Husky LC and 10kg in 8 weeks

Interesting read that Dave T started about training programs. A small bit of history about me. Start triathlons when I was 15 (28 now). Came stone motherless last in my first sprint distance race, trained for a year and came back to finish in the top 20ish and win my AG. Was obsessed from then on. Life was easy, Mum and Dad took me everywhere, paid for everything (I had to buy my own bikes etc)
Then came work and $. The more I worked, the more $ I got. Add in girls and parties and I started to get into photographing triathlons and not competing at them. Again, $$$ was a factor! No full time job so it was either pay to race or be paid to shoot the race. No brainer!

Fast forward lots of years I have a wife, a 15 month old and another one due in May (it'll be the last) along with 10kg worth of extra weight and some acquired bad habits such as watching too much TV and having every excuse in the book to avoid training. But now I have a stable job with awesome hours and lots of holidays. However meetings are always held last minute and it is often pretty damn stressful.

So, my goals are:
1- lose 10kg
2- develop a solid training regime so I can keep fit and healthy all yr round, help decrease stress etc.
3- have fun!
4- Beat my time of 5:32 for Husky LC
5- run 50min for 10km

they are in order of importance for me. If I lost 10kg and had a horrid race in Husky I that would be OK.
I also don't want to over think things. I am not out to be a wanna be pro or top AGer. Have tried to do the strict HR thing and watching my protien, CHO and everything else input. It is mentally exhausting. I have enough mentally exhausting things to deal with at work and home to have my hobby become like a job as well.

So, I was considering this.
Mon - Off
Tue – Swim am 50 min
Wed – Bike am 100 min
Thur – Run am 40 min
Fri – Swim am 50 min
Sat – Run am up to 60 min
Sun – Bike am 65/4 brick

4 weeks of doing this, this seems doable and slightly more than what I have been doing for the past two week. Have done a few swims, about 200km on the bike and a whole heap of running. Only down 1kg due to xmas festivities etc.
Oh, and I have no intention of doing an IM anytime soon. Half IM will be the longest.

Andy,

For you to have any chance of beating your race goal your #1 priority should be to lose weight. And if you are serious about it you are going to have to get used to being hungry and probably start counting calories even if it's just for the first 4 weeks.

If you have an iPhone, download an app called ShapeUp and start tracking your intake for a week. Limit your total daily intake at 1600cals plus whatever else you burn exercising i.e. (if you ran 30mins today you get to consume an extra 350cals on top of 1600).

Ditch the bread, cheese and deep fried food, have desert once a week and choose wisely (i.e. avoid pastries, deep fried shit etc)

As an example, here's a typical 1,600cal eating day for you:

Breakfast
- 2 weetbix + fat free soy milk for breakfast = 250cal
- 1 long black + 1 sugar: 30cal

AM Snack
- 14 almonds (yes count them!): 100cal

Lunch
- Chicken wrap with lettuce, capsicum and just a little bit of cheese if you really need it: 400-500cal
OR
- 3 x Fresh spring rolls (they are really easy to make and cheap to buy from supermarkets - capsicum, carrots, vermicelli noodles, mint and a bit of sweet chilli sauce wrapped in rice paper): 400-500cal

PM Snack
- 14 almonds: 100cal

Dinner
- Lots of green leaves: 0 calories
- Steamed veggies or brown rice: 1 serve = 150cal
- Grilled chicken breast or very lean meat (cut the extra fat out) - use garlic/onion/ginger to season it for extra taste: 250-350cal
- 2 spoon fulls of yoghurt for desert (full fat is ok): 160

Total calories ~1,600

Starting tomorrow, come back in 4 weeks.

Thanks for the advice, at the moment I think I would eat less than that. Just different food. I want to avoid counting calories too much as it does my head in after a while and I end up breaking out and eating like a pig. Will check out that iphone app.

While I get you general want to avoid the real OCD type detail focus, you unfortunately will need to look at detail in some sort of depth in both diet and training. The storys that you keep hearing about person X or Y who just goes out and does what ever and kicks everybody's arse are generally massively over stated and usually miss out the 20+ years of top notch training that has occured. Steve Southwell is a priime example of this with the way Tony U and Mick M trot him out as an example. He has been racing Ironman since it pretty much started and has a whole bunch of sun 9 finishes on hard courses yet they seem to think that sayiing he has a no detail appproach actually means something useful to you and I.

As for the 8 weeks, in the broader scheme of training, I would think your suggestion of the week is pretty good.I would however modify it a bit as you do only have 8 weeks total and need a little more running than suggested. Maybe try...

Weeks 1-4
Mon - Off
Tue – Swim am 50 min Run 30min straight out of pool
Wed – Bike am 120 min
Thur – Run am 40 min
Fri – Swim am 50 min Run 30 min straight out of the pool
Sat – Run am up to 60 min
Sun – Bike am 65/4 brick

The runs out of the pool, do at an intensity you would descibe as comfortably hard. Tempo is what they are called. If you had more time, it would be a different story. Run easy for the first 5 minutes, hold Tempo for 22-23mins then easy the last 2-3 minutes.

