What about one of those swim ergometers? Or: attach paddles to resistance bands and attach securely.
Hey Folks! nice to see that everyone is putting down work for the next challenges! Lets keep it up.
What phase of training are you in?
Not sure if this phase exists but currently i’m training for fun so i’ll call it the “fun phase”. I’m on a low volume sweet spot on the bike, half marathon training for the run and at least 5km swim per week.
And this is how i plan to train until i hit two milestones:
Week 30 - Start of full marathon training
Week 32 - Start of mid volume build phase full IM
After that ironman training will be in full effect.
What’s going well?
Running is my biggest struggle but also the discipline i enjoy the most so i’m taking some extra time to run more, trying to get a good base on my weakest link.
What’s going bad?
Equipment-wise i bought a new set of wheels(ENVE 7.8) and tried to make the leap to tubeless which ended being quite frustrating because the rear tire wouldn’t seat for nothing and there was a leak on the tape that i couldn’t fix even after switching the tape 3 times. On the other hand, the front wheel got seated and sealed on my first try, it held air without sealant for at least a week.
Long story short, the success with the front tire didn’t offset the issues with the back one so i returned tires, sealant and injector and decided to stay with my trusty latex tubes. I may try to go back to tubeless in the future not for the next races.
What race are you aiming at?
IMWaco70.3
IMCozumel
I’m taking both as A races.
Insider tips you can share?
I’m not sure yet how this is going to play in the future but i’m enjoying this “Fun Phase”. I trained a lot during the winter for IMTX70.3 and planned to build from there for the races in the end of the year but due to work constraints I had to stay two months away from the bike and the only thing i could do was to run so, instead of freaking out because of lost fitness i’m just doing what i can and bracing my head and body for impact because, after august, things will get nasty.
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Ouch that puts my cracked ribs into perspective, good luck with your final weeks of trg. I had a similar (but not as serious) situation in August of last year in the run up to IM Wales. I had hip flexor issues which meant I couldn’t run from July the 28th until the day of the IM itself. It was nerve wracking for the run up but I managed to run - walk a 5hr 15 minute marathon so it ended well. I hope it’s the same for your IM Canada.
Good luck see you in Whister.
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Ok, so I think I’m fully overytrained. I’m 9 weeks out of my event and my energy levels and performance have tanked.
Looking for some advice on how to tackle this.
My current plan is take the next week 100% off with the exception of some yoga and stretching.
Then add back only low intensity in each discipline at 3 workouts a week.
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I have followed this thread since it started as I was aiming at Elsinore 70.3 on 23rd June but was happier listening rather than sharing - sorry for the longer post. There are some great stories/insights/knowledgable people on this thread👏.
As a background, I literally couldn’t swim 25m freestyle 2yrs ago but have run for years and started cycling 4/5yrs ago. Started TR properly last autumn with SSB then HIM LV following their BBS.
What phase of training are you in?
I finished my second ever triathlon in the Danish 70.3 HIM in 4:50 - delighted. Couldn’t have done it without TR.
What went well?
General bike and run plan compliance and staying injury free. Also accepting that being 100% compliant is almost impossible !!
SSB is a great start with big FTP gains. Final result was good for me, bike split was especially pleasing, use best bike split to help plan the race.
Getting up early and completing most training before the family was awake allowed me to be compliant and remain married 
. There are great posts on the forum about managing getting up early.
What went badly?
My constant wondering, does this plan work? No real races to test the training. Build phase is hard (especially in a wet/dark Scottish winter with only indoor training). However, the plan worked, I am sure they are not for everyone, but it prepared me for the task in hand. FTP gains plateaued somewhat through the plan but ability to ride at 80% increased a lot over BBS
My legs were constantly sore/tired to some degree and I never felt in good form until race day.
I sometimes missed riding with no aim, but with a family/job there was no spare time.
I found the VO2 sessions in build phase are TOUGH, but again there are posts on the forum about managing these but reducing intensity slightly.
Insider tips you can share?
Some are shared above: plan compliance /consistency really helps, VO2 sessions can be really hard, trust the process and check the forum for hints.
Additionally, try everything in TT position, fuel build phase as best as possible, taper seems to be individual so use Chad’s plan as an outline not prescription for the last 2 weeks.
Good luck!
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Thanks for the roll call @JoeX!
I just finished week 3 of FD MV Specialty. Just 4 weeks away from my solo Ironman effort now. Should get a nice taper though since my wife and I will be traveling a lot for the next few weeks, so I’ll try to still train when/however I can, but after the first few weeks of specialty I’m looking forward to it.
I have been struggling with compliance recently though, especially with the 2 20 hour weeks in the first 3 weeks of FD MV Specialty, and have ended up more in the 16-17 hour range while trying to balance fatigue, work, and family time.
