A Week in the Life of an [Injured] Triathlete
To be successful at triathlon one has to basically master three seperate sports and then be able to perform them one after another. It requires a lot of training and is time consuming. I always find it interesting reading about other athlete’s training plans so I thought I would give you a sneak peak into a week of my life. Here goes:
January 20 - 26
SATURDAY:
5:30am: Bike (1hr 38min)
10minute warmup
3 x 60’’ right leg / 30’’ both / 60’’ left leg / 30 ‘’both
1’ 100rpm, 1’ 110rpm, 30’’ all out
90’’ 100rpm, 90’’ 110 rpm, 30’’ all out
5min recovery
2’ 100rpm, 2’30’’ 110rpm, 30 sec all out
4min recovery
4 x 5min big gear, 65-70rpm + 1min easy
5min recovery
4 x 3min big gear, 65-75rpm (one gear harder than last set) + 1min standing + 1min easy
9min cool down
I set up my TT in my garage - I have a sweating problem and nothing is worse than overheating while riding inside. If I’m going to grind out a long ride I need to be somewhere freezing.
This workout is good but rough. One of my biggest weaknesses on the bike is standing and increasing my power - I’m more of a sit down and grind it out rider. Apparently my coaches are extremely aware of this weakness as most of my bike workouts recently have included standing. I am also aware I tend to take out the first couple intervals slightly easier as I’m terrified of digging myself into a hole.
4x5min wattage: 197W, 202W, 219W, 221W, 217W
4x3min+1min wattage: 224W, 221W / 225W, 222W / 229W, 246W / 235W, 251W
Afterwards I spent 15min working on my T-spine mobility.
9am-12pm: Work
3:00pm: Family time - we drove over to Bowness. My parents walked Miss Sadie while my brother and I went skating. We ended up skating for about 90min, covering 16km. Miss Sadie made several attempts to join us on the ice.
At 8 o’ clock I accidentally fell asleep (I’m basically a 90 year old). I woke up at 10, did my pre-bedtime rehab exercises (exercises that I will probably have to do for the rest of my life) and then went back to sleep.
SUNDAY:
7:00am: Water Run (1hr 6min)
15min easy warmup
8 x 3min hard effort + 90’’ easy rest
15min easy cool down
Lets not mince words - water running sucks. But running in water is better than no running at all.
2:30pm: Co-assistant coach Cody (aka my personal therapist/favorite person/future maid of honour) and I coached the Krono’s devo and performance group’s run workout. It is an easier aerobic run so the kids were pretty stoked.
4:00pm: Swim (90min, 4000m) [Krono’s practice]
200 easy
15 x 200 (5 pull + paddles @ 3, 5 swim with fins @ 2:40, 5 paddles only @ 3)
12 x 50 @ 1:10 (4 fly/back drill, 4 free/back kick, 4 free drill/swim)
200 easy
Sunday swims are my favorite. I love long distance sets with minimal rest - I tend to get into a nice rhythm and the time flies by - especially when drafting off of Chris. I ended up holding 2:40-45 for the first and last 5 and 2:32-35 for the middle 5.
Around 10:30 I did my pre-bedtime rehab exercises and got ready for bed.
MONDAY
6:00am - 7:00am: Aqua Jog
10min easy
4 x (5min hard + 3min recover)
5min easy
7:15am - 8:15am: Swim (2700m)
200 easy
10x50 single arm, 100back
10x50 pull + paddles, 100back
10x50 long arm dog paddle/six kick switch, 100 back
10x50 breathing pattern 3/5
200 easy
On Monday’s I meet up with Coach Kyle and Eric for a more technique focused workout.
9:00am - 5:00pm: Work
5:30pm - 6:30pm: Strength
3x6 front squat @ 65lb
3x6 deadlift @ 85lb
3x12 overhead body weight squat
3x12 barbell bent over row @ 45lb
3x12 standing press @ 45lb
This was my first time doing strength with a bunch of technique tweaks - we are attempting to build up my hamstrings and stop my quads from always overcompensating. This will hopefully help with all of my back issues and referred knee pain.
TUESDAY
6:00am - 7:30am: Swim (3600m) [Krono’s practice]
400 easy, 200 kick
4x100 gomez (50 single arm/50 swim) @ 1:35, 100 easy
6x50 fast
2 x (50 @ 40, 100 @ 1:25, 150 @ 2:10, 200 @ 3, 150 @ 2:10, 100 @ 1:20, 50 easy)
8x75 dolphin dives/back swim/breast swim
Tuesday swims are always super hard and speed focused. Some days I feel super smooth and fast, other days I feel like a fat panda. Today was a fat panda day. It was a struggle but I managed to hold around a 1:20/100m pace for the main set.
