Solid training month!
Bike: 25:48
Run: 11:58
Swim: 5:44
Strength: 9:48
Made some solid progress on Achilles so now back to 20-25 mpw. Starting to add in some intensity which is good.
Bike is steady
Swim is improving. Have some days where it clicks and some days where it doesn’t. But being in 3x / week definitely helping!
Got a wetsuit during Roka sale. How many wetsuit swims do people tend to get in?
Last year, after the lakes thawed, I did most of my swimming in open water with a wetsuit because I had never done it before and wanted to get used to it and build some confidence in open water. I think this year I’m going to do the majority of my swimming in the pool to keep it structured and do more drills, and save OWS for the weekends when the pool is closed, so I can practice sighting and do the occasional time trial. I’d also recommend doing a few practice open water swims without a wetsuit, in case the water is too warm to wear one on race day.
Nice.
My first few seasons I had periods where I swam weekly in local lakes. I don’t feel the need any more, all pool work now unless the opportunity presents itself.
First time posting in 2023, aiming for IM Augusta 70.3 and IM Florida 140.6. For now primary focus on bike through mid April, then will bring up swim and run more.
Successes: I’ve already done more gym work in 2023 that I did in 2022 or 2021…making this more consistent this year.
Setbacks/Learnings: A 2-week on/1-week off training block is working better for this 55-year old. Just coming off the first 3-week on block in some time, and I’m wrecked at the end of the final week, bailing midway through my final two TR workouts.
January
February
I fell off in March of last year due to work, and the work schedule is just as tough this year, but going to be more efficient and intentional!
Good luck everyone.
February was a pretty good month
The weather in Northern Idaho has been cold (snow and Ice) so all my workouts were indoors
Swim 6:50:05
Bike 20:55:00
Run 12:28:00
Strength 3:11
overall feeling pretty good, chomping at the bit to get outside for some riding and runs
Have a great March
Mike
Had to dial the running way back. Pulled a hammy and tried nursing and resting it. Today was the first real run on it and it felt pretty good. Time to get back at it.
(Plus I lost the bike for a week at the shop for a tune up. Figured sore leg time is the best time to get it done)
Feb
Swim 7:10 hours
Bike 11:51 hours
Run 4.25 hours
Thanks @JoeX !
Finished Taupo in 11h31. I was aiming at 11h but still quite happy with the race.
The event is exceptional - the scenery, the volunteers, the whole city cheering on you - fantastic feeling. I will definitely do it again here.
My initial goal during training was 10h and in January I felt like I will be able to give it a go. Then I got sick beginning February - nothing big, just 2 days in bed, and back at it again. Or so I thought. But I quickly noticed, that heart rate deteriorated hugely - at the same effort, HR was 10-20 higher than before… What was an easy pace / power, become a medium effort. And then NZ got hit hard by the cyclone Gabrielle and my training got pretty disrupted, so I downgraded the target to 11h.
Now, the race itself:
swim - 1h11 - it’s a mass start in Taupo. I like it, but it’s much harder than a rolling one. I had big trouble to find my place in the beginning - and I drank a lot of water. Which resulted in some long pain in the belly during the bike.
bike - 5h29 - the race is rather easy - mostly rolling small hills or flat, and there is really no technique required. Which fitted me well. I think I was too conservative actually (average HR 135) and will definitely aim at a higher effort next time.
run - 4h34 - first half was not bad, but muscle cramps hit me and I needed to walk it a bit. It subsided after 3-4 of walk / run, but I did a very poor job mentally - I didn’t properly restart running, and ended up alternating running / walking till the end. Which is a shame, since the 11h target was within the reach with a stronger mental game.
One thing to note, which I wasn’t aware before moving to NZ - the sun here is really strong (compared to what I was used to in Europe). Average temperature in Taupo in March is 21 degrees. It was 23 degrees on Saturday afternoon, but it was sunny - felt like 30.
Fantastic effort, well done!
Hi,
Still on the High Volume Half Distance plan.
Feb stats
Swim 14h30
Bike/Turbo 28H18
Run 15h10
Strength 3h23
Need somme consistency on strength.
I’m still wondering if those long endurance WE rides are worth it. Lot of fatigue and time consumming. I don’t really see the point of riding 3-4h for a 2h30/2h40 ride on race day?
Mid volume Plan is maybe more race oriented with a bit more intensity and less volume?
Same questions for the run
Running 1h40/1h50/2h seem pointless, for a 1h30 max run on race day.
And intensity WO back to back on tuesday and wednesday seem odd as well.
I’m gonna go through the whole phase and maybe switch back to Mid Volume, which gave me some acceptable results last year.
congrats to @PawelKozela for completing IM Taupo. Great bike split! Shame for the run, Sub 11 was reachable. Did you attend the award ceremony? If so, how deep was the RD?