I have also been struggling to keep my power up for the last hour of these 4-5 hour long rides. I can generally make it to 70-75 miles whole still feeling good, but then my heart rate stays to rise and my legs start to feel dead on me. I’m wondering if it’s my fitness or more to do with the heat/dehydration (drank 150 Oz (6 bottles worth) of fluid on my 5 hr ride today and still felt like I had cotton in my mouth and couldn’t wait to pound the water as soon as I got home) since I live in Phoenix, AZ and the last hour of these rides has temps in the high 90s.
Best thing I’ve learned while trying my best to stick to these plans is to listen to my body while still working hard enough to elicit improvement, and even more importantly is to find joy in each workout I’ve completed in this journey so far. Just have to remind myself that I’m choosing to do this and try to look forward to feeling fresher, faster and stronger with time.
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@Ripi would be a little careful taking 100% of the week off, I get the yoga and stretching but would be good to do easy spinning on the bike, all low intensity to flush the legs out.
If you feel up to it a real gentle run and swim but only if you want to.
Make sure you eat well, not badly but good veg and healthy food, get some good quality sleep and hopefully you will feel the benefits. Do keep moving though, nothing over 0.60IF would be my recommendation.
I am racing IM Mont Tremblant
This has been a very interesting year. I have had to travel ALOT for work and that has impacted both my travelling and my weight. I am about 10-15lbs heavier then i wanted to be. I feel super under trained, however my FTP has never been higher, as well as my TSS is roughly the same or higher then previous years. So maybe I am just freaking myself out.
I have given up the idea of a low 13hr finish time this year, and am just focusing on finishing strong. Also I’m going to try to stay on strategy a bit more, strict on bike power numbers as well as this year doing a Run/Walk (8min run/2 walk, or walk every aid station, not sure)
About 1.5 months left not much i can change, but just keep doing them longer rides and runs.
What phase of training are you in?
- Just finished base today with a weekend that saw me about 2000 meters of swimming from doing a full IM distance (plus 30mi biking on top) from Friday to Sunday! Woo!
What’s going well?
- Getting all the volume of my training plan in and staying injury free. (knock on wood). I’ve also set an interesting PR of sorts with my resting HR. I normally have a pretty low HR from genetics, but the other day I got low enough I decided to call my cardio because it was down to 37!!! They had recently done a echo stress test on me and said it should all be good as long as it goes up when I actually workout, which it does indeed. I’m also doing a good job doing some of my longer runs in the heat, since for an IM we usually don’t get to do our run until the afternoon anyways. Might as well get used to it.
What’s going bad?
- Honestly, nothing at this point. Sure I’ve missed a workout or two here or there but that’s probably the worst thing that’s happened. Let’s just hope everything stays cool until IMFL in 4 months.
What race are you aiming at?
- IMFL where I’m hoping to go sub-10. (Stretch goal of 9:30 and snagging a Kona slot)
Insider tips you can share?
- I’ve chosen a “theme song” for my training, kind of like how the Rocky movies all had their training montage theme song. If I’m not feeling motivated that day to get out and workout, I’ll play that song and I can’t help but get in the mood to crush it.
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I love that idea!
But come on, you have to share the song as well!! 
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Thanks, @JoeX for the shoutout remembrance. After focusing on sleep over the last couple of weeks, I felt good for Long Course Weekend Wales Friday, Saturday, and Sunday and now Monday morning I’m sitting in Birmingham Airport homeward bound for the 1:45hr flight. Enjoyed each day, except for the giant (not enormous) jellies (easily 20" wide at the “dome”) and within reach (and smacking). For the bike, I went with my road bike (with my carbon wheels from my tri bike) and one bottle and intended to (and did) stop at each and every aid station, eat several flapjacks and oranges and refill, and enjoy the sights (which can’t be done on the tri bike). This year, they discouraged aero bars and I understand next year they will prohibit aero bars (too many triathletes, presumably not time trialists, don’t know how to ride, insist on riding paceline, and knock each other over / are generally seen as unsafe during a sportive with riders of all abilities riding 3 different distances). For the run, the goal was to run easy and comfortably and finish without pain and upright. Success. For 2/3 of the run, this fellow from Swansea and I had a nice chat. (It would have been nice if some of the water-only stations also had electrolytes…)
There was, unfortunately, a 40yo male who suffered a cardiac episode on the bike (on the Wiseman’s Bridge climb, the most serious climb of the course). His life was saved by quick-acting spectators and (presumably) cyclists before emergency services could arrive and airlift him. I understand he was dead before he was not and is now recuperating in hospital (perhaps even out by the time I write this).
A weekend is Wales is never bad. The medal is icing as each event’s medal is designed to lay on top of the other to form a 3D diorama. Do all 3 long course events and you get the fourth ‘rim’ medal.
Times:
Swim: 1:00 (they originally had me at 59:59, so I’m a little bummed they rounded me up so I’m no longer ‘under an hour’) 21/489 category (long course finishers)
Bike: 6:37 (91/489)
Run: 4:26 (218/489
Total: 12:04
Now for IM Zurich in 2 weeks and IM Copenhagen 4wks after that. The original goal of Top 10 AG for IMCP is in the bin as my weight (though I’m now closer to my race weight of last year than I was a few weeks ago) and thus the running isn’t where it should be.