Week 5 andd 6

Mon - Off
Tue – Swim am 50 min Run 30 min
Wed – Bike am 150 min
Thur – Run am 60 min
Fri – Swim am 50 min run 30 min
Sat – Run am up to 90 min
Sun – Bike am 90/4 brick

Do the extra runs the same way and that Sunday bike, have some slightly above race effort 10 minute spurts (4 of them)

Week 7

Mon - Off
Tue – Swim am 50 min Run 30 min
Wed – Bike am 150 min
Thur – Run am 60 min (3x 10 minute at your Tuesday am pace so 10 on, 10 off x 3)
Fri – Swim am 50 min run
Sat – Run am up to 90 min
Sun – Bike am 90/4 brick Last 20km race pace and run at race pace

Week 8

Mon - Off
Tue – Swim am 50 min Run 30 min Tempo
Wed – Bike am 80 min. Start hydrating here
Thur – Run am 30 min. Hydrate
Fri – Complete rest. Hydrate and carbs
Sat – Swim 15min, run 15 min at race pace and immediately take carbs/fluid on completion. The shoort sessions stimulate muscles for uptake of carb.
Sun – Epic Race of Awesomeness


All I suggested above the bbasic plan is a little more runing and utilising Tempo. If you had a longger time frame, it would be vastly different but 8 weeks is all. The tempo running is to work on your threshold which is pretty along with the regular frequency of the runs and the pace will stress the lactate-clearance capability of your person.

Remember I am no coach but from what I read here and there, this is what I would suggest. It is not what I would actually do but I tried to use your core and know hate for things detailed

Cheers Alex, yu are a smart man!. I will have to have a good look at it. During the holidays it is fine, but there is no way I could get away with doing a 150min ride before work.

I think I could beat my previous Husky time because I had to slow right down during the race due to an injury, had a flat tyre and walked a fair bit on the run.

I am not opposed to detail as such, I just know myself and know what I like and dont like. Have counted calories, been anal about diet and training and I do it for about 2 weeks and then get jack of it, quit training and eat shit. So I am trying to apply some consistancy rather than intensity.
Will also be doing the walk/run thing on my longer runs.

G'day Andrew,

Do you train solo or with a group/mates?

I know the sessions I never ever miss are the ones where I meet my mates.

I would look at structuring your week to include swim squads, meeting cycling/triathlon bike groups and maybe even join a running group. They don't need to be all triathletes.

It's when you start networking with other people, that you'll find it becomes motivating to train, just like meeting up with your mates for a Sunday Brewsky.

Log all your training on triathlog too. You can start to find patterns in terms of consistency and inconsistency. You can then tap into other people on that site that do similar hours and have similar goals. It all helps.

You have some good goals above, but go out and do a 10km run soon. Set up some benchmarks to get yourself thinking about where your at and how you plan on getting there. Your 10km run at the moment might be 60min (6:00min/k), therefore you can start thinking about doing some of those runs Plaz suggests and aim to break 30min for 6km. Build your fitness in steps. You could also start doing to 1km repeats at 5:00min/k, to teach yourself how to handle running 5:00min/k. Do 2-3 repeats one week 3-4 repeats next, then make the repeats 1.5km, you get the picture.

You need to start in 1st gear before you can get 5th gear and cruise control. Just make sure you find out where the 1st gear is. Reading your post it sounds like your trying to start off in 3rd gear and you really don't get to pick up speed with your training.

Hope it helps
fluro

Rogerio A wrote:Andy,
As an example, here's a typical 1,600cal eating day for you:

Breakfast
- 2 weetbix + fat free soy milk for breakfast = 250cal
- 1 long black + 1 sugar: 30cal

AM Snack
- 14 almonds (yes count them!): 100cal

Lunch
- Chicken wrap with lettuce, capsicum and just a little bit of cheese if you really need it: 400-500cal
OR
- 3 x Fresh spring rolls (they are really easy to make and cheap to buy from supermarkets - capsicum, carrots, vermicelli noodles, mint and a bit of sweet chilli sauce wrapped in rice paper): 400-500cal

PM Snack
- 14 almonds: 100cal

Dinner
- Lots of green leaves: 0 calories
- Steamed veggies or brown rice: 1 serve = 150cal
- Grilled chicken breast or very lean meat (cut the extra fat out) - use garlic/onion/ginger to season it for extra taste: 250-350cal
- 2 spoon fulls of yoghurt for desert (full fat is ok): 160

Total calories ~1,600

Starting tomorrow, come back in 4 weeks.

Rog, Is that your crash diet to shed excess kgs or is that typical for you? Can you train 12-14 hours eating that week in week out? There's F all food there in my eyes.

Paul F wrote:G'day Andrew,

Do you train solo or with a group/mates?

I know the sessions I never ever miss are the ones where I meet my mates.

I would look at structuring your week to include swim squads, meeting cycling/triathlon bike groups and maybe even join a running group. They don't need to be all triathletes.

It's when you start networking with other people, that you'll find it becomes motivating to train, just like meeting up with your mates for a Sunday Brewsky.

