I live on the top of a freaking hill! For the last 20km I was mentally empty, so I slowed everything down and just took my time. But the last 2km I have to hold ±300Watts just to get going up the hill to get home.
The pacing on the run was difficult because it was a strong headwind for the first 5km, difficult to run by pace only.
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March 2020 Update (3/2 - 3/29)
Starting with a recovery week and then three weeks of progressive overload.
| Discipline | Count | Time (h) | Distance (km) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Swim | 12 | 13.3 | 35.2 |
| Bike | 21 | 31.7 | 735.5 |
| Run | 19 | 14.3 | 142.6 |
Now obviously most of the indoor sessions are done in ERG mode, thus the distance does not mean much. Only by cycling I burned 24,023 calories. Total TSS was 1,473.
Pools are finally closed in Tokyo, so I do not really know how to figure the situation out yet. I will most likely sub in some full-body gym work and easy endurance work. Maybe my event will be cancelled, maybe not, but my #roadtoironman does not end here.
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So while I’m trying to source lifting equipment and a treadmill…my thoughts turned to @WildWill 
So I saw a website say a pool above ground was not a crazy price, so I got to thinking - how do you structure training in a pool with bands or one of those jet streams you put in?
All my swim training was intervals, do you go by time?
How do you measure improvement? 
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Hi Joe
I got mine at Costco
I use bands … those jet streams you put in a pool are expensive … the bands are called a swim tether and provide quite a realistic feel.
I swim by strokes - I count every stoke in blocks of 1000. and based on all my OW stats I know 1000 strokes is roughly 1km … also … when I start loosing count - i know it i time to get out as my core body temperature has dropped
I use a Tempo Trainer to set my pace so either decide in advance by pace (in strokes/min) or decide to change pace every 500 or 1000strokes.
I build up to 90min (ish) swims
I am not a great swimmer - but 2 months of this 2 times per week gets me 1:09 for IM distance
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Well, just pulled the plug and moved my registration of IM Brazil to 2021.
They had moved from 31th/may to 16th/aug, but I can’t see it happening.
I don’t see the point in working really hard right now.
It would be my first full distance race and I was flying, but I rather be safe and healthy.
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I can’t tell by your picture if you have one but one thing that really helped me doing banded pool swimming is a swim snorkel. Because there isn’t much water flow you don’t end up with a bow wave which means you have to breath higher. This will ultimately effect your body position and efficiency. Takes a bit to get use to, but allows you to focus on all that important underwater stuff.
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Hey all I am sure you have seen the group workout announcement. I have a few longer trainer rides if anyone wants to join I would be willing to set it up
I am on traditional base mv2 and all 4 workouts this week are Virginia (1:45).
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Most of my friends are artists, not athletes, so I come here to share my excitement. Just did a ramp test.
Last May, I got my first power meter and tested at 259. I felt I was pretty fit at that point, having raced triathlons for several years including a 70.3. Since then my ramp tests have yielded 270, 287, 290, and now 308 as of this morning! So delighted. Also, at 3.95w/kg so very close to 4.0!
It is really a vanity number though. I am not sure I can handle the workouts at 308. Might split the difference and set it around 300, then see what happens. Happy training, everyone.
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Excellent!
Imo always accept the ramp result for good or bad, it saves brain ache and doubt.
What plan were you following?
Just finished tri full distance base, just starting build, as created by plan builder. Training as if my A race in late July (IMLP) will happen. No harm in being fit for it, whether it happens or not! Hoping it will though. Luckily I’m pretty comfortable in the water and feel I can get my swim fitness back quickly when pools become available. Meantime, adding a strength session, some rowing, and one extra easy ride.
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Since the work from home and schools closed I have found very challenging to get training going. Pools obviously closed, so great chance to work on the run and bike. Turns out keeping the kids going with school work has taken much more of my time. At the same time have taken great easy rides with them, which is great. So now I may change approach and just work on the bike. Race is not until September, and by governor decree, I need to self quarantine as I did have to run an errand in another state - so there goes the run as well.
Hope all is doing well confined!
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I’m starting to feel like half the time i come hear and whine but i’m really struggling to figure this out. So last time i was complaining about not being able to do V02 Max. This time it’s that my FTP has fallen after the base phase.
The core of my theory is that i’m either overtrained (from low volume, ugh). or that I may respond better to a different mix of programming.
Life Context: sleep 7.5-8 hours, pretty stressful at work (desk job), eat paleoish, i’ve gained weight over the course of training (not good weight, then again i have eaten a bit too much on weekends) but have had pretty bad food cravings (could be overtraining related, not sure)
September: Started sweet spot base 1, tested at 199
October: Started sweet spot base 2, test at 216 (a bit of inconsistency at the the beginning but not bad)
December: Wheels starting come come off at the end of Sweet Spot Base II. No worries Christmas Vacation is coming
January: After 2 weeks of skiing i hop back into it at Half Distance Base. I retest lower 211 (no surprise, i took 3 weeks off, drank and skied every day, ran occassionally)
January: get sick. this is likely the 2 weeks of skiing and partying catching up, 2 weeks of basically no training
February: I end up re-starting the plan, no big deal. I didn’t retest but workouts didn’t seem too bad so i kept with it. Fitness improved and heart rate came down as the plan progressed.
