Triguy

Anyone ever have trouble getting back into training after a short break? I had to take a month off for some family stuff. I had planned on taking middle of June to mid July easy but now thats it's time to train again I just can't get myself going. The worst part is that my early summer racing was hands down the best racing I've ever done (2 wins and never placed worse than fifth) and I'd love to expand on that. Bahhh.

So what have you done to keep motivation high. I've started by trying not to be repetitive in my workouts. i.e. new routes, different workouts, lifting and so forth when I do skip workouts.

BigCat

I find that talking about the problem usually works for me. Talk it over with a few good friends, and I suspect that will help. May seem like not much, but for me it works every time.

darkwing7

My secret weapon against my lazy inner self is to just say, "I'm only going to work out for 5 minutes, and if by 5 minutes I feel like stopping, I'll stop." Ofcourse that almost never happens. It really works for me, you should try it. Saw this on another website. Now, do you have any advice on how you win tri's?

Triguy

Large amounts of speedwork. No I am serious.

John W

Train with a partner whenever you can. I'm heading to Lake Placid this weekend and the last couple of months I have experienced some tough moments in getting out the door to train. Boring old routes, length of time on the bike/run can just drive you crazy. Getting someone out there with you a few times can really add some spice to it and get you over that hump. Good luck!

darkwing7

Do you mean purely picking up your speed or say, picking up the intensity by doing hill work? I am expeirmenting with doing one set of speed only and another of hill work and one long run (which for me, is like 6 miles) per week. I find the intensity work out gives astonishing results.

bspurrie

A good group of training partners will eliminate that problem. I have three other guys at work that also have been bitten by the tri bug so we are all training for various races and at least two of us are always in the same race. Peer pressure works great!!

It is true that getting started is the hardest part. Just last week I was feeling very lazy but went out for a run telling myself I would just take it easy. About three miles in I just started picking it up faster and faster. It was one of my best runs in a while. Good Luck!

Triguy

Mixes of ...

intervals - BIKING (harder efforts, above race pace, with rest of approxiamately 1/2-1 the duration of the interval). For Example, warm up, then 2 miles at (race pace+1mph), 1 mile rest, (race pace+1mph), 1 mile rest, (race pace+1mph), 1 mile rest, (race pace+1mph), 1 mile rest. Try and make the hard sections close in perceived effort, and account for changes in wind. I.E. roughly 22mph into a headwind is like 28 with a tailwind.

intervals - RUNNING warm up, the 4 miles at 5k race pace with maybe 3-5 minutes rest inbetween each.
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tempo - biking, sustained effort just under say Olympic distance race pace.

tempo - running, sustained effort around half marathon pace, either 15, 30 or 45 minute blocks.



I do hill work early in the season, and replace it with intervals come mid season and continue intervals until late season.

For running I try and get one tempo in per week along with hill work/speed session as well as a bike run brick(which is also a speed session) and a long run. As a triathlete, I have run anywhere from 30-60 miles per week with little variation in performance. However, I come from a running back ground and would say that I can probably get away with a larger amount of speedwork than most people.

Triguy

My funk must be fading. 3 workouts yesterday, and 2 today. Hopefully I'll get in a light freeweights/ab workout tonight.

darkwing7

Are you professional? I thought only the pros did 3 a day workouts.

Triguy

I am not professional. I've beat one or two. I would love to get there in a year or so. I know people much worse than me that do three workouts a day and the only defining feature is that they all generally do have a lot of flexible people in their lives though(wifes, bosses and friends) and thank god for every one of them.

Last few days

Friday 3 (speed on bike)
Saturday 2 (long run of 10)
Sunday 2 (long ride/brick run)
Monday 3 (fairly easy all around, longer run of 8)