Disclaimer: I am not a professional triathlon trainer, please consult a professional trainer for your training plans. All the products mentioned were personal purchases, except for the Garmin 910xt which was a present from a mentor/friend. I have no commercial interest with all of the products mentioned.
Dec 11 2013, an email confirmed my registration for the Challenge Philippines 2014 Half distance Ironman Triathlon. The Challenge 2014 which had its inagural in Subic Philippines was my second triathlon race. The first was the Nov 17 2013 Subic Invitational Triathlon, a sprint consisting of 1.0 km swim, 30.0 km bike and a 5.0 km run. Challenge Subic Philippines 2014 was my big leap into a half Ironman distance (1.9 km swim, 90.0 km bike, 21.0 km run), preparing for it kept me active most of the winter.
While the event was about 11 weeks away when I registered on 11 of December, my training started only around the 2nd week of January. During the holidays however, I was able to squeeze in two long bike rides. The first was a 55.0 km ride that ended up on the beauiful beach of Hamilo Coast in Cavite. The other, a recon ride on the Challenge bike course where I went only as far as the Bagac Town welcome arc. On the ride back, roughly 4 kilometers to Morong town center, I had two of my tires flat at the same time.
Those two rides pretty much sum up my December "training." Not much training was done right after the New Year either. I was out in Hokkaido snowboarding for week. While my back and legs were sore from the pounding, I was merely being shuttled by lifts and gondolas to the top of the slopes. If ever, the only physical effort made was the glide downhill. And with a nutrition consisting mostly of sushi, ramen and warm sake, it was a more of a holiday hangover.
With practically nothing much to do while queueing and riding the lifts and gondolas, my thoughts wandered on how I would prepare for my coming Challenge race in Feb. I wouldn’t be back to Tokyo until Jan 10 to start my training, that left me with about 6 weeks to prepare.
As soon as I hit Tokyo I was set to kick off the season. My training goal was to simulate race day conditions two weeks before the race date. Specifically, I would like to hit the peak of my training around the first week of Feb with a brick workout consisting of 90.0 km bike ride and 21.0 km run. This I thought will 1.) help prepare my nutrition during the race 2). give me a rough idea of what I could expect in terms of cut off/finish time and 3.) with two weeks more to go, leave me with enough time to taper off and recover before race date.
Although I was very clear about my training goal, my training was pretty much left open. What I did was to plan at the start of every week, building up intensity along the way leading to hitting that 90.0 km bike ride & 21.0 km run combo by 1st week of February.
Along with my training goal, I had the following targets set in my training.
- Take the variables that I can't manage, out of the training program - weather and accidents. I placed an order for a bike trainer.
- Test nutrition for the race in a series of brick workouts.
- Training limits:
- Stay within Zone 2 70% of the time
- Listen to your body. Pain equals rest.
On top of my essential training tools were a Minoura 760 trainer and a Garmin 910xt. The 910xt, a present from a friend and triathlon mentor Nikko, help me log and quantify my workout as well as plan my nutrition. The Minoura was the key in achieving my bike workout target without having to worry about the weather and schedule. And equally important, the Minoua 760 essentially eliminated accidents in my training. I was lucky to survive an accident while cycling last year, that traumatic incident has shaped the way I approach cycling.
The training log that follows was taken from my Strava dashboard. It was a log of what actually happened as opposed to what I planned to do. While I had a workout schedule every week, much of it ended up being tweaked.
I do no not in any way claim that this is the best way to train for a 1.9 km swim, 90 km bike and 21 km run triathlon. Consult a professional trainer for advice. However, this was how my training ended up and made me confident on race day.
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| Race Nutrition. Back row from left to right: Hammer Perpetuem Orange Vanilla Flavor, Pocari Sweat. Front Row from left to right: Minute Maid Banana Yogurt meal, Glico Hypotonic CCD Energy & Electrolyte Drink, Honey Stinger Organic Chews Orange Blossom Flavor & Glico Extra Amino Acid |
Notes on the Nutrition products above. Minute Maid Banana Yogurt meal is the equivalent to the energy from eating 2 bananas, 180 grams pack contains 194 calories. Glico Hypotonic CCD Energy & Electrolyte drink, each pack contains 45 grams of powder with the equivalent of 170 calories. The Glico Hypotonic must be dissolved in 0.5 liter of water.
Glico Extra Amino Acid was my post training supplement. It speeds up muscle healing brought up by intense workout/exercise. I usually took 2 capsules right after a heavy workout and another 2 capsules before sleeping. The maximum recommended per day is 4 capsules which provide among others Arginine 500mg, Ornithine 120 mg, Lysine 200 mg for every 4 capsule dose.
5 weeks training summary
Overall Total
Swim: 24.0 km
Bike: 452.0 km
Run: 222.6 km
Week 1
Jan 13 Mon to Jan 19 Sun
Comments:
I intended to start my training with what I enjoy most - swimming. I then added what I think was the most difficult part of the race, running. Those were my focus for the 1st week. The first bike ride was meant to scout for a cycling route in Tokyo. I ended up doing the Arakawa route that weekend. A 70 km stretch of paved running and cycling road along the Arakawa river that stretches from the mouth of Tokyo bay all the way to Saitama Prefecture.
