My Workout Goals

If you follow me on Twitter you know I work out a good bit. Not because I like it, but because it is a stress reliever and it is something to do. When I played sports growing up I never really got into that much and now that I am not longer playing I am more into it. Somewhat ironic in my eyes, but it is what it is.

While working out has got me into pretty good shape (lost 40-50 pounds over the last few years) there was still no end game. I wasn’t training for anything and while I run enough to be able to compete in some 10k’s or half marathons I have always had a hard time committing to a race. Once I got back to Pittsburgh I was able to really focus in on something since I know I am going to be around (which I didn’t know while I was in Wisconsin since I was applying for jobs while I was there) so I can finally get my teeth into something.

Last year I wanted to do a half triathlon. It is very challenging and it would focus me in on training and getting ready for something. Well, I knew I was going to be moving back to Pittsburgh and with the winter bringing weather in the -30’s (that is negative thirties) most days that was just impossible. Late start to training means that I have to scale back what my expectations are.

I wanted to start doing a half triathlon but Olympic is going to be plenty challenging for me. The difference is that a half triathlon is a 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike ride and 13.1 mile run. The Olympic is less than that with a 0.93 mile swim, 24.8 mile bike and 6.2 mile run.

I am already able to do the run portion as my long run days (either Friday or Saturday) I am able to get 8-10 miles in at a pace around 8:15/mile. I have not rode a bike or swam maybe since high school so this is going to be a pretty big challenge for me. That is what I want though. I want something that is going to push me and I think this is going to be it.

A majority of the writing here are going to be daily updates on my workouts and where I think I am. At the start I am going to be doing a 3x balanced workout. That means I will run three times a week, swim three times a week, and bike three times a week. I will also throw in two days of weight training.

That seems like a lot of working out but before I start this I am running five days a week, weight training two days a week and mixing in other cardio after my weight training so this shouldn’t be too much different for me.

The way my workouts are set up this month I am doing my easy days for all three areas on Monday/Tuesday then my moderate days on Wednesday/Thursday then my long days on Firday/Saturday/Sunday with one of those days on Friday/Saturday/Sunday being a day off.

Any suggestions any of you have that might have done something like this before or suggestions on workout tips please let me know. I am open to anything. This is an adventure I am taking for the first time and hopefully it is a successful journey.