Funda's second entry

This just in from Funda, our London Triathlon newbie, who is in the process of training for the world's biggest swim/bike/run event.
"It has just properly dawned on me that the big day [The Mazda London Triathlon, 1-2 August] is only a few weeks away now. While my intentions have been good and training goals set high, I must admit that I still haven’t managed to complete a full 5km run.

Instead, however, after a few days of sickness, I decided to take advantage of the lovely weather and head to Hampstead Heath to see what it feels like to swim in icy, cold waters. I never before considered jumping into the Heath ponds but thought that it would at least give me a taste for what is to come in August. I must have swam about 300 metres before the cold really started getting to me. Not a bad result for my first time – now I just have to get used to doubling the distance with a wetsuit on and competing elbows all around me.

Running wise, I’ve been doing a few short runs but I really want to build up my running endurance and actually complete a running workout without walking. Since I feel comfortable with the 15km bike ride, I put together a little training schedule that will hopefully enable me to build up some strength/endurance. There are, of course, lots of ‘training plans’ out there for just about any race distance but you don’t necessarily have to do what others recommend. If you’re aware of your current fitness levels, then you know when and how to push yourself just that bit further.

My current training schedule looks something like this: Monday – push-ups and sit-ups followed by 20 minute jog Tuesday – day off Wednesday – 30 minutes of abs and arms, 30 min spin class Thursday – 1-hour spin Friday – 30 min. strength training followed by 30min spin class Saturday – 1 hour spin followed by 2hrs ride in Richmond Park Sunday – day off – well deserved This schedule seems to be suiting me pretty well for the moment. My Suunto (http://www.suunto.com) heart rate monitor is telling me that I’m burning an average 600 calories a day from my workouts. With just weeks to go now, that’s a fair few more calories to go…"