A series of unfortunate events took me out of cycling and swimming back in sept. We lost our house in a natural disaster. Had to put the bike in storage and moved away from the pool.
We have moved into a new house and I am ready to begin training. Just bought a Tacx Neo and setup the pain cave.
Although I have not been able to cycle or swim, I have been running 150+ miles per month and strength training 3x per week. So, running is good. Im not too worried about the swim since it would be wetsuit and down river. The bike is flat’ish and technical, but Im worried about the time in the saddle mostly.
I have done an IM in the past, and several 70.3’s. But, do you think I could be ready in 5 months? Actually about 18 weeks. The TR plans (which I used for my last Full) are much longer. If I were to do them (and I can devote time for the High Volume Plan), how would I structure it?
I think you can be ready. I think if you get in 3/4 long rides 90+ miles and swim 3-4 times per week you will be able to finish. Might not be a PR, but you can finish it.
You’ve already done at least one, and you’ve kept up the running, so yeah you’ve got enough runway to do it rightish. Like @SDooley said, probably no PR but if you pace it to your fitness level you’ll be able to finish with a smile.
EDIT: Also, stay away from the high volume plans if you’re just getting back into cycling. Build that up more gradually and if you have lots of time, perhaps a polarized approach might be better???
If you can swim 2.2 miles, then you can do this.
Now, you might set up expectations… If you want to do a 9hr race, then maybe not enough time (depending on your fitness level), but 18 weeks should be plenty to no less than a good finish.
I agree with above, you will likely be able to get to a level where you can finish (and likely comfortably). How was your swimming prior to Sept 2020? I know some triathletes that take the whole winter off swimming; it’s more common than you might think. Now these are usually not FOP swimmers, but they can finish.
IMO, even though Ironman is “all about the bike”, running durability is the real killer in the build and you got that covered. I would skip the HV plan and focus those hours on building that bike base back with long easy rides in aero position. This will leave you energy to keep up the run volume.
Had to google what FOP means…
Well… I am definitely not FOP… and a VERY VERY BOP maybe a LOP (on swim) … And i did take the winter off swimming
OK, so you are in the range where you can phone in a sub 1:30 swim leg. you’ll shouldn’t have any issues with the layoff. 3-5 weeks will get you back close to where you were in my experience.
For a plan, my personal preference is to do the low volume plan and add 1-3 extra hours to my weekend long ride or additional Z2 on other rides. This way you can add in extra volume if you have the energy for it. That said, if you had success with HV before, maybe you use that but really monitor your energy.
