Im thinking about going for IM Lanzarote in May 2022. I’m hoping that things might have calmed down by then.
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Okay, enough of this negativity! 
It’s all going to be fine!
Anyone tried strength work instead of swimming? I’m trying to get a arms/core 30 min workout going 4/week first thing in the morning where my swim slots would/will be when the pools open.
Mon/Thu
1 Overhead press 3x5 45kg
2 Crunches 3x15
3 Pull-ups 3x3
4 Tricep dips 3x5
5 Hanging knee raises 3x3
6 Shrugs 3x5 15kg
7 Deadlift 1x5 75kg
Tue/Fri
1 Bench 3x5 45kg
2 Power clean 3x5 25kg
4 Chin-ups 3x3
4 Plank 3x90s
5 Side plank 3x90s
6 Shoulder rotations 3x5 2.5kg
7 Row 3x5 45kg
Sat (Not swimming related but to cover off all my strength work)
Stronglifts 3x5 (Heavy squats, press and deadlift)
Did the Monday workout this morning, feeling it a bit n the shoulders and neck so maybe need to lighten up a bit.
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Ha! Not trying to be too negative, just realistic
Sadly I think there might a few more false dawns yet as the pandemic moves through and even as things get better they won’t just go back to how they were for a very long time. It’s sad because it’s through triathlon I’ve been to places all around the world and met some fantastic people 
I sincerely hope that all comes back at some point in the future 
I’ll have to learn how to swim again though, the last stroke I swum was in Hawaii 18 months ago 
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Quite the same for me, but instead of the classic X times Y reps I’m planning the workout as a circuit with 40"work/20"rest or 30/30sec this with 4or 5 exercises and 5/6 circuits to complete. Mainly with TRx and body weight
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Yup! I’m starting my planned Base 1 block today, but motivation is running really low to start putting big hours in for something that is looking highly unlikely to happen. However, until it’s officially cancelled I want to keep going in the off chance that it does go ahead - - tough balance for sure!
Hmm, yes a circuit might make more sense as I’m not trying to build strength
I’ve been getting to grips with my ZEN8 … I’m quite liking it 
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Well, that’s me Jabbed. … I may get to travel by late summer…
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Hey @JulianM , I am literially in the exact same boat and I actually withdrew from IM Canada because its just not gonna happen (likely) and they were offering full refunds.
I am just enjoying my free time and will just abuse my fitness this summer doing mega rides with absolutely no structure or race goals. I have some local races pushed back from last year (and one in the US that I dont even know I can attend due to cross boarder issues) so while I can just literally do a 70.3 tomorrow with a super ugly swim and some stupid bike and run times, I just cant motivate myself to do huge weeks of anything. I just do zwift racing now and long enduro sets. Learning a new language which is taking all my time up and I might spend that IM Canada money on a trip once things open up.
Racing will come back eventually. I am sure the people who keep fit will have some silly fast bike and run times. I think everyone will sink in the swim. I don’t know if I will be as serious about racing as i was pre pandemic but I am enjoying doing endurance stuff for fun. No goals, just for fun.
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@JoeX Appreciate the updates and call outs here. Last year I was looking to add some triathlon to my road racing via 3 70.3’s (A local Napa one, Santa Rosa and CDA) - none of which of course happened. Ended up road tripping across country and doing a lot of riding but no swimming/running mid summer. When we got back in October jumped into Half Distance High Volume shooting for the rescheduled Napa race that was to be in two weeks but has since been postponed again… But I figure I’ve put in 21 weeks of following this plan and am feeling in pretty good form so I’m going to do my own Solo 70.3 this coming weekend.
Solo 70.3: I am curious of anyones thoughts on this as I am really trying to make this as legitimate as possible.
Swim: I’ll be swimming in the club 25 yard pool I happen to live next door to. 1.2 miles converts to 2112 yards, so I am planning on swimming 2125. Are there rules for pool based races - I don’t open water swim at all so not really sure if I am at at advantage or not with flip turn etc…?
Ride: I’ll be riding 56 miles on the road right from the pool - doing this early on a Saturday morning hoping to be able to have as continuous as a of a ride as possible, but will count the full time with stop lights being my obvious time killer.
Run: T2 will be at the head of a hike/bike trail (old railroad) where outside having to pull my mask up and down I can get a pretty nice relatively flat half marathon in.
Goal is to be under 4:45 getting as close to 4:30 as possible which when I look through results gets me close to/on some 35-45 age group podiums for some sanctioned 70.3’s. I am riding my road bike with clip ons. Only thing I am no decided on is wearing a tri suit or swap kit in transition. Would love to hear anyones thoughts. Will report back after.
