Using Excel for Annual Training Plan - Copy/Paste instead of wood/rubber and lead

Having –and following- an organized training plan is mandatory no matter what one’s triathlon or endurance goals are. I rarely watch TV (the idiot box ), yet, the other day during a lifting session at the gym, there were a couple Microsoft’s Excel commercials that caught my attention. One involved a girl budgeting out her father’s allowance for shoe purchases. Perhaps this could be a good program for planning on a triathlon program? I thought. I’ve been fooling around with it a little bit and it is still in the works. Adding in sum equations would help expedite SBR totals.

There is a planned section ( a lot of copy/paste) that distributes the annual and weekly hours from Friel’s Training Bible. Those hours are then distributed amongst SBR, yoga, and weights. I’ve put an emphasis on running this year, since it is my limiter; however, the longer endurance sessions take place on the bike (about 50%). The actual hours are on the right. It’s very tough to stop myself during a workout if I still feel good. Friel often mentions not to add in extra training hours unless in very small increments. This could and will shock the system into injury or lower the immune system. That’s why my long run last week stopped at 1hr 5mins even though I wanted to push it more. Luckily, I didn’t. My calves were and are still on fire! That’s where The Stick comes in.

Trust me on this. Having a plan in front of you, even if it is a sheet of paper that says you should run an hour today will help ensure you're working out and that what you are doing is beneficial in the long term. It helps ensure you are increasing your duration and intensity gradually and it makes sure you get your butt off the couch and work out.
Getting engaged and taking on an assistant swimming coach position have taken a large chunk of my time. In between though, training is back on and it feels great!