Imperfect Workout: A Sampling of My Triathlon Training

Hi all,

I thought maybe I could show you guys a little bit of my training schedule that I was maintaining from February-June of 2012 prior to my triathlon. It was a gradual program with each month broken into 3 building weeks and one 'rest' week. The building weeks increased the prior week's regimen by 10% and then the 'rest' weeks decreased the final building week by 25%.

Here's a few of my weeks broken down, (these are from my workout notes from the end of June so they would have been the last weeks of my training)

Tuesday- 38 minutes run
Wednesday- 44 minutes bike (~10.75 miles)
Thursday- 32 minutes run
Friday- 10 minutes swim
Saturday- 70 minutes bike (~13.2 miles)
Sunday- 9 minutes swim

Friday- 28 minutes run + ab toning
Monday- 45 minutes bike + ab toning
Tuesday- 23 minutes run
Wednesday- 13.5 minutes swim (~0.25 miles)+ arm toning
Friday- 14.5 minutes swim + 43 minutes bike + 11 minutes run + arm toning

[And here's my last week]
Monday- 14 minutes swim + 40 minutes bike
Thursday- 46 minutes bike + 19 minutes run
Friday- 19 minutes run

So that was pretty hectic and nerve-wracking, it was also a pretty strict routine.
But it definitely got me in the best shape I'd ever been in in my life

In December of 2011 (my freshman year of college) I weighed about 99 lbs. I have always been small for my age and have had problems gaining weight since I was a child. I was still healthy and I ate regular meals, though I didn't exercise. I had lost a lot of the muscle weight I'd had throughout high school when I was constantly playing sports. My highest weight has been 112 lbs, and considering I'm 5'3" that's healthy enough, but that was when I was captain of my tennis team and more muscular than ever.

That December my friend approached me with the idea of running our first triathlon together; I thought she was crazy. But eventually she managed to convince me to train with her.

As I trained over the months, I gradually picked up weight and I began to notice the new strength I could feel in my core (swimming constant laps, who knew?!), my legs, and my arms. I also went from 99 lbs to a more muscular 107. I was pretty happy with myself.

Now, with a two-week break haunting me everyday I'm up to 110 and I can feel a little flab over my stomach where I used to have a (relatively) flat stomach. I also feel slightly depressed and I know that it's stemming from my complete lack of exercise.

I'm about to change that tonight! I'm heading over to the gym, it's slightly rainy, and my ipod is fully charged.
Plus, I've been looking at my pinterest 'exercise motivation' board all day!