LOL... that sounds hard core; how are you still 210? Then again, I suppose I went from 195 to 205 during the holidays. Anyway, if you want to take off 20 pounds, a wise man once said that it's 20% what you do in the gym and 80% what you do in the kitchen. I did drop about 60 pounds at one point by eating right and exercising.
As for a century, I've done a fair amount of biking and feel it's just a matter of gearing up for it. 30 mile rides aren't bad, but once you go beyond 60 it pushes your joints and ligaments (esp. in the knees) if you haven't worked up to it. My goal is to do a century this summer, so I'm going to start biking for about an hour three times per week in Feb., then in March I'll start doing 50 miles at least twice per month. In May I'm going to do at least one 75 miler, and at that point I should have a good idea of whether I'm okay with the century or not. I figure if I follow that plan, it shouldn't be a problem, though following the plan is often the more difficult part.
As for running and swimming, you're on your own there. I'm not a swimmer much, though I keep wanting to do a tri. Having access to a pool would help, though. :)
Good luck!
The fun thing about triathlons is that you're not so set on one type of training and it's not so monotonous. It keeps things interesting. A good rule of thumb that was given to me when I was coached for triathlons is that you should be spending a good workout per week on all of the events and two on your weakest event. If I were you, I would be concentrating on swimming. Since swimming is also my weakest event, I spent a lot of time swimming in the past which increased my lung capacity and helped me with overall performance in all of the other events. With a century bikeride comming up, you need to be spending significant time on the bike (outside as much as possible), but your cardiorespiratorial benefits you get from swimming significant time will give you a huge boost.
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