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That’s a fantastic idea ! I’m stealing this right away 
That’s a really cool idea, so I’m glad you shared the photo!
Had a nice benchmark workout yesterday leading up to my 70.3 in August. 2hr ride averaging just over 19mph on rough roads and a few traffic lights followed by 5 mile run just under 9min/mile pace. I’m hoping to go under 3hrs on the bike and under 2 on the run so I think I’m on the right track. I also had a mock sprint on Saturday for transition practice (1000m swim, 20k bike, 5k run). Finished under 1:30 which included unloading and reloading the bike from the car as it was a solo effort. Feeling strong and having fun!
Hiya!
What phase of training are you in?
Currently in the mid-volume half distance build phase.
What’s going well?
Fitness seems to be improving. I haven’t done a run or swim time trial in a while to update my threshold paces, but I’m pretty sure they’ll go up when I do. I’ve joined a masters swim group that meets three times a week in the morning, and have been getting in a lot more swim volume than I was before.
Did the Garett County Gran Fondo a week or two ago – 126mi with a bit under 16,000 feet of climbing. Spent about 8hr40min on the bike and a bit over 11hrs total doing the ride…about 1.5hrs of that was trying to fix my rear wheel. I just transitioned to tubeless and have been riding on them for weeks with no problems. I somehow developed an air leak in the valve stem and no amount of added sealant or riding it around would stop the leak. I spent probably 2/3rds of the entire race with about 40psi in my tire (what it would deflate to between aid stations).
What’s going bad?
We just got a new puppy a month ago and my wife’s new job schedule/commute is worse than we thought it’d be…a lot more puppy/household care is falling on me than I’d hoped. She’s 5mo old and is now at the point where she can be left alone for 4 or 5 hours, but I don’t like doing that 
.
On top of that, the weather has consistently been horrible here for the last few weeks – 95+F and high humidity. Most days it’s been 90F by the late morning. I’ve been struggling to shift my workouts to the morning. Overall, I’ve skipped 2-3 workouts a week the last few weeks and need to get back on track.
Finally, while I’m getting more swim volume in (about 9500m/week vs. the 6000m/week I was doing before), it’s lower intensity on average and doesn’t include many long (500m+) repeats. I’m probably going to drop one masters swim a week and do my own base swim workout.
What race are you aiming at?
IM70.3 Lake Placid. Did pretty well at IM70.3 CT last month, and if I can scrub 10-13min off my time I’m pretty sure I could break 5 hours…we’ll see.
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“Dance Macabre” by Ghost. It’s a bit 80’s rock/metal feeling but with some modern touches, plus a great beat.
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Thanks @JoeX . Training is going well so far for IM Cozumel. I am starting week 9 of the FD MV base plan. I have been hitting all bike and run workouts successfully. The sweet spot plans this spring have paid off, as I feel like the bike is my strongest discipline right now - and (so far) the 3+ hour trainer rides have been manageable. Starting this week I am redoubling the focus on swim.
A few concerns lingering in my head:
1 ) How many outdoor rides do most TR people do pre-IM? While I intuitively understand the indoor rides to be harder, it’s hard to shake the sense that I am not doing something I’ll need to do outdoors.
2) As I look in to the future - the MV plan doesn’t have many rides 5+ hours. In my first IM I did several 5-6 hour rides in training. Can I skip those given the constant intensity of indoor riding?
Thanks for the check-in! Congrats to all the finishers this year, and best of luck to everyone else still grinding away at it!
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I’m #1604. What is your bib number for Muncie?
I try to go out on weekends for 1.5-2 hour rides if I can get up early and there is little traffic. There are some differences to being on a trainer and being outside such as how your position feels when you have bumps etc. Also, you get to test out your equipment and figure out if say you’ll be launching water bottles, or if it’s hard to see your computer where it’s mounted and still watching the road.
A also do a couple shorter bike sessions especially early in the season where I work on bike handling. I don’t go on the main roads, but rather spend lots of time on residential streets trying to take turns faster and faster until I’m really comfortable. Then I try to find some hills and get comfortable with speed. I don’t really care about time/speed/distance/power because I’m just working on the skills.
It’s often said that you get 1.5 hours worth of training from 1 hour on the trainer, so really your 5 hour rides are like 7.5 hours 
I wouldn’t worry too much about the difference between 5 hours on the trainer vs 6 hours outside. If you can make it 5 and you’re not dying, you’ll make it 6.
I’ve done some of the long rides - but not that much (4 or 5). Main differences I’ve noticed with the trainer:
- the feel of pedals is a bit different, especially on the climbs - but I got used to it very quickly (didn’t feel strange on the second ride already)
- neck pain - well, I realized the neck is not used to supporting the helmet in addition to the head
- back muscles pain - again, this was only on the first 2 rides I think, but the back muscles worked noticably more than on the trainer
Overall, my indoor gains translated very well outside.