March: Reached the end of Half Distance, well almost. The final hard week wasn’t kind to me and i failed Dade -1. Feeling really fatiqued after workouts.
Today: Retested and got an FTP of 203 (this was after a super easy week as you can see from the chart), feeling pretty tired from the FTP test.
*i was lifting relatively heavy twice a week, low volume but high weight
Potential Overtraining Symptoms: (or maybe i’m just reading into things too much)
- I’m sleeping 8.5-9 hours a night now and still pretty tired
- i feel overheated and fatigued after workouts for most of the rest of the day (is this normal)
- food cravings (i’m pretty sure i had these before)
- works still felt pretty good and performance was ok (except V02 max)
- kinda affraid of the V02ma workouts on the trainer now
- though i didn’t get sick, which is what i normally see as a red flag
Not even 300 of cycling TSS there but oh well. This is my starting point. This is my second year of going at it and after a pretty good sweet spot base 1 & 2 i was feeling hopeful. Fortunately i think my event might be cancelled so my silver lining is i can blow up my training and go back to the drawing board without consequence.
So here are my theories/paths forward.
Option 1
- I’m over-trained, take time off (no idea how much, 2 weeks, 3 weeks) I know it’s a judge it and see how it goes
Option 2
- I’m over-trained, do traditional base low volume
Option 3:
- I’m over reacting, hop into triathlon build
Thoughts? Thanks guys 
General Future Path: (if i really am overtraining)
I think i need the true rest weeks of sweet spot base and sustained power built. I feel like the triathlon rest weeks aren’t low enough volume/intensity for me. I think the modified Sweet Spot base / builds plans probably suit me better moving forward.
haha, this setup looks epic.
I think this is key - you still got fitter even though your FTP didn’t show. Especially when you did SSB1/2 before, HIM base is pretty mellow and sort of similar workouts. So it can be expected that you don’t progress too much on the FTP (you’ve got the bump from SSB) and it comes more towards the build. you may still progress in time to exhaustion, holding % FTP for longer, etc.
Consider base also a time to ramp up the swim/run, so all in all if you did most workouts this is a win and your consistency looks awesome!
where the rest sounds like you’ve got it covered, this is a red flag. do you eat before the workout? do you fuel during and do some post-workout nutrition? raising performance is not the time to diet or cut calories. you may be doing some “athletic starvation”. I suggest to tackle this immediately.
moving forward: option 3. learn from the rest week experience and take it easier in the future. go to build and enjoy yourself!
Well just finishing my first base plan for a first full IM. Had Wisconsin 70.3 in June but I doubt it will happen. IMMT in August is unlikely as well. No pool access since early March so I was hoping to get into Lake Ontario when it warms up a little but they just shutdown all beaches…Will keep running and move on to the build phase. Did a 3:45 indoor ride last weekend and it was painful (Makalu). Stay well everyone.
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Anyone else relatively easily smash every single type of workout and every type of interval except 2 and 3 minute vo2 max intervals?
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Diet is of course highly individual, but for me the biggest gains have come (and keep coming) when I’m eating plenty of carbs both on and off the bike. I was paleo-ish before, and when I switched to a more carb-centric diet (basically tons of brown rice, oats, legumes, beans, potatoes, fruits & veggies — not too much bread and pasta, though some) my performance noticeably improved. I’m sure you’re eating some of that now, but if I recall paleo steers you away from grains? I go slightly lower carb the night before an easy day and maybe focus more on protein and fat the day of, but only slightly. Weight has stayed the same (happy with body comp). Just one example, but it has been working well for me.
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Quick update for me. I just finished half distance build mid volume. Today was ramp test and saw a nice bump from 293 to 307. That also put me above 4w/kg. I’m quite pleased with that.
Even though training is going very well (except for swimming obliviously) I’m starting to struggle with motivation. I’m pretty sure 70.3 in Tremblant won’t happen and I’m starting to doubt about IMMT in August as well. Anyway, I might give Ironman VR a shot. It might help staying motivated. Anybody else is going to try it?
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I was thinking to give it a go just to try it out. I haven’t been able to find their indoor cycling distance conversion though. I’m really curious if they are just taking wheel speed from the trainer and using that calculated distance or if they have some power to speed calculation Zwift like.
Since you need to connect your Ironman VR account to your Strava or Garmin Connect, my guess is that the cycling distance will be what you see in one of those apps. For this reason it won’t work well with TR. My plan would be to do it outside or on Zwift.