This past year was my first introduction to triathlons and I’m officially 7 weeks into structured training (only bought a bike back in April). I finished off Olympic Base Mid Volume 2 weeks ago and officially kicked off the first week of HIM Base Mid Volume this past week. I also had my ‘A’ race (a sprint tri with a 30 mile gravel bike) over the weekend which went okay as a stepping stone.
Sprint swim pace: 1:44/100 yd. Speed felt good, can definitely tell I need more open water swim practice to smooth out my stroke and breathing through more choppy water.
50k gravel bike: Garmin pace: 16mph, race stated pace: 14.5mph. I accidentally took a turn with the group doing the 10 mile gravel bike and had to double back which added an additional 2.25 miles to my trip, but also lost the pack of riders I was competing against. That lead me to doing 25 miles pretty much solo with no drafting or targets to push myself by. I don’t have an on the bike power meter so I just paced by feel. Looking back I could have probably pushed a bit harder, but I really wasn’t sure of my pacing.
Run: 8:20/mile. This was a hilly run through a wooded area so I ran/walked some. Looking forward to further brick practice.
New to Trainer Road, Training for Ironman Bolton UK
Aiming on just finishing.
Most confident on the bike,
Furthest run i have done is a half marathon
And swimming being the worst part, 1000m being the furthest I have swam… and in a pool.
Anyone else on here doing Bolton?
I’m sure I’ll jump properly into this thread once this years done and dusted. I’m not sure what I’ll end up doing but training time will be more limited as I’m starting a new job in October and I also need to keep costs down if I can - if that’s possible with long distance racing!
The options I’m considering are
Just spend the year focussing on half distance racing and some shorter Oly’s and maybe sprints ready to go long again in 2021. This could actually end up being more costly though if I end up entering a few races.
If I can afford it I might put all my eggs in one basket, focus on one faster European IM race and shoot for a sub 9hr somewhere.
Alternatively I might do the Outlaw again. Nearer and cheaper than IM races and my son lives in Nottingham so can tie it in with a visit. I know the course well and would be an ‘easy’ choice. I don’t know think a sub 9hr time is realistic on that course but depending on the field could place well.
My longer term goals would be another Kona attempt in 2022 when I age up and will be a youngster in the AG again
Thanks for the roll-call! Really cool to be part of the IM group on here, seems like we are all in this together.
Looks like the goal of this off season will be to nail some local 5/10/half marathon races in lead-up to the spring. I’ll likely jump on a full marathon at the end of may while I go full IM prep; my goal of next years race is to try and sub 3:30 the IM Canada run. Also it would be nice to Sub 10 hrs, but if I do either of those goals it will be a win in my books.
I am trying to get my ankle and knee back to like 90% before I try and hit harder running training this fall. Might try some X country races. I haven’t really swam in a month so I should get back into that as well lol. Thinking of doing some SSLV training in the winter while balancing the running. Will likely stick to 60-70% of the SS plan, then slot in the full tri low volume plan in the spring.
If my training progression was anything like this year, I feel like a sub 10hr IM is achievable; I went from a 220-230 FTP to 290 FTP at the start of my first long course race of this year, which was over 4 W/kg. If I can just get a bit more watts and can hold a decent wattage on the bike at IM Canada, I feel like I might be able to knock both the run goal and the race time goal out. The swim is what it is… I’m not really ready to invest the hours it will take to cut 5-6 minutes off my swim time. I think if I was more gunning for a Kona slot then I would be trying to push those 5-6 minutes out, but I feel like I could get a chance at a roll down if I just keep consistent over the next couple of years without having to deal with disappointment. I think that’s better for both my mental health and physical health; I don’t think I have enough experience/years in triathlon to really race successfully at the front of the full distance yet. I actually think the smart thing would be to nail as many 70.3’s as I can for a few years, but IM Canada looked too epic to pass up
I’m going back to IM Vichy …The new hills and heat destroyed me this year … going back with the aim of taking a big chunk off the bike leg
Plus may do a smaller IM as a warm up race
Just finished 70.3 WC in Nice and I guess I’m not into my first off-season and training for my main A race, next years 70.3 WC at the end of Nov. Looking for some feedback on my initial off-season/season plan.
In this last year I did MV 70.3 Base > Build > Specialty to my first 70.3 in June, then repeated Build/Specialty as worked upto and between 70.3 Calgary in August and just recently 70.3 WC Nice.
After a couple weeks of rest/recovery/easy workouts, start:
Low Volume Mid Distance Base w/ strength training incorporated.
Low Volume Mid Distance Build w/ strength training incorporated.
