Happy Thursday! You have no idea how happy I am that today is here 
After I finished my assignment yesterday I looked at my summer schedulre and realized that I only have 7 weeks until my first triathlon. Ahh! How did that sneak up on me? I’m honestly not too concerned about the distance in each event: .5 mile swim, 13 mile bike, and 3.1 mile run but putting them all together? Terrifying!
As I know I’m quite capable of finishing the distances, my first thought was to not train for the event at all. I mean I’m coming back from a running injury and my main goal this summer is to properly heal and rebuild my mileage. So maybe I should just wing the triathlon?
Unfortunately, for me, training isn’t all about the physical – there’s a huge mental component to it as well and I know that if I don’t train I won’t be mentally ready for my race. Plus, even though I don’t have a time goal for my first tri, I want to be competitive! I don’t want the race to be miserable and I want to have fun.
I searched the internet for some training plans and found a wide variety. Many emphasize swimming but for a .5 mile swim I just don’t see the point. Especially when I swim a mile at least once a week.
So in typical Lindsay fashion I created my own training plan. It’s nothing fancy, I’m going to continue safely increasing my running distance while adding in two swims and two days of riding my bike each week. Both of my swims will be during the week along with one bike ride and I’ll save the other ride for Saturday so I can throw a few brick workouts into the mix. My goal is to keep up my running 5-6 days a week through all of this as well (I’m currently only running about 22 miles per week so this seems reasonable but I may have to change this when I get back up into the 40′s).
So, what do you guys think? Does this seem reasonable and will this prepare me for a sprint tri? I’m open to any advice or suggestions because I am a total newbie!
On a different subject, I think I’ve perfected my overnight oats
I realized about a month ago that I actually prefer my overnight oats on the runny side. So my new mix is 1/3 cup oats, 1/3 cup yogurt, 1/2-2/3 cup almond milk, 1-2 tsp ground flax, and 1/3 banana.
This mix used the Holly’s Oatmeal that I posted about the other morning. It tasted so much better as overnight oats than it did as oatmeal!
Alright time to get moving! Have a great one guys!
I love overnight oats and I love em runny!
Yeah I have no idea what I’ve been doing the past two years making them thick!
I wish I had better advice to give you, but I am super excited to see how the Tri training plan works out for you. I’d really like to do one but the swimming isn’t something my body is used to in the slightest. How long did it take you to work up to swimming a mile once a week?
It took me about a month of swimming 1-2x per week to get used to the distance and then another 2 months or so to feel comfortable. I think it really differs by how much experience you have in the water. While I hadn’t been swimming for awhile before I started again last summer, I grew up on a lake and swam a lot and I swam on a team for awhile and I used to dive. So I’ve been in the water a lot!
It’s definitely worth trying though. In addition to being a nice break from running, the breathing techniques you use during swimming will help your running. I majorly PR-ed in a 10K after swimming for a couple of months and I hadn’t changed my running at all!
I really need to try overnight oats! maybe this summer. I just did my first sprint tri on Sunday! It was a blast!! I trained for about 6 weeks. I was the same as you- not worried about the distances at all, but about putting them together. My biggest advice would be to make sure and bike ride on an open road similar to the course (the wind was INSANE on my race and I didn’t prepare at all for the elements) Also if you swim is open water, just know it’s going to be a little harder than normal. Mine was in the ocean so for the first two legs I was swimming against the waves, which made it pretty hard. You will be more than prepared, but I think a few brick workouts will def get you more used to the transitions, etc. You can read more about my experience on my blog. Good luck!!
Thanks for the advice
. I’m heading over to your blog to read more right now!
I’ve never attempted a tri, but it’s certainly on my to-do list. And a sprint tri seems like a perfect place to start!
Thats what I figured, its a good place test them out and if I like them I can look into longer ones
So that’s what cookie butter looks like! Mmmm….I will definitely have to try it!
I’ve never done a tri but it sounds like you have a good plan in place!
You should try it, its so good!
Also, thanks, I hope it goes well and I’ll be sure to blog about the trianing and recap the race!
Your oats look so good!
You’ll have to let us know how prepared/unprepared you felt with your training program you’ve created post-tri… I’ve been thinking about doing a sprint tri, but have no idea how the training process works! 
I definitely will. I’ll make sure to blog about the training and then recap the race!
Awesome! Thanks!
Where are you doing the race? Chi-town I’m assuming?
Actually, I’m doing it in Michigan (where I’m originally from). For my first tri, I wanted to do a smaller race that didn’t involve biking down Lake Shore drive, that might be a bit traumatizing
Hahaha love it!
Probably a good call!
That’s exciting you are doing a Tri! That’s one of my next goals.
Yeah I’ve wanted to do one for awhile and finally took the plunge and registered for one! I’m a little terrified but mostly excited!
I am doing my first tri in a month in Michigan also! I have only been training since the beginning of April and as you talked about know I can do each of the distances but I am having trouble these days just going out an dhaving fun and doing the best I acn., I find myself over thinking the numbers and times these days. That is just the competitive side of me coming out. Good luck with your training, Look forward to hearing about it!
Thats so exciting, where in Michigan?
I’m sure you’ll do great and the best part about doing your first tri is that you have no previous PR to beat, any finish will be a PR
You’ll kill that sprint tri! I found the transition from marathon running to tris a few years back pretty easy especially because I too am a swimmer
(I started with sprints and just did a half ironman last year) The hardest part for me was the biking as I wanted to do longer tris. I bought a tri bike and trained more in the aero position. It took awhile but it was definitely worth it. Have fun!!!
Thanks, I’m hoping I like the sprint because eventually I would LOVE to do a half ironman. My guess is that the biking will be the hardest part for me, especially because I don’t want to shell out a lot of $$ for a nice bike quite yet!