Enjoy your training
Thanks !
Nope, didn’t attend the ceremony.
It’s all for aerobic adaptations which come best from the long aerobic workouts. That builds the mitochondrial density and increased capillaries.
You’ll race at more of a tempo effort which isn’t as efficient for these training purposes.
I think (others might not) that 1h45 to 2h running and 2h-3h on the trainer at easy/endurance efforts are optimal for training stimulus.
February has been a mixed bag but overall happy doing LV HD Build, 33h20 in total.
Challenges:
Shoulder injury after a big 13h week ruined my sleep for ages and interrupted swimming
Work interfered with routine
Successes:
Running volume good
Signed up for local swim club
Signed up for FulGaz Ironman simulations
I’m finding manually updating the TR calendar a bit annoying so going with Garmin stats for now.
Fair amount of inconsistency overall, but happy with bike and run.
Racing status…
1900m in 36-37min is a really easy swim for me
190-200W on the bike is a steady 135-140bpm
5:17/km is a steadies out at 162bpm, about 5-9 beats below my lactate threshold (depending on who you believe)
That’s mid feb so a good position and 90 days to get those improved for June 4th half distance. And another 29 days to smooth it out for IM distance.
Consistency, sleep, nutrition…
Nooga 70.3 in May, still working on summer / fall races choices
Decent second month of training in my 6 month MV Full Distance plan but I’m often going off script for the runs and swims. Here’s what I ended up with:
21:22 on bike
12:08 run
6:14 swim
Enjoying the bike sessions, definitely feeling stronger but looking forward to some longer rides to start getting more confident I can make the distance.
Making big gains in running, despite capping everything at Z2. Also started 9 min run / 1 min walk on my long runs and really encouraged to see my avg pace not take a hit at all.
Swimming is coming along. Drills are helping. Not brought in an real endurance yet, just focusing on form.
Hope everyone has a strong March
My n=1
I’ve had good results doing the mid-volume plan when the big weekly ride was Polar Bear (2-hr steady tempo 80-85% FTP).
I’ve had great results doing a midweek 1.5-2 hr tempo ride and a long (3-5hr) endurance rides on the weekend.
For me, there’s a clear difference in performance with the long endurance rides.
Running is more of the same. I like lots of long runs in the 2hr range when I’m trying to get into race shape.
That’s a lot of hours! 20+ hrs per week average!
Unfortunately, things have fallen off the rails this month. For the last year or so, I’ve been experiencing some nagging right hip pain. It’d been erratic and came and went without a lot of pattern and didn’t really hurt during workouts. Around the end of January, that changed. It started to be aggravated during workouts and has progressed to be nearly always present and getting to the point where it’s interfering with non-tri life. At the beginning of February, I stopped biking and running, which seems to flare it up, starting swimming more and doing hip exercises and stretching as directed by the PT. I tried a couple of really short runs and 1 ride, but no improvement (in fact it was worse each time). Meeting with a doctor this week and expecting to have an MRI scheduled.
The plus side is that swimming is now the best it’s ever been. The combination of no run/bike fatigue along with lots of swimming are doing wonders. I did a CSS test the other week and had big PRs in the 200 and 400. I also tried an 100 all-out and had a PR there.
The Numbers:
wk 6: Total: 3.75 hrs, Bike: 0 hr (0 rides), Run: 0.15 hr (1 runs, Swim: 3.5 hr (6 swims)
wk 7: Total: 1.75 hr, Bike: 0.25 hr (1 rides), Run: 0.15 hr (1 runs), Swim: 1.3 hr (3 swims)
wk 8: Total: 3.85 hr, Bike: 0 hr (0 rides), Run: 0.15 hr (1 runs), Swim: 3.75 hr (5 swims)
wk 9: Total: 3 hr, Bike: 0 hr (0 rides), Run: 0 hr (0 runs), Swim: 3 hr (6 swims)
CSS Test Results (All SCY, push from the wall)
100: 1:07.09 (0.7" improvement)
200: 2:23.82 (10" improvement), 1:12 pace
400: 4:59.31 (27" improvement), 1:15 pace
CSS: 1:17.7 (9" improvement)
I also use the 9:1 method on long runs and find I’m much less wrecked the day after. Also helps me get in the mindset of walking aid stations.
Still struggling with post Covid issues. That’s over 4 months now. All the tests on my heart have checked out fine but its looking like the ongoing issues I’m having are long Covid related. Going to see my specialist again soon.
During Feb I managed 10 rides of around an hour each all in zone 1.
Have deferred the events I’d entered until 2024.
Beastly month!!!
