The 12 week report card

So it's been over 12 weeks since starting the official training this year and I've been writing down the workouts on a little piece of paper. Thought I'd tally these up to see the progress made as well as understand what's been working well and what to adjust...

Hours & Miles

In 12 weeks, there has been 94 hours of actual training, which does not include all that extra time to drive to the swimming pool, get the gear set up, drag myself out of bed in the morning....just the actual exercise time.

The 94 hours is 7.8 hours per week or 1.1 hours per day.
Seems reasonable when I consider it that way. Looking at the distribution each week there seems to be a variation of time...which I'm ok with as it matches a plan that you build-build-build and then have a recovery week. I'm not sure I've been as intentional as I could be on that one, so something to consider in the summer training plan for the full Arizona IronMan.

469 miles over 12 weeks is 39 miles per week. 
I'm not sure how to judge this as a standalone measure. One one hand I think...as I'm training for a 70.3 triathlon, then I am getting good mileage in, but need to ensure I've had a few weeks of higher mileage to ensure I have trained my body to cover this distance.
Looking at the variation alone does not help...so I have broken it down into the number of exercises by key type. Biking is the key sport that drives up mileage, so in those weeks when the mileage is lower, that does not mean there was not quality workouts, there were simply focused towards other key sports.

However, I can see the injury from my knee after the Half Marathon caused my mileage to go down (to the measly 1 mile in week 11) whilst I adjusted for injury.

Sport Discipline Breakdown

Notes or what I included in each bucket:
Swim - Master swim class, personal swim practice
Bike - Road Bike rides, Spin Classes, Home Trainer Sessions
Run - Road Run, Gym Treadmill run, Elliptical, Aqua Jogging
Strength - Pilates, Yoga, Weights, Physical Therapy Sessions

Looking at the 12 weeks my biggest ah-ha moment is the low number of bike sessions. I remember hearing many people at IronMan Arizona talk about the bike being their key training element. They forsake the other sports for the bike rides because it was so great for building strength and endurance in the legs that could carry over to the run. And that the majority of the triathlon race is on the bike, so the need to focus there.


I have not spent enough time or sessions on the bike. I bought a home trainer to build this into my schedule better, meaning I don't have to ride the bike on the road at 8pm at night and can fit in shorter form building sessions during the week and not just do a long weekend endurance ride.

I've spent more time on strength in recent weeks, due to the knee injury, but actually now realize how important it is and how I see my body being stronger because of it. Focusing on core, weights and arm bands for arm strength, pilates for flexibility, and leg/knee strength and stability exercises as improved my fatigue levels in the other sports because I have more muscle to use.

Swimming needs to continue to ensure I can complete the distance in a reasonable time and because it is a good overall fitness builder, but trying to get 10 minutes faster is not going to help my overall time versus time on the bike.

Running, hmm not really sure right now on this one. I'm not a strong runner and the distances are long so need to keep working on endurance and form. But how much can I compensate strength and biking to carry me through a run? I don't want to stress it out and will continue with the aqua jogging for form, but not sure I'll get many long distance runs in before the 2 upcoming races...

Upcoming Races
March 27th   SuperSeal Olympic Triathlon
April 30th     Wildflower Long Course 70.3 miles Triathlon

Report Card Score "B"
I think I give myself a B. It's my first training plan, been focused and have been tracking my progress. But see some good key adjustments that will help me in the next 6 weeks for my early races.