7.20.2011

Training, Coaching and Eating

I am really enjoying the training for triathlons. Even though I'm sort of training for a marathon too, I'm just starting to build up the mileage so it's still manageable (the running portion).  Here were my stats from last week:

Run 20 miles
Swim 6.2 miles
Bike 60 miles

So the running is on the low side, this week adds 5 more miles and I haven't looked too much further ahead. One thing is that I feel like I could do the training for a Half Ironman pretty easily but the IM distance is probably not in my immediate future! I don't know how I'd find the time right now but it's something I'd like to accomplish. I'm inspired by all of you that do them - and multiple #s of them in that!

I have a coach that I'm working with and when I signed up for it, it was for running. He was kind enough to add in the triathlon work. I'm working with his intern and I have to say, it's not so much what I expected. The day I wanted to start the training, my schedule wasn't posted yet.  He was aware of my start date for a while - I was holding off to start the training because of my motivation. After the first week, I filled in all my workouts and I didn't hear anything back. Isn't that kind of weird? I emailed him and let him know that doing "endurance pace" workouts 3 times a week is pretty repetitive and boring and that the same exact bike and swim key workout every week is also pretty boring.  Can ya change it up a little bit?  His response was to stick with the schedule and it will get harder. I'm not sure I believe that. I feel like the time wasn't really spent creating variety.  I mean, it's great to have someone creating my workouts, but to me, giving and getting feedback is really the most important component. Are you a coach? What do you focus on?  Do you have a coach?  What is your experience?

Last but not least, eating for training. Do you have a website that you like to calculate how many calories you need to eat for your training? I have no idea what I'm doing. I'm working out more, starving most of the time and have gained weight that I can't get off. It's in the worst places - lower back and stomach. I hate it! And it's summer time.  I feel like I should have a 6-pack with the hours of training I put in??  What should I be eating to get one of those? : )  Oh and are there any tricks to getting bigger boobs?

8 comments:

  1. I don't know if this is what you're looking for--the calorie counter at Livestrong (I think it's called MyPlate) lets you enter your daily activity and then adjusts your allowed calories based on that. I used it at the beginning of the summer to lose a few pounds while still building up my running base for a fall 1/2.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I really like Livestrongs Daily Plate!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm all for transferring stomach fat to my boobs :-p

    ReplyDelete
  4. When you're base building the workouts may not be as interesting as they might be during another phase of training... So bike and run stuff might not vary too much and should indeed get more challenging as you go along. But swim workouts should definitely have some variety! Hopefully he has tested you and has some baseline data from which he is planing your workouts. And I would think you'd get some feedback about how things are going, though this will vary greatly depending on how much you're paying him.

    ReplyDelete
  5. LOL... My experience on getting bigger boobs......... Yeah training workouts can be boring but if you believe in your coach!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I don't know... lately, my enemy area is actually my lower body. It looks toned, but larger than it has been, argh. Also, if you find out the secret to bigger boobs, please share, ha ha.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I don't have a coach, but he is probably right that it will get more challenging...good luck with the training!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I use My Food Diary, which costs $9/month. There is also SparkPeople, which is free. I like My Food Diary better, for it's usability and interface, but SparkPeople is great for lots of people.

    ReplyDelete