Ran errands all around Calgary during the day
5:00pm - 6:30pm: Bike (1hr 20min) [Krono’s practice]
Main set: 6 x (3min @ 100rpm + 2min easy)
Another bike practice that focused on another one of my weaknesses - maintaining high power with a high cadence. When racing I like to keep my cadence around 80. I ended up slightly cheating during this workout and averaged around 95rpm for the 3minutes to maintain a higher power.
7:00pm - 8:30pm: Coach
I coach our team’s KOS group swimming. One of the junior athletes - Cole - shadows me and helps out. I have them do a bunch of drills and we end with teaching them how to flip turn - the kids crush it (proud coaching moment - ya me).
9:30pm - 10:00pm: Run
Dynamic stretching, running drills, 1min jog
I am still dealing with knee issues. Good news? We have finally figured out exactly what is causing it (immobile thoracic spine combined with a weak lower back). I have been doing daily exercises and have been pain free for almost 2 weeks so I have been allowed to start doing running drills. I spend around 5 minutes on each drill and do a total of 5 drills. It looks kind of silly and I’m pretty sure all of my neighbours refer to my as the crazy kid doing who knows what on the street (the only place with no snow) at the most random hours of the day. My knee was feeling super good so I decided to test out a super easy 1 minute jog - success!
WEDNESDAY
9:00am - 5:00pm: Work
5:30pm - 6:30pm: Strength
3x6 hang cleans @ 65lb
3x6 clean pulls @ 65lb
3x6 jerk @65lb
Olympic lifting Wednesday! My past self was stoked to be doing some Olympic lifting - even if I had to keep it light.
6:30pm - 8:00pm: Bike (1hr 20min)
10min warmup
20min spin ups (2min above 100rpm + 1min easy)
10min single leg (1min RL, 1min LL, 3min both)
30min aerobic
10min cool down
My legs felt surprisingly good considering I just finished an hour of strength. I set up my bike in my basement so I could watch TV (got to catch up on the Bachelor and all of Krystal’s shenanigans). Miss Sadie keeps me company.
30min aerobic = 141bpm, 86rpm, 188W
THURSDAY
6:00am - 7:30am: Swim (3700m) [Krono’s practice]
200 swim, 200 kick, 200 drill, 200 swim
8x25 fast,
10x25 band only @ 40, 50 back,
10x50 band only @ 55, 50 back,
800 pull + paddles, 50 back,
6x100 paddles @ 1:35,
400 easy
Thursday swims are always strength focused and involve a lot of pull, paddles and band work. I’m starting to enjoy swimming with a band (and no longer look like I’m drowning/need lifeguard assistance). I maintained around a 1:18-1:20 pace for the 6x100s.
9:00am - 5:00pm: Work
5:30pm - 6:30pm: Bike (1hr)
20min warmup
5 x (5min RP + 1min easy)
10min cool down
My legs were super tired all day so I was not looking forward to this session. I somehow managed to find a small energy reserve and this workout turned out to be pretty solid - still working on forcing myself to take out the first couple intervals harder.
5x5min = 86rpm, 210W / 87rpm, 216W / 88rpm, 223W / 89rpm, 228W / 88rpm, 224W
FRIDAY
6:00am - 7:30am: Swim (around 2000-2400m)
100 easy, 3 x (100 swim, 100 drill, 100 kick)
drafting drills for the remainder of the time
Friday swims are normally easier and recovery focused. For the last hour we had the lane ropes taken out and practiced different drafting drills while swimming circles around 3 buoys.
9:00am - 5:00pm: Work
5:30pm - 6:10pm: Run
Dynamic stretching, running drills, 5min jog
I spent 30minutes completing my various running drills. I brought Miss Sadie along with me - she was pretty confused by the workout. My knee was feeling super good so I decided to test out a short jog (sorry coach). I ended up stretching out my short jog to five minutes - the best five minutes of my week. It is kind of ridiculous how happy jogging for even five minutes makes me (I am aware that I sound like an addict).
6:30pm - 7:30pm: Strength
3x5 overhead squat @ 65lb
2x5/side overhead single arm kettle bell squat @ 15lb
3x8/side around the worlds @ 15b
3x6/side renegade rows @ 10lb
3x30sec supermans
I finished off today’s training with a strength workout. I have a love/hate relationship with overhead squats. Back in my weightlifting days I always struggled with going heavy overhead - probably due to all of my back issues that are currently flaring up. I go light and focus on my technique.
Well there you have it. My training will most likely look similar to this for the next month or two (hopefully with more running).
What gets me through all this training besides my love for eating copious amounts of food? A good playlist. Here are 10 songs that I’m currently obsessed with:
1 - Bodak yellow - Cardi B
2 - For you - Post Malone
3 - Brocken machine - Nothing But Thieves
4 - Reaper man - Mother Mother
5 - Filthy - Justin Timberlake
6 - Motorsport - Migos
7 - Live in the moment - Portugal The Man
8 - Had some drinks - Two Feet
9 - I’d love to change the world - Jetta
10 - God save our young blood - Borns + Lana Del Ray