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I did two last year;
A run, virtual bike race, run.
A swim, virtual bike, run
And others did more on the 2020 thread if you’re interested. I went with virtual bike because I didn’t feel race pace was realistic in suburban London.
Thanks Joe - I’ll take a look at these. Yea in a city I think virtual makes sense! I live in the burbs, plus my virtual riding on the rollers tends to show slower than what I can do on the road!
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I “started” my Training Plan for Chattanooga with a rest day. I had a massage scheduled for this afteroon but child care issues caused the therapist to cancel so I did some Yoga.
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I’m looking for advice on the Half Distance HV plans. I’m currently on the FDMV and was considering swapping over. I’m finally accepting that I’ll not get to race full distance this year. Our club is running a half and full distance events for club members but the thoughts of doing the full distance with 5-6 others with about 8 weeks of swim training (it’ll be about 3 months in the last 20 by race time) is losing it’s appeal. So, I’m contemplating drop down and do the half instead - I’ll prob keep some of the longer rides but I’ll be happy to ditch the 2-3 hour runs.
I’ve a short 2 week base period after this build before another build and then speciality. I’m thinking of finishing this build, taking the base to recharge a bit and then switching to HDHV.
Background - I stepped away from the sport for 4 years with intermittent SBR training. I’ve been building back up the last ~2 years. I completed FDLV before this (with the exception of the last to weeks of speciality - took a winter break). Bike power is coming along nicely but still a little low. Run was picking up but I’m still a long way off where I was and I’m plateauing again. I’m half way through build currently so the switch to tempo runs in the second half of the plan will hopefully give me a bit of a boost. I’ve responded well to 2 intensity days of running a week (speed and tempo) in the past.
The HDHV seems to have to have similar TSS to FDMV. I should be able to pick up a bit more run speed (hopefully carry it through to next year where I’ll get back to FD). The shorter LSRs will hopefully save the legs a bit for the intensity days. I’ll hopefully have a bit more fun on my Sunday ride and I’ll drop one day of bike intensity if I need to. Plus, I won’t have to stress about my lack of swimming.
Does anyone have any experience with the HDHV or done something similar? I should be carrying a solid amount of fitness into them but are the runs too much? Am I mad dropping down now?
Any input is appreciated.
The only experience I have is doing the HD Build HV a few years ago and it burned me out.
I wouldn’t go entirely by TSS in comparing the plans either as “not all TSS is created equal” ad I’d expect more intensity in HD. Personally if I’m doing LV FD I’d also be choosing LV HD but have a look at the plans and see what you think.
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If anyone is interested, slots are still available for the one-time-only IM Indiana. Personally, I’m kinda surprised it has been open this long. With all the other races being sold out due to 2020 transfers, etc, I though IMIN would sell out quickly.
Should be a fast course, too…at least absed on my experience at the 70.3 race there…
Same here, @julianm. 2020 was to be a bike-specific year (gravel to be precise) with IM Barcelona at the end for “fun” and to test my cycling fitness (with the obligatory warm-up swim and warm-down run as bookends). Things happened. My entry was punted to 2021. However, with indoor pools still closed here (Switzerland) for at least another month and the outdoor pools not likely to open before their regular May 1 date and outdoor temps still in the single digits and water temp at Lake Zurich reporting 6C… well, I asked IM to push my entry to 2022. Their reply was somewhat cryptic: “as of now it is not possible to process this request.” I’m not planning on going. Yeah, the swim leg is short compared to the whole of the event but it’s critical for me in terms of fitness and cross-training and motivation through the training weeks.
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Thanks @JoeX, I took a good look at the plans alright. HDMV seems to have two intense bike sessions per week but less run intensity. HDHV seems to line up more closely with FDMV (1 or 2 per week on alternate weeks) - pretty much identical except that the VO2 and tempo sets are longer but O/Us are less intense . Most of the increase in intensity over FDMV seems to be added to the run. I think I can manage that with the reduction in the long run.
I’m probably just getting a bit fed up with FD build 
. I’ll wait till I’m through the other side of this one before I make any decisions.
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SSB/Sustained power build is another route some people take. I gave it a crack last year and it was really tough but I reaped the rewards.
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Yeah I had SusPB on the plan previously but cracked the last week of SSB2 doing S&C and adding runs, so abandoned it. I’ve a lot more run miles in the legs this time around, so it might be feasible.
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