Welcome aboard. Regrets will come at mile 8 of the run and disappear once you see the chute.
Have you picked a race yet?
5 Likes
Thank you! I will be doing Ironman Musselmen.
2 Likes
@Power13 has a very valid point…
Volume first then intensity. Otherwise you risk reinjure…
Best of luck
3 Likes
Hope for a quick recovery!
I don’t read much now days… But there are several very long video games that might interest you…
Thanks for the tag. Definitely not been “Ironman training” since Placid, but still trying to keep up some semblance of fitness. I had grand ambitions to run a marathon in the fall, but the only one that lined up with family obligations and within driving distance was a course I just wasn’t into, so ended up doing a local half marathon instead. I actually ran well considering lack of hyper focused training (1:33:10). The focus of the fall was really helping my wife get back to a marathon the baby, so mostly just a bunch of easy running with her/ the stroller, and riding for fun. I did convert my old gravel bike into a single speed CX bike, and I finally “get” single speed riding off road. I really thought the hype was all for the gram, but once you start to figure out the conservation of momentum it’s really fun.
I am slowly starting to ramp back up some semblance of actual training, but with work travel coming back and an infant, I’m likely just going to “focus” on short course for the immediate future. Really looking forward to some of our favorite local races next year, and likely going to take a crack at Age Group Nationals.
2 Likes
Thanks for the roll call!
It’s been good news/bad news for me.
The bad news first. Still not recovered from an early August shoulder injury, so I have temporarily put a pause on swimming and have cut way back on running.
The good news is that more recovery and a focus on cycling means that I have seen pretty good gains on my last two ramp tests.
The lingering shoulder injury is lame, but I’m pretty happy to see some cycling gains!
3 Likes
Will do, looks like there are few on the calendar now 
I’ve been doing five moderate-to-high intensity sessions per week (three TR workouts, one interval run, one hard swim) out of about ten total sessions, and I’m beginning to wonder if it’s too much. Thinking of making one of the hard bike sessions easy some weeks, and making the hard run session easy other weeks. I have been handling it ok, and I really do like going here, but it’s just so much damned intensity, something tells me I’m spinning my wheels to some extent. Thoughts?
what race distance are you training for and when is the race? does seem like a lot of intensity for a full or half distance race this early (depending if you are in the midst of winter)
1 Like
So it’s just a theoretical question then. 
How are you defining moderate to high intensity, and what is making to think this might be too much? There’s a lot of talk out there about how training weeks and workouts “should” be, but ultimately a plan you can follow is the most important element.
1 Like
From March to July I have a 20 mile trail run, a 100K mountain bike race, an Xterra, and finally Ohio 70.3. My week template looks like this (following plan builder and AT for the bike only, low volume):
Monday: yoga + 30-60 min easy 
Tuesday: VO2uesday + 30 min easy run pushing stroller
Wednesday: 30 min strength + 30 min easy run maybe with stroller
Thursday: Threshold Thursday , swim (planning to add a second swim in the spring on Monday to replace the yoga. It is my strongest discipline in terms of background, and my life is crazy making it very difficult for me to get to the pool more than once a week)
Friday: long run (60-90min as of now)
Saturday: Sweet spot Saturday or bigger outdoor ride
Sunday: interval run, usually hill repeats
When I say handling it ok, I mean I’m staying healthy, motivated, and managing my life responsibilities. But Sunday mornings especially, doing the hill repeats or whether whatever hard run I have planned has been feeling like fatigue piled on top of fatigue, and I’m wondering if dialing it back slightly will be more productive in the end. I realize I’m basically just bemoaning the unsolvable puzzle that is triathlon training for a busy amateur 
Can you do the vo2 bike tues am and hill run Tuesday eve?
Is this part of a TR plan or your own mix of workouts?
1 Like
This seems to be working for me at the moment… and its not much different, just shuffled around more…
M: Rest or swim
T: Track Tuesday (speed wo)
W: short run, long swim wo (3k+)
Th: vO2 max day on the bike. usually 75 minutes.
F: Swim + run (6 miles +/- 2) or 60 min endurance ride
Sa: Long run (12+ miles)
Su: Long ride. (2.5 - 3hr of pure SS pain train)
Everyone has different things, but spreading the speed wo and the vo2 max wo has really help keeping the power and increase the running speed.
I feel I have no problems completing either the hard run or the hard bike.
Before this changes I was doing vo2 max on Tu and Speed wo on W. My legs would be not happy on W, making it very hard to hit the speed targets!
2 Likes
ha ha I think internet forums were built on the bemoaning of the unsolvable puzzle of the busy amateur (insert any hobby)
Which of these events do you define as your “A” event? if its the triathlons I think you still need find more time to swim. IMO it helps build overall fitness without the pounding of the legs that you already get from running/cycling.
Personally I like the yoga and strength training in the off season (or in season if for injury prevention), but when it gets down to training for A events, with my limited time I prioritize those workout that boost my volume in the specific areas I am training. I still am stuck in the more is more adage.
Like @JoeX mentioned can you do two a days? A hard workout in the early AM/ Easier workout in the evening?
Overall I think your workout structure looks great, only change I would make is add in more swimming (even thou its your strength and it can be time challenged) and I would move the Monday workouts into the week to have one dedicated day off for full recovery to help offload some fatigue.
2 Likes
November Stats:
53:01:42 total time 3,211 total TSS
Bike: 32:55:42 939.5 km
Run: 13:35:53 123.9 km
Swim: 5:54:54 14,436 m
Not much to report…dialed back bike to tempo and SST to build base after FTP bumped up about 10%. Base running and swimming. Have IM 70.3 Florida this upcoming weekend, more about having fun rather than going in with any goals. Started back in in the gym this month.
Good luck to everyone.
4 Likes
Good luck!
1 Like
Evenings are not possible for me right now. Family time.
I follow TR bike plans and do my own runs/swims. It’s basically one interval run, one longer run, and opportunistic shorter easy runs. and to answer your previous question, I consider anything above endurance to be “intensity”. For me, tempo and sweet spot are moderate, threshold and above is high.
looks like you have two days of intensity on the big instead of three? Considering that.
It’s the Xterra, and 100% agree. I thrive on two 3-4K swims a week, ideally a third as well. I just can’t make that happen right now because of work and family stuff. I will be adding a swim several months before the tris though, and I seem to build swim fitness quickly.
Thanks all for your input!
1 Like
Yes. For now. I am trying to ramp up my running… Eventually will change back to 3 bike wo
1 Like
Hi there, welcome, and join the gang, I’m new to the 70.3 gang too. I entered La Marmotte in the Alps blindly. For me it was the best way.You will not regret it, even if you try.
2 Likes