My Goals And Training

I harp on everyone else to have fitness goals, so here are mine:

Early in 2008 I realized that I would be turning 50 in three years and I needed a new fitness goal. It was unrealistic for me to have a goal of adding muscle mass because I had reached my genetic potential almost a decade ago and there was no way I could add more muscle mass. I decided that I wanted to do something different and hopefully something that I could continue into my 60's and 70's so competing in a triathlon seemed perfect. My goal is this: To complete an olympic length triathlon before my 50th birthday and finish at the 50th percentile of my age group. Completing it without getting injured will be challenge enough for me but getting a competitive time when I outweigh most competitors by 100lbs will be the real challenge. The hardest part of the triathlon for heavy men like me (240lbs) is the running because that muscle mass that took me decades to add is now compressing my old knees on every foot-fall. I started running mid 2008 and started with just two miles three times a week, I needed to start really slowly to make sure that my body had ample time to adapt to the new stresses being put on it. Boy, that first month was really humbling because I considered myself in good shape from all the running I do playing beach volleyball but I was pathetic! Huffing, puffing and whining after a single lap. I persevered and added 1/4mile a week and after 8 months I was able to run 7 miles in an hour. I swam on a swim team back when I was 11 so I'm comfortable in the water but its been over three decades so it was like starting over. After my running was under control in Dec 2008, I started up the swimming again. Funny, again it was pathetic. Although I have really muscular lats and can do pulldowns with 300lbs, 20 minutes of doing freestyle and my lats felt like they were going to explode - talk about high rep/low weight pump! After a few months, I was back to my old incompetence level :) By March 2009 I was ready for my first triathlon, a sprint triathlon (half as long as an olympic triathlon). I actually did much better than expected, my cycling was strong, my running not bad(8.5min/mile) but my swimming was pathetic (20min). In August of 2009 I did my second sprint triathlon and tried to better my times, I did significantly. During the fall of 2009 and winter of 2010, my goal was to prepare for the olympic triathlon which is twice the distance, again I knew that the running would be the major obstacle for me. In May of 2010, I got to test my newfound endurance and compete in my first olympic length triathlon. Despite the major setback of having back problems so bad two weeks before the race that I couldnt walk, I did really, really well! My overall time was 3 hours and 10 minutes. My 1500m swim was 35min 45s, my 40km bike was 1hr 19min and my 10k 'run' took a whopping 1hr 3min.

I actually achieved the goal I set out to do three years ago, I finished at the 50% percentile for my age group in the olympic length triathlon!

Of course, where do I go now? Well, now that I'm here I know I can do much better. My swimming has improved a lot by using the "Total Immersion" techniques but I know I can shave 5-10 minutes off my swim time and 5-10 minutes off my transitions, there is no reason I cant get under 2hrs 50min and get in the top 25% of my age group. I'm not 50 quite yet, I still have time to accomplish this before my odometer turns over :)

Anyway, that's my specific and measurable fitness goasl - what are yours?????


Below is my training schedule for May 2010, I'm still focusing on lower back rehab and shoulder rehab for the next few months.

  Weights Cardio
Monday 60min chest workout & abs indoor cycle 1hr
Tuesday 60min lat workout swim 1hr
Wednesday 60min shoulder workout indoor cycle 1hr
Thursday 60min arm workout & abs swim 1hr
Friday 60min leg workout heavy indoor cycle 1hr
Saturday - swim 1hr
Sunday -