This leads into January 2020:
Mid Volume Mid Distance Base
Mid Volume Mid Distance Build
during that build at end of May: C - race. Calgary Marathon (want to check a marathon off the list)
Mid Volume Mid Distance Specialty
Beginning of July - B Race - Local 70.3
Repeat Specialty till - 70.3 Calgary - A/B race.
Then repeat end of Base and then Specialty leading to 70.3 WC at the end of Nov.
Does that make sense at all? haha. Any suggestions? Within the training plan, I will be focusing on swimming over the winter, and then running at the beginning of the year leading up to the marathon.
Need some advice on which way to go. I was planning to start some traditonal base plans and an planning to do them for the next 16 weeks (lv3, mid vol 1-3). Or should I just do sweet spot? I like the 4 days a week of riding.
After the 16 weeks I will be 25 weeks out from my 70.3 CDA. Where should I go from there or should I just continue onto a 70.3 plan.
I am building my running base with 4 runs a week using Pfitz plans for the 16 weeks and swimming 2 days a week for now.
I had an enjoyable first season in 2019 helped massively by the TrainerRoad community here.
For the next 6-9 months I’m travelling Australia and South America. I’ll look to do some triathlons for fun and plenty of open water swimming but I’m not sure about the consistency or quality of training.
If I keep in reasonable condition I’d like to do a 70.3 late 2020. With my next big target of notts outlaw 2021.
UK Ultimate Full is on my agenda in mid June 2020. Also Manchester marathon 10 weeks before.
Have 4 x IM under my belt but never really dedicated myself in the past so results in the 12:30-13:30 range for IMUK & IMWales.
I have a renewed determination for this on so picked a flat race to see if I can turn out a decent time.
Current FTP 259w
Target FTP >305w
Current weight 95kg.
Target race weight <80kg
Plan.
SSB LV - 12 weeks (currently in wk2)
SSB LV - 12 week. (Repeated with increased FTP)
SPB LV - Marathon will be in wk7 so need to manage myself carefully.
2 week recovery, do what I can on bike
FDT LV - 8 weeks.
This takes me to race day.
PCP
I’m in a similar position to you.
Slightly different approach for me. The plan at moment is
SSBLV 1
Sustained build wks 1-6
2 weeks xmas
Sustained build wks 5-8
IM base
IM Build
IM speciality
Having done them both a few times IMO the Traditional Base Plans I find are better than the SS if you can commit the time to them. Especially so for longer distance athletes as once you get to the longer tempo rides they can pay dividends later on in the year.
I’m not sure I’d worry about the first 4 weeks of the LV though. I’d consider doing just the Medium Volume you’ve got planned, then moving on to the 70.3 plans which would leave a few weeks wiggle room for unexpected events or illness.
I’d struggle doing the same types of plan for that length of time, even at different volumes. Mentally I’d find that tough as well as having pretty much a years worth of similar sorts of riding patterns and stimuli.
For me I’d think about doing something different instead of the two low volume base/build cycling plans you’ve got planned. It would help me mentally compartmentalise the years training as the focus shifts through the different events.
Rather than time things to end the Speciality plan for your B race I’d think about timing that for the end of the Build Phase instead of the suggested Olympic race and then move through the Speciality plan to your A race. If you really want to peak for the Calgary race (and presumably the WC) I’d just time things around that and the WC and let the B race fall where it may rather that aim to peak for that as well.
Thanks and appreciate it and will make the change as I do have the time but need to make sure I get up even earlier now which I fine. As I said I really like 4 days a week of riding as it fits my schedule.
For the running I am doing some Piftz stuff but mostly GA for now. Eventually I will weave in some other runs but not sure as of yet since I typically do them without the bike/swim. Probably 1 long run and one of my favorites is the LT 8 with 4 miles at half marathon pace. I tend to use the HR zones with all of Pfitz workouts. Do you @JulianM?
I tend largely to go off RPE with a pace ranges in mind for interval running. I find actual pace and HR can vary a fair amount depending of the stage of training and fatigue levels and striving for a specific pace or HR can be counterproductive.
Went 9.30 at Roth in July in my first long distance race this July, and looking to get close to 10.15 at Wales. It’ll be my last year in M35 so might have an outside chance of a KQ. Failing that, it’ll be a good recce for M40 in 2021.
Got lots of work to do in the next 12 months to improve my bike.
Thinking about another Full in 2020…would be my third. Got the begrudging OK from my partner after in the past committing to her “no more fulls” after I ended up needing an IV after IM Chattanooga in 2017. Just getting the itch again.
Deciding between IM Chattanooga, IM Louisville, or IM Florida for 2020.