Log all your training on triathlog too. You can start to find patterns in terms of consistency and inconsistency. You can then tap into other people on that site that do similar hours and have similar goals. It all helps.

You have some good goals above, but go out and do a 10km run soon. Set up some benchmarks to get yourself thinking about where your at and how you plan on getting there. Your 10km run at the moment might be 60min (6:00min/k), therefore you can start thinking about doing some of those runs Plaz suggests and aim to break 30min for 6km. Build your fitness in steps. You could also start doing to 1km repeats at 5:00min/k, to teach yourself how to handle running 5:00min/k. Do 2-3 repeats one week 3-4 repeats next, then make the repeats 1.5km, you get the picture.

You need to start in 1st gear before you can get 5th gear and cruise control. Just make sure you find out where the 1st gear is. Reading your post it sounds like your trying to start off in 3rd gear and you really don't get to pick up speed with your training.

Hope it helps
fluro

Mainly on my own. Got some people to train with which is good but because of the little one sometimes there is a dirty nappy to change or something before I go which puts me behind. So makes it hard to keep firm times with groups. Also, to be honest, the groups in my area suck arse. All they want to do is race all the time. I train with a few pros which is awesome but only on the bike as it is the only place I can keep up with them. Will ring a mate this arvo and see what his plans are for the week though, thanks for the prompt.

Running is going well at the moment. I reckon I could easily do 10km in 55min with most of my 10k's are around 60min coz I warm up along the way and dont take it too seriously. I would say I have, over the past 3 weeks, averaged about 35km per week. Which is one long, one hilly medium and one tempo of 1 min repeats which is awesome. Havent swum in that time though or ridden much.

Swim squads here are no good either, they just insist on smashing you. Doesnt interest me in the slightest.

a.sawatske wrote: During the holidays it is fine, but there is no way I could get away with doing a 150min ride before work.

You only have to do it twice. Up at 4, out by 4:20, home at 6:50. Two weeks only

Alex R wrote:

a.sawatske wrote: During the holidays it is fine, but there is no way I could get away with doing a 150min ride before work.

You only have to do it twice. Up at 4, out by 4:20, home at 6:50. Two weeks only

true, I didnt notice that.
Hmm, maybe some Ay-Ups instead of a Garmin

Ay Ups are the shit. Best money I have spent for early morning training. They really do add opportunity that you do not normally have.

Mick B wrote:
Rog, Is that your crash diet to shed excess kgs or is that typical for you? Can you train 12-14 hours eating that week in week out? There's F all food there in my eyes.

Hey Mick,

This is a good crash diet to get rid of the extra kilos. That along with 7-8hrs of training per week will probably get rid of 1kg/week for a maximum of 7-8 weeks. Once that's gone you enter into maintenance mode with about 2,500cal/day plus whatever else you burn exercising.

Just remember I will normally eat more than this IF I exercise on that day. You start off 1,600 calories as your base and add on top of that based on how much exercise you got in. Not only is a good motivator to do an extra 30mins (so you can have a slightly bigger dinner) but also keeps you honest with the junk food. When you realise that the burger and chips or that caramel slice is about 60-70% of your daily intake you definitely think twice about it.

Andy sorry to be so short but there's some pretty good advice for you here that is very simple to follow. You've gotta do what you've gotta do, there's no easy way.

Good luck with it.

Rog

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.25149
these are an option also.

Rog- thanks for posting that info. I do appreciate it.
I should of mentioned I am not desperate to lose the 10kg in the 8 weeks. I figure if I am for 10 and fall short and get to 7 I will still be happy. Am thinking just a solid showing at Husky then smash the Newcastle OD race in March.

Rogerio A wrote:

Mick B wrote:
Rog, Is that your crash diet to shed excess kgs or is that typical for you? Can you train 12-14 hours eating that week in week out? There's F all food there in my eyes.

Hey Mick,

This is a good crash diet to get rid of the extra kilos. That along with 7-8hrs of training per week will probably get rid of 1kg/week for a maximum of 7-8 weeks. Once that's gone you enter into maintenance mode with about 2,500cal/day plus whatever else you burn exercising.

Just remember I will normally eat more than this IF I exercise on that day. You start off 1,600 calories as your base and add on top of that based on how much exercise you got in. Not only is a good motivator to do an extra 30mins (so you can have a slightly bigger dinner) but also keeps you honest with the junk food. When you realise that the burger and chips or that caramel slice is about 60-70% of your daily intake you definitely think twice about it.

Rog

Ta mate. Sounds good. I have never done the calorie counting thing. We are both about the same weight so your numbers are probably pretty close to my requirements.

Hows this going? Have you met your goals for Huskisson?

Cameron G wrote:Hows this going? Have you met your goals for Huskisson?

As usual life got in the way of other things. I ended up working at Husky rather than racing. Which, as it turns out, opened up a new door for me because of Pete Jacobs and Abu Dhabi Tri team. Still got the weight and the regular bouts of flu... so all in all a massive fail as per usual. Ha!

soft