Swim 2km : Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs, Friday
Bike: Sun 50.5 km Tokyo - Arakawa bike route (out on the road)
Run: Thurs 12.5 km., Friday 12.5 km
Week 1 Total
Swim: 10km
Bike: 50.5 km
Run: 50.0 km
Week 2
Jan 20 Mon to Jan 26 Sun
Comments:
Week’s goal was to focus on the run capped with a weekend of a full distance race day bike course. For the ride, I went to the Shinagawa Oi Futo (Wharf), a container terminal along the Tokyo Bay. On Sunday, the roads are closed to traffic turning it into a favorite peloton course for Tokyo based cyclist.
I took note of what my 910xt recorded on how much calories I burned during the 22.0 km run and 100.00 km bike ride. This later served as guide for my nutrition plan.
Swim 2km: Tues, Wed, Thurs
Bike: Sun 100 km Gaien Nishi to Shinagawa Oi Futo (out on the road)
Run: Tues 17.8 km, Thurs 13.0 km, Fri 22.8
Week 2 Total:
Swim: 6 km
Bike: 100 km
Run: 53.6 km
Week 3
Jan 27 Mon to Feb 2 Sun
Comments:
This was Brick's week. A series of bricks session with increasing intensity. I almost passed out on my first brick of 45.0 km bike & 12.8 km run having consumed only 196 kcal from Banana/Yogurt meal and a 500 ml of Pocari Sweat. I felt hunger when I hit the 10 km mark on the run.
Nutrition:
What worked.
On my third brick of 75.0 km ride and 25.1 km run I consumed the following while on my bike trainer: 270 calories from 1 liter of Hammer Perpetuem, 400 calories from Calorimate Mocha Flavored Energy bars, 400 calories from Banana Yogurt Meal and 1 litter of Pocari Sweat. All in all, 2 liters of liquid consumed (electrolyte and energy mixed) and 1,070 calories from energy bars, banana yogurt meal, Hammer Perpetuem. My 910xt logged 2,700 calories burned, 1,090 calories on the bike and 1,650 calories on the run.
What didn't.
I had a terrible stomach upset when I hit the 10 km mark on run while on my 3rd brick session. My stomach wasn't quite happy with the Mocha flavored Calorimate Energy bar. I ended up rushing to the nearest toilet for a short 'pit stop.' It was a mess. That was the second time I had a similar experience with a Mocha flavored energy meal. The first was the Mocha Gu I took prior to the race during the Subic Invitational Triathlon. From then on, anything Mocha flavored was out of my nutrition.
Swim 2k: Mon
Brick: all rides on Minoura 760 Trainer
45.0 km bike & 12.8 km run Tues
60.0 km bike & 17.9 km run Wed
75.00 km bike & 25.1 km run Sat
Week 3 Total
Swim: 2.0 km
Bike: 180.00 km
Run: 55.8
Week 4
Feb 3 Mon to Feb 9 Sun
Comments:
Hit peak of training with a brick workout of a 90 km bike & 22.8 km run.
My Garmin 910xt log the following.
2,874 calories burned - 1,198 calories burned on the bike & 1,676 calories burned on run.
Bike time 3:19:39, average speed 27.1 km/hour.
Run time 2:07:05, 5:34 min /km.
Nutrition:
I consumed the following while on the bike trainer: about 600 calories from Banana Yogurt meal, 270 calories from 1 liter of Hammer Perpetuem Drink, 170 calories from .5 liter Hypotonic CCD Energy Drink, 160 calories from HOney Stinger Energy Chews, and .75 liter of Pocari sweat.
1,200 calories consumed along with 2.25 liters of energy/electrolyte drink.
This was my benchmark for my nutrition during the bike portion of the race.
Brick
16.0 km bike & 18.0 km run Mon
90.0 km bike & 22.8 km run Wed
Swim 2k: Fri, Sun
Week 4 total
Swim: 4.0 km
Bike: 106.0 km
Run: 40.0 km
Week 5
Feb 10 Mon to Feb 13 Thurs
Comments: Taper and simulate hill climbs.
Brick 16 km Level 7 Hills bike & 22.8 km run
Swim 2km: Wed, Thurs
Week 5 Total
Swim: 2.0 km
Bike: 16.0 km
Run: 22.8 km
Final Notes on Nutrition. The nutrition mentioned above, while the only ones taken during bike ride, were not solely what sutained me during my workouts. I usually have a heavy breakfast consisting of granola grains with yogurt, 2 slices of bread with peanut butter and 1 or 2 bananas.
I left Tokyo Feb 15 for Manila, a week prior to race date. I planned for some more recon rides and practice swim along the Challenge swim course.
There was a terrible snow storm in Tokyo the night before I left which dumped about 10 cm of snow on the streets. It was a struggle getting into my nearest subway with a suitcase full of gears and nutrition and a backpack. As soon as I got on my seat on the plane, I took off my winter boots along with the rest of my winter clothes. I was ready for Challenge Philippines 2014 triathlon race!
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| Upgrades for the Challenge: Speedfil 1 liter nutrition tank, X Lab Torpedo Water bottle, Fzik Tritone saddle and Topeak nutrition bag/pack. |
