Cruise Control

Well, my race is in 6 days and I've done all I can do at this point. This isn't like a final exam where I can stay up all night studying. All my "studying" has been done over the last several months. This week I'm going to tone down the workouts, get in the slow lane and put it in Cruise Control.

I had my last major triathlon workout this weekend, and it was rather tame in comparison to other workouts. It was an indoor brick: 60 minutes on the stationary bike at a moderate pace followed up immediately with a 60 minute light jog on the treadmill.

I decided to keep it low intensity because I want to make sure I'm fully rested & ready for this race. Not only that, the last thing I want to do is injure myself the week before the race! Better be safe than sorry...

I'll swim 1 more time this week and shut that down also. The swim will be low intensity also, focusing on my form. I usually swim for an hour, but I'll probabbly swim for 30-45 minutes only. The plan is to start focusing on the mental aspect of the race on Thursday. At that point I'll assemble all my gear and start the mental checklists...

In addition to doing an indoor brick, I lifted weights at home in the 2nd bedroom. (I have a treadmill, weights, stationary bike & treadmill at home. Once I hit powerball and get the mansion I'll build an indoor pool after I cuss out all the haters! lol) I've only been lifting once a week for the last month or so because I wanted to give myself an extra swim or bike workout. To my pleasant surprise, I haven't lost any strength over this last month. After the race I'll take a couple weeks off then go back to lifting 2x a week.

My gym does not allow cameras or videos on the premises, so I decided to use this opportunity to show some of the exercises I do while lifting. Most triathletes lift primarily during the off season, but I prefer to lift year round because I simply enjoy lifting weights.  The exra weight isn't good for the sport though. The lighter a person is, the faster they are. Luckily, this race has a Clydesdale Division, for guys over 200 pounds (I'm 210) to even out the playing field a bit. For women, the Athena Division starts at 140 pounds.

After a brief warmup of jumping-jacks and stretches I start with ab exercises:

I do 50 reps of the bicycicle crunches followed with 20 of these:

I also do regular crunches and leg raises (not shown.)

At this point I start my routine:

Bench press (2 sets of 10.)

At the gym I prefer dumbells, but I don't have the proper weight at home, so I use the barbell:

Next is seated dumbell lateral raises (not shown) 2 sets of 10.

For my back I do bent rows. I alternate between the barbell & dumbells. 2 sets of 10:

Next is seated shoulder presses. I prefer dumbells because of the greater range of motion. 2 sets of 10 as always:

From here it's bicep curls. I alternate between standing with the curl bar, seated with dumbells, or standing (as shown.)

Next is triceps extensions laying on the bench (not shown.)

I don't work my legs too much with weights because my knees aren't the best in the world.  I prefer to save them for the run workouts and when I walk/run the stairs.  But when I do work them, I'll do light lunges & squats:

After this, I'll do more ab exercises like I did at the start of the routine,then it'sa wrap!  The total workout is about an hour.  I'm not a bodybuilder so  stick with basic exercises, which works for me.  I prefer to workout at the gym because there's more energy, space, and better equipment there, but it's good to have equipment at home too. I can't go as heavy at home either.  I'll have to invest in more equipment.  One day!  lol

So, as I said before, the majority of my workouts are done.  I have 1 more swim workout left and then it's time to focus mentally.   I'm concerned about the bike. That's going to be my biggest challenge.  Once I get off the bike I'm good!  I'll talk about the actual race & my gameplan on the next blog.

Thanks for reading!  Till next time, Peace!