I completed a half distance, medium volume build phase.
Now i get to do it all over, with slightly higher FTP.
Today was a good example of why thats not great…
i got to do Owens.
This upcoming weekend, i get to run virtual Boston marathon.
This will be no fun!
Ah yeah it will, make sure you’ve planned the after party 
Good luck!
I’m at the other end, I can’t wait for an end to training. The garden is calling me and autumn is starting to set in!
It’s hard to imagine that itch but I’m expecting it to arise Jan 1st. I started in October last year…
So. I would agree with this if i were living about 900 miles north.
But since i live at the top of the volcano, that some people call florida, then it will be no fun.
Forecast for Sunday is 79F/88% humidity @ 5 am.
YAY!
Oooof that’s been a long season!
Yeah, started at the end of week 40 2019, although it’s true I had several weeks sick around 45-51. And a few down weeks when lockdown hit. Now it’s week 37 2020, easily more regular, and longer training than I’ve ever done before. Just wish I had a real race result to reflect it. I’m not sure I can hold out for IM Cascais in Nov though. Then I have to start thinking about the postponed marathon in April, really should be building run volume back in December.
August was good. Completed SSB1 HV (actually finished the final recovery week last week).
FTP at start of the block was 310W, but bumped it up to 324W (as calculated after Zwift/GTN runner vs cyclist race) after the first week.
Started SSB2 HV today. Ramp tested 331W.
Plan for September:
Running: nothing structured planned
Swimming: none planned; although, if I end up having to return to working at the office, I will pop down to the Virgin Active down the road, and do a 30 minute chilled swim during my lunch times.
Also, collected my new Spesh Diverge Comp Carbon gravel bike last Friday, so will do some casual, easy riding over the weekends on that.
Still grinding along in hopes that IMTX 70.3 in November is still going to happen. Have also begun mentally creating a solo 70.3 route around town supported by a buddy of mine in a vehicle with enough stuff for quick transitions and extra nutrition as needed. Exploring which bike routes will have the fewest traffic stops.
Not sure if this is the best thread for it, but does anyone have any experience with any of the online triathlon teams (i.e. Team Zoot, Wattie Ink, AP Racing)? What are y’all’s thoughts on joining them? And I would be looking at the non-elite teams if that makes a difference.
Nice ftp gains!
Brecon Titan (local HIM) deferred to Jun 2021 and IM Wales deferred to Sep 2021. Some small local races starting to appear but we’ve just gone into local lockdown in Caerphilly County Borough so that’s the nail in the coffin for any racing this year for me!
Swim
Been back in the pool twice a week for 4 weeks. Just doing steady endurance swims and will reintroduce speedwork over the coming weeks, assuming the pools stay open. My pace seems to be pretty much where I left it in March which is a miracle as swimming doesn’t come naturally to me and I was expecting to have gone seriously backwards. The target will be a 1hr IM swim at Wales, subject to sea conditions 
Bike
Since March I’ve cycled through SSB1 > SSB2 > Sustained Power Build and now returned to SSB1. I started at 255 and currently sit at 275 at 4.4w/kg. I’ve done it all on the Low Vol plans but supplemented it with weekly Zwift races and outside endurance rides.
TR Group Workouts (short stuff e.g. vo2) and TR Outside Workouts (long stuff e.g. SS and Threshold) have really helped with variety through lockdown. I didn’t think they would offer me much but I have completely changed my mind - highly recommend both.
The target is to see if I can get closer to 300w over the next 12 months.
Run
Running 40-60k (4-5 runs) per week consistently this year. 80-90% of which is under LT1 endurance pace. I try to do one hard run a week with intervals at/above 10k pace - ranging from 400s to 1600s. Any more than this seems to push me into high injury risk.
Hit a 5k PB of 15:56 a few weeks ago in an informal club TT so I know the running is in reasonable shape.
Haven’t run over 90 mins since Roth last year but don’t feel the need to at this stage. Ran a 3:09 there on my first iron distance and want to get close to that next year at Wales (fully acknowledging that Wales is a tougher run course).
S&C
Once a week: 45mins of mainly body weight stuff.
2-3 times a week: massage, rolling and working on flexibility.
This November will be 12 months of trainerroad and also 12 months of structured training, 5 months in an over-trained state 
. I think I’ve had about 1.5 weeks off training in total and average 6 hours of very broken sleep every night but FTP started at 208, currently sitting at 258. Looking forward to finishing my specialty block on the second of October… I’m excited to jump back into SSB1 & 2 LV and just keep pushing towards my goal of 300+ FTP but unsure if i should take a week off before starting again… any thoughts? Mentally i struggle a lot on rest periods as i truly enjoy the training more than the racing, as i sure most people reading this do
Morning all, this month is the start of my new season – Training towards my August 2021 IM goal.
