Welcome! I’m taking the liberty to take over this year’s Ironman training thread from @JoeX, for anyone, from beginners to pros, training for a half-Ironman or longer triathlon, Ironman-branded or not. (If you’re racing anything shorter than that, you’re welcome to post on The Short Course Triathlon Thread.)
If you’re racing, post the name and date of your race, the training plan you’re following, plus anything else you want to share, such as any particular goals you’re targeting. We’ll have a monthly roll call to report our progress on the previous month’s training, including successes, failures, and lessons learned.
Thanks for setting this up. I’m signed up for IM Vitoria Gasteiz in July. It’ll be my first full distance in 6 years and my first race of any kind for 4 years (save for a 70.3 I will do in the build-up). Took some time off racing due to the pandemic and just a loss of interest in racing, so I’m definitely a bit rusty. My running has gone downhill in the past few years so getting that up to scratch and staying injury free are my main challenges.
I’m in the middle of full distance base LV then will go onto full distance build LV before switching to outdoor cycling once we hit the spring here in the UK.
In terms of goals, my dream is to break 11hrs but that is heavily dependent on my ability to stay injury free and get my running back to the level it was at 3 or 4 years ago.
I’m in Nottingham in the UK. I entered 3 events for 2023 and ended up deferring my entries to 2024 due to complications from long covid. Pretty much recovered so now I’m looking at:
Outlaw half (70.3) - 19 May
Outlaw Holkham (70.3) - 7 July (while i’ve got a deferred entry not sure about the wisdom of this 3 weeks pre a full distance)
Outlaw full distance - 28 July
By way of background i’m a 56 yo life time cyclist racing mainly on the track in the last few years. Did Outlaw X (70.3) for a challenge in 2021 when i got fed up of most of my events being cancelled or postponed due to covid. I did that on 7 weeks’ running and swimming prep including having to learn to do front crawl. This gave me the bug and clearly when you’ve done a half you’ve got to do a full distance!
I’ve just started the MV full volume plan, with a few modifications to the swim and runs.
Entered Swansea 70.3, will be my second half after doing it last July. Starting training tomorrow after having months off (just too much time spent in work) so my FTP is as low as it gets. Going to try the 3 months Master’s Base plans, I really need some base after such a long hiatus, may just try plan builder after that and see what comes up. Goals this season are to learn to swim better, get more open water experience, and rehab my dodgy calf that’s stopped my running much last year. If I don’t meet my goals I’ll just stick to cycling .
On the list above already but officially signed up for Musselman as of last weekend (and my Dad and GF).
Back on the trainer late November, just did a bunch of 1ish hour endurance rides to get used to sitting on the tri bike again and started a half plan Jan 1, going well so far.
Hopefully start swimming again this week, used to be 1 mile from the pool now 45 minutes. Indirectly on the way to work at least. Will work running back in slowly, it is always what I train the least.
Glad to see the 2024 topic.
Could you please guy explain how you carry your fuel and hydration for a ful IM?
For a HIM it’s pretty straightforward but for a full IM I don’t know what to do. Use of special needs to refuel, use of regular aid station with gatorade and water? Stop at aids station to mix your own drink? others?
What have you done so far and what are the best options?
For me:
One consentrated bottle on the bike
Second bottle in Special nees along with a Almond Butter and Honey sandwich and a Pepsi
Gels and or chews in Top Tube storage
After previewing a new pro/age-group series back in August and delaying the October schedule reveal, the Professional Triathletes Organization (PTO) today has announced the first U.S.-based event in their 2024 season. The 100K-distance (2K swim, 80K bike leg, and 18K run) race will take place on the weekend of October 19 at Lake Las Vegas in Henderson, Nevada, with a pro event on the 19th with an age-group race on the 20th on the same course.
Things are going fairly well so far. I’m still 6 months out from my race so at the moment I’m just focusing on getting into a routine of consistent base training without massive volume. TR IM base training plan is good - I feel like I’m making gains without having to beast myself on sessions. I’ll have that to look forward to later!
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