It’s a fair point and think it depends on what kind of swimmer you are.
If you get out of the water pretty hard up against it, or have several different paces it could reap rewards. I have toyed with the idea but I essentially have one pace for long swims, and if I try to slow down then my form deteriorates negating the benefit I’m trying to achieve.
Emphasizing what a crap swimmer I am, I have one pace for all tri races…sprint, OLY, HIM or Full. All roughly the same (slow) pace. 
That is why I am thinking about it. Trying to leverage my swimming background (albeit 2+ decades ago). Out of the couch without hitting the water, i know i can do a mile in just under 30 min sans wetsuit (my wife signed me up for a race a bit of a year ago two nights before whithout telling me and casually told me the day before the race). The last sprint I did (a couple years now) - I came 6th out of the water (82 people) and managed to deteriorate my overall placing to 18th (4th AG, at least i am now in the 40-45) - keep in mind my run was the 66th fastest (of 82) haha.
I hate you.
I would say the same when you zoomed past me on the run!! 
Back on the grind post Covid. Workouts have been at full strength since 2 days ago.
Im only half a week behind on the bike but almost 2 weeks behind on my run and swim plans.
I’m naturally ok in the water, I hold my own in the bike, and then my mates hunt me down like an animal on the run. Sometime I can hold them off, usually not 
Wow it’s February already and time for Roll Call!
| Plan/Race Week | Bike TSS | Run TSS | Swim TSS | Lift TSS | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sweet Spot Base I MV 1 | 338 | 148 | 0 | 0 | 8h 17m |
| Sweet Spot Base I MV 2 | 370 | 210 | 0 | 0 | 8h 53m |
| Sweet Spot Base I MV 3 | 377 | 211 | 0 | 0 | 9h 39m |
| Sweet Spot Base I MV 4 | 328 | 143 | 0 | 48 | 8h 9m |
| Sweet Spot Base I MV 5 | 269 | 291 | 0 | 0 | 8h 48m |
Think I skipped one TR session and two runs, but cut back on three or four more. Lost a few kilos as well. Overall quite happy going in to recovery week, maybe even overdoing it a touch this early in the year.
As this is no longer a race focussed thread I’m including everyone who posted (66 users so far by my count), as always let me know if I should add you in or drop you out - the list will be used for the next eleven months 
So how has your month of preparation, training and recovery been?
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Roll call! 
I’m just continuing pretty easy base work outside of hard efforts on Tuesdays for the Zwift Racing League (this week was especially grueling, but had a nice bump on my intervals.icu eFTP afterwards with the last 20’ of the race basically being an FTP test effort climbing the Innsbruck KOM). Anyway, I’m having hints of mental struggle with the outlook for the race season becoming more cloudy, as I posted in another thread:
I was pretty optimistic in the late fall/early winter about events happening in the summer this year given how the cases dropped pretty low last summer and with the vaccines coming out, but I’ve definitely lost a good chunk of that optimism based on how high the cases have gone (which will be a higher starting point than where things were at last summer), the new more contagious variants and the utter shit show of vaccine rollout here in Canada. I have rollover/deferred races scheduled for the beginning of July and the beginning of August then I signed up for Ironman Canada at the end of August - - maaayyybe the end of August will be okay? It’s really going to depend on if the vaccine rollout can actually get some solid momentum going (and the vaccine manufacturers quit their non or reduced shipments).
Cheeky, yes it dawned on me this morning…
Weight Holding fast at 133kgs and have seen a couple of low 130s but I have been focused on being consistent… I know I can lose weight but having spoken to a few people its important to be consistent rather than try and do everything at once.
Mood Not Great, very de-motivated due to work and covid-19. Takes me all day to get around to doing the workout 
Training effect Everything appears to be tightening up mainly my calves and hamstrings however looking trimmer in the mirror
Training fatigue everything below the waist aches daily I find that I am rotating my day off and just nudging the sessions along to suit. but I am seeing the stairs as a challenge.
Swimming: Not available in the UK
Rowing: Eased off the last couple of weeks just a bit to much fatigue at the moment
Cycling: All on the Turbo, and a change of saddle was a good move. Missed 2 rides in total
Running: Using the TrainAsOne program on top of the trainer road so programming the runs instead of the TR ones… they offer a little more structure than the TR ones and I have seen them a little more challenging although I have kind of skipped the bricks this week.
Strength & Conditioning Yeah starts tomorrow
I did a solo sprint tri this morning to see where my race paces are at. Swim and bike are close to my sprint PRs, but the run is a good amount slower as I’m coming back form strained calves.
Jan was my first month on a TR plan. I am following the HIM low volume plan for bike workouts while adding about an extra hour a week of Z2. Enjoying it so far and feeling stronger each week. Swim and run I am doing on my own.
I always though the season has a big effect and it did last year, despite some hiccups. I think Jun-Aug is our best bet in the northern hemisphere broadly speaking. The vaccine rollout will help if a significant amount is deployed in the spring, but I’m not too optimistic about October in Spain for me.
I got an email about the Hamburg Wasser World Triathlon with a little timer showing two minutes to release and panic bought without thinking about it. I’m just desperate to go abroad 
Given IM Florida happened in 2020, I’m reasonably confident it will happen in Nov, 2021. Hopefully will be vaccinated by then. Anyhoo…on the bike I’m doing a self-created SST progression based on Tim Cusick’s recs in his WKO5 webinars, and for the run I’m doing the Slowtwitch Challenge (30min a day everyday). Haven’t ventured to the pool yet though its open/business as usual. Pretty much all cycling is indoor; not brave enough for group rides yet. Some stats:
Bike: 40:51:02 1,206km 1924 TSS
Run: 15:53:11 159km 1288 TSS
Gym: 2:03:53
Lost 1 kg and .9% BF
Am going to continue this for another 12 weeks or so, then thinking to complete a Full Base-Build-Specialty cycle leading to the race.
Currently signed up for 70.3 Atlantic City and on the waitlist for 70.3 Galveston (not exactly sure what waitlist means, but I’m on it). Getting my competitive juices flowing with my first bike race in two weeks. Road race, TT, road race so my triathlete handling skills won’t be as big of a factor. I have been on SSB LV with two weight sessions per week and the occasional group ride when I’m up for it. Went from 253 FTP @ 205 lbs Dec 1 to 287 FTP @ 195 lbs last week. Just need to start running more, but that can wait until after the stage race.