Looking back over the year: -
BUT
So all in all
I AM HAPPY WITH THAT 
Just goes to show FTP is not everything
Nice results 
Which IM are you targeting for 2021?
Hi, I am doing IM Vichy … Very hot and Very hilly … Perfect for a fat lad like me 
HOT is my nemesis.
Here is a brief recap of 70.3 Gdynia.
Organizers laid out a comprehensive COVID-protocol. Masks in the race office, Expo and and at bike check in / out. Altered courses to reduce overtaking, lapping and counterflows. And a wave start, with additional separation into groups of 250 athletes every 30 minutes. None of those measures really impacted my race experience, on the contrary, the stretched start reduced drafting on the bike to pretty much zero.
Weather was borderline, 12C in the morning hours and 17-18C water temp. Water was clear, but choppy and the course led out directly into the rising sun. I couldn’t see a damn thing and stayed with the next best group, hoping somebody would know where we were going. Exited the water in 32:18 which was good for 11/197 in AG, that’s how awful the conditions were.
Transition was looooong. To allow for social distancing there were only 6 bikes instead of 10 per rack and so the transition zone stretched for like 800m or so. Pair that with numb feet and legs from the cold swim and cobbles and you’ve got yourself a long an clenchy run to the mount line.
The bike started navigating city streets, a brutal headwind and a severe climb out of town. After being a bit too timid in Oman I was prepared tp push the pedals on the steeper bits and got up the hill okay, but soon felt my hamstring handing in complaints. It wasn’t too bad though and soon I settled into my rhythm, trying to stay as low as possible in the still very windy conditions. A brief scare at around k20 when I heard the air escaping from the rear tire, luckily the sealant plugged the puncture before things could get serious.
Most of the roads were in rough conditions, so I was constantly looking up, scanning the road ahead for potholes, then retreating to my turtle position. My neck soon hurt, but I figured I didn’t need that for a good run. Eventually the course returned downhill to the seaside and ended with an intoxicating tailwind on wide smooth roads. I reached transition after 2:33, 7 minutes slower than I expected. I rode at 0.75 IF / 3.1 W/kg (205AP/209NP) and VI of 1.03. 10 watts less than what I was planning for, but with the hamstrings and downhill stretches it was all I had that day.
Back to transition, another loooooooong run to start running. I left transition with two blokes and stuck with them for a while on the first lap. At a 4:18/km pace I was not motivated to pick a fight and began making a race plan. Things changed at k4, when I realized that the previous 3k were a false flat uphill drag and that I was now moving along at 3:57 without raising RPE. My race plan became to let it fly on the downhill sections and manage my RPE as best as I could until I reached the top of the uphill drag the second time around. That would be the k16 marker, at which point I usually throw caution to the wind and just burn through whatever I have left.
In the end it all worked out, I finished the run in 1:29 for 12/197. Course must have been slightly long, the tracker showed a 7:42 pace for the final 1.1k but I sure af did not slow down towards the chute.
Overall 12/197 in AG, a bit worse than what I was hoping for and several minutes off a WC slot. And once again, the ride held me back, even though I increased volume and gained another 10w for this race. But at 4.1w/kg I am topped out at what I can achieve in tri training, so I guess it now is time to find a race with more climbing to capitalize on what I’ve got? I’ve looked at 70.3 Nice, which looks almost perfect for that, does anyone have other suggestions of a 70.3 race in Europe with >1500m climbing?
Also, iyi you can read a longer report with pictures here on my blog.
As they say “if you have to ask, the answer is yes”
Is it strange that the thought of a rest week makes me sad?
I’d like some opinions on my plan.
I have a half in just over 2 weeks - I’m finishing up the build phase and only have 1 week of speciality / taper before the race. The build has been quite heavy so I am feeling a little fatigued and next week looks to be the hardest.
Question is - is a week of taper directly after a hard build enough to feel fresh for the race or should I ease up a bit next week? Maybe even do two weeks of the speciality instead? (plan builder only put 1 in because of the time constraints)
Nice job! Curious how they handled the WC slots - - I assume they didn’t have the traditional roll down ceremony?
If you think you’re tapped out on your bike fitness (debatable of course 
), it looks like there’s still lots of room to bring your run time down. It’s crazy how fast the 70.3 runs have got lately, but so much damage can happen on the run by fast runners. I was super happy when I finally cracked 1:30 on the run off the bike last year, but I know it’s not enough to really be at the pointy end of the field at the bigger races - - trying once again to work on that now though!
ETA: I’ve only raced Nice in Europe as part of the WC’s last year, but it was a fun course - - super challenging for a normally flat prairie rider like me, but still fun. 
