Amateur Endurance

I research everything to death. It is a flaw. It took me over a year to buy a new TV and I still don't have a coffee table or end tables. Training for the Pineapple Man is no different. I spent forever looking for a good training plan online to help me do my best for the race. If I were smarter I probably could have made my own training plan in that amount of time.

Most plans I found were for people that are just getting started in fitness. The goal of these programs is to cross the finish line with a smile on your face. The daily workouts did not seem very demanding and the focus was on enjoying fitness. There is definitely a market for that kind of training program out there. However, I was looking for something different. I wanted something that was really going to push me to do my very best. Other programs I found were for seasoned triathletes. Obviously, I don't fall into that category either.

Fortunately, my research was not in vain and I finally stumbled upon something pretty close to what I wanted. Amateur Endurance has a 16-week training plan for competing in a sprint triathlon. There is one off day per week and the workouts can be intense. This is almost exactly what I needed. So far I've been rearranging the days of the week to work with my schedule. My only complaint is that there aren't any full brick workouts. You do at most two of the three sports in a day. I may change the schedule toward the end to work in a practice race or two. Some of the workouts are too much for me, so I can tone down time or intensity when I have to.

I would absolutely recommend the Amateur Endurance website to anyone training for swimming, cycling, running, or any combination of the three.  They have some great workout and fitness programs available free of charge. I just wish I'd come across the site sooner!