Noosa Triathlon 2018 Training Diary: Getting stuff back on track for a good season.
Ok, here goes a head-inflating session, of sorts. Well, it’s more of an accountability journal that I’ve decided to share publicly so that the historians of the future can understand how bad at triahtlon I am!
My first Noosa Triathlon 2018 training diary and reflection was actually meant to start over a fortnight ago. I’d gathered notes, was actively tracking training, going to the pool each day, but somewhere along the way, I just went off the training rails.
Suddenly I needed sleep, motivation had melted away, missing sessions. While there is a chance that I’ve actually been a slight bit ill, I’m more inclined to feel that I’m in a post-Velothon training funk.
I can’t seem to get out the door to do any solid sessions. Consistency is dead. My weight is static and I’m still something like 15kg above where I would like to be at. Arguably 25kg above what an ideal ‘race weight’ is for me. I had started to see the beginnings of the downward weight trend, but then it rebounded after a few days of poor choices.
But reading this thread over on the Transitions TriChat Forum turned my head. I like the suggestion of setting small manageable goals in the short term and hitting those. I hope to do that below.
But here’s my attempt at getting stuff back on track. I’ve designed a training program using resources taken from Mikael over at Scientific Triathlon, inspired by my new favourite exercise-related podcast That Triathlon Show (also hosted by Mikael…what a coincidence!).
Thinking critically about my weight
Regarding racing weight, from examining my past data, two factors correlate to the periods where I’ve seen my best race results and my best weight management outcomes: Limiting alcohol and also training consistency.
It should be a no brainer why this occurs. Alcohol is dead calories, and when you train consistently, you tend to lose weight. The issue with me and a few beers isn’t necessarily that it adds more calories on, it’s that I’m more inclined to skip sessions when I’ve had a couple the night before.
My diet quality suffers when alcohol is involved. This is not ideal. Therefore, my goal for the next 11 weeks is to avoid all alcohol on weekdays (though with one notable exception). Ideally, I will try to avoid altogether.
Furthermore, if I do drink, it must be gluten free. Zero beers. Only wine. I’m suspecting more and more that I may have a gluten sensitivity (it also is in my family history as well with a number of coeliac in the family tree).
I also hope to improve diet quality. I’m becoming less of a fan of tracking calories, agreeing in principle of with The Economists Diet, which advocates that calorie counting does nothing to change food habits (also seen in the work of Matt Fitzgerald).
Getting consistent
I’ve scheduled in 2 dedicated pool sets, 2 dedicated bike sets and 2 runs over the next week. My goal is to hit all of these sessions.
Even if I do not manage to run or bike or swim fast, I just want to aim for consistency. Get to bed early, get up early to train — consistency will be my key to a good Noosa.
I’ve scheduled in a few ‘bonus’ easy sessions as I do enjoy a nice group ride, but if I need to skip anything, that’s where I’ll make the difference.
Weekly goal review
- Limit alcohol, wine only.
- Hit all key sessions next week.
- Improve diet quality
I’ll be back end of next week to review if this happened and to give myself a score.
Long term goal for the race
- Set a PB. My current PB at Olympic Distance is poor (2:58) by my standards. I’ve never really trained for them.
- Go sub 2:45. This may be a realistic one if I can
- Go sub 2:30. Unrealistic, but ideal. Might as well go high, right?
Warm up races
This is what I’m committee too pre-Noosa.
- Fast 10K event in early September
- Bribie Triathlon Series.
