I have jumped onto the trainer road from self coached with Zwift and train as one running, this is new and the structure is somewhat refreshing to me.
I work in the sports industry and over the last year as a small business owner have managed to take a little bit of control of the work life balance,
I have started the year working towards Ironman copenhagen but the priority of family vacation and work mean that training will be a low priority for the 3 weeks leading up to the event. . this isn’t ideal and so looking at the calendar there is a middle distance in the UK 2 weeks later that works, .
So that’s where I am at so i have just removed the two Ironman Build / speciality phases from the calendar and dropped in the speciality half that ends at the race, the half build phase in before it and I now have a gap of about 12 weeks between the plans.
I know I will have bad weeks where training is going to be scarce and not very constructive, my original plan was to bring the plans forward so the 10 weeks were at the end and then push weeks as they turn into problems and so give myself the padding. or do I drop in another build phase for the half distance and use full distance block I have just finished as preparing to train.
If I move onto the half Base plan I will have 4 push weeks between now and race date.
In terms of work life balance, I generally get about 80% of the workouts done per week with the slippage on the longer bike and the swims, I am not worried about the swimming and have plans to change my work to accommodate a longer ride during the week.
My primary goal is weight loss from 120kg to 100kg at which point I feel that I can really make a proper attempt at an ironman race
if this is your only option, go for it. even if you loose a bit of fitness you will be fine. maintain as much as you can during those 3 wk while giving space for your other priorities.
in terms of how to fill your remaining weeks, if you already have base>build>specialty of HD in the plan and still time over why not add some SSB1/2 now before you move on? leave 1-2 weeks as buffer for sickness/unplanned travel or life happening and if you keep them at the end before your 3 weeks off just repeat a week.
see also Long term plan for a 70.3 A race next August
if your 3 weeks are restorative instead of stressfull, maybe consider for the first of the 2 wk before your race some longer training hours or a not-all-out olympic race. this may give you some psychological comfort after the weeks off and take your mind back in.
Does the SSB1/2 also include the runs and the swim, I am really enjoying not thinking about things just ticking them off, I am not bothered about the swims, as that is my background and I am currently coasting at 1:35/100m on 1-2 sessions per week.
thank you for the thoughts here, I am getting the consistency in right about now but I know its going to get tougher in a few weeks with work commitments
No, if you want to pad it out I’d look at the sprint plans.
I’m not sure I’ve understood your situation, but if you’ve got the base build spec cycle plus a few weeks before your A race, I would - and do - keep them for push weeks; illness, holidays, etc. 3 weeks is easily consumed in six months.
They do not. Typically, riders will source the Runs and Swims from an appropriate triathlon plan. You can also choose to fill in with additioanl weeks of Half Distance Base for a more convenient “all-in-one” package
Since you have 4 extra weeks to play with, I’d recommend adding maybe 2 weeks of extra Base, while leaving yourself 2 “buffer” weeks in case life happens sometime between now and race day
