Forecast: Two Unstructured Weeks

I am back on my own when it comes to my training. No training plans are made for me anymore... At least for now, since there is a wedding in my near future that needs some of my time and attention for planning purposes. That doesn't mean that I will stop working out... Well, there is a life after the wedding... E.g. the Palmetto200 just two weeks later as well as a couple of triathlons over the summer. Besides, I need this working out to keep my sanity during this planning period and also to make sure, that I will still fit in my dress... Even though I don't have a dress yet... Which makes me a little panicky... ARRRGGGHHH!

Since I kinda like the idea of a training plan, but still want to keep my flexibility, I decided to go with a generic plan from Beginner Triathlete (short: BT). For the last two years I logged all my workouts on that web page as well as enjoyed the huge community of athletes for inspiration and advice. I never tried one of their training plans, but now is a good time.

I took a calendar, circled the date for my first "A race", the Middle Tyger Triathlon (400m, 14 miles and 4 miles) on June 5th and choose the "Intermediate Sprint Plan 3x Balanced". That basically means, that the plan is for people that already did a sprint distance and are working out for at least one year one a regular basis. 3x balanced means that you have three session swim, bike and run per week plus some strength and flexibility. This translates to up to 10 hours of training during peak weeks.

The training plans on BT are flexible enough so you can tailor them to your needs. For example, put the swim on a day that suits you and the run on a day that works with the training of a buddy or a group run etc. For me personally, it means adjustments like getting rid of the third swim in the plan and put a little more emphasis on running since I will be doing the relay and also vowed to maintain a 10-mile long run in preparation of the international distance beginning of August.

It's a 12 week training plan and if I calculate the weeks back from race day to DAY ONE of the plan, I end up on March 15th... So besides of winter advisory for the Upstate for today... In my forecast are two weeks of unstructured training... SWEET! :-)