My First Full Ironman is at the end of November. I have a half Ironman at the end of July. I put the half ironman in as an B or C race because I figured I might as well do one before I hit the full in November. I am doing TrainerRoad Low Volume plans on everything so far.
What I did was work backwards in the calendar and had the full distance specialty to end the week of my Full Ironman event. Then I made the Full Distance Build to end the week before the Specialty starts and the Full Distance Base to end the week before the Full distance build starts. I then calendared Half Distance Base to end when Full Distance Base would start because I wanted to start training earlier.
I am 5 weeks in on Half Distance Base. Training is going well and I like the plans so far. What I noticed is that after I finish Half Triathlon Base that Full Distance Tri base takes 7 weeks to get the TSS back to the same level I am at with Half. This doesn’t seem right … Any suggestions on how I should be doing this differently to keep a steady TSS build?
I would pick maybe 2-3 of the IM base towards the end and copy them into the beginning if the TSS isn’t there. Just don’t remove the recovery weeks. You could also do the same work outs, but instead of doing Baird for example, do Baird +1, or Baird +2 to get some more stress in.
You also might like the break once you get there. You are training well now, but we all get into a lull and this might be the perfect fit. Maybe schedule a vacation in this time.
Hi there - and immediate bonus kudos for starting with the Low Vol plans! Lots of people go in too high, and skip swim/run to keep the bike up.
I see what you’ve done with the training plans, it might be worth noting that the full distance allows for a 70.3 race at the end of Build and also halfway through Speciality. These are the more ‘traditional’ Times to race a half in the build up to a full. Personally I found that the end on Build is right for me, halfway through Speciality can burn me out before getting to the start line for the full distance.
So, my first thought would be to plan a half a bit later in the year. 28 weeks of full distance structured training is tough to maintain, extending that by another two(?) months on half distance training might not work out for you (or maybe it will, you may be totally cool with it).
That said, I like to do a bit of Olympic Plan before starting full distance, to wake me up before the onslaught. So, actually if you want to continue as you are, I think you’ve done the right thing starting with half distance…take it as getting yourself and schedule sorted out and used to structured training which in my experience is more about getting up early, getting to bed early, eating properly and laying your clothes out for the next day, than it is about starting fitness.
Good luck, and tell us about your races on the Ironman in 2019 thread
