Long time follower on the forum here. Signed up for the Muskoka 70.3 in July as my first tri race. Will look into a local sprint/Olympic in May/Jun to get some experience under my belt. My goal is to finish within the cutoff time (6-7hrs?) and enjoy the event/training process.
I started the Half LV plan on Jan 1 and tried to follow it the best I can. I am really struggling with the time commitment for the plan (7-8hrs/wk, 6 days a wk), as I have a job and 2 kids like a lot of people.
This week fatigue really started to set in and I had to stop 2 bike workouts in a row halfway in (Monday Vo2Max and this morning SweetSpot). I tried to grind it out but I had nothing left. I know these things have been discussed on numerous threads, and I know the answers already but I had to ask!!!
A few questions:
• How do you guys deal with the time commitment of the TR tri LV plan? I think I might be easier for me to do longer sessions on few days due to kids and all
• I have to do my sessions at 5:30am in the morning. I would grab a banana or a clif bar and run on the bike, but I feel the food is not kicking in soon enough for me that causing me to fail the workouts. The earliest I can sleep is around 1030pm, because the kids sleep at 930pm. Already on 6-7hrs sleep…waking up earlier to eat is not preferred!!!
• Does it get better? I know the body needs time to adjust to the new training load/start times. Should I be patient and stick with it a bit longer (with TR auto lowering the progression levels every time I fail a workout)
Thanks for reading. After all this rambling, I realized that maybe I am just looking for some moral support. I will suck it up. LFG!!!
Oh hey! Muskoka hills were a good level of challenge on both the bike and the run (get out of transition and its a 9-10% hill!?)
If you have any question about the course let me know.
I’m doing the gravenhurst olympic in June, but there are plenty of options
And yes it takes a while to get used to the rythym of training.
I have a question cuz I don’t like what plan builder is throwing out for my 2nd race.
22 week schedule to 1st A race (70.3). Plan builder gave me 8wk base, 8wk build, 6wk specialty. All good.
Then I have 13 weeks to 2nd and final A race (70.3). My thought is:
2 weeks “recovery” which would act as some base as well. A full 8wk build. 3wk specialty to sharpen and taper to the race.
Does this sound doable or is 2wks of recovery/base sound like not enough before jumping into a full build? With such a short time before my final race I really want to build as much as I can before. Not sure if I’m being too ambitious or not…
This years A race is IM 70.3 WC in Lahti Finland.
My swim has always been good, and use effortless swimming for instruction and workouts. TR seems week on Swim. Years of bike racing and TR has made my bike leg good for my age group.
But over the years my run keeps getting slower, and avoiding injury is the #1 goal. Body weight strength training seemed to help a lot when did IM last year.
a. Personally I find frequency beats volume. I rather make room for three shorter trainer rides than have 2 bigger ones.
b. I think most people struggle with this. I am in the same early-am-workout-boat on many mornings and know how shitty it feels to do a hard effort carb depleted right after getting up. I often replace a hard effort with an easier ride. Depending on how fatigued I am I might then replace an endurance ride on the weekend with a big sweet spot or theshold hammerfest or just stick with the plan anyway. Better to complete an easier workout than to fail a hard one. Re carbing up, have you tried liquid fuel? I simply use sugar-water with some flavoring or a plain old softdrink. Feels like I can absorb the carbs easier and it also helps with early morning dehydration. If you’re still struggling, SIS makes these comical nootropics beta gels with beta carbs and 200mg caffeine per serving.
c. Rule of Lemond applies: It does not get easier, you only go faster.
It’s say it’s plenty but can depend on your fitness going into the race, how big of a taper you’re taking before your A1 race and how you recover in general.
My 0.02. Were it me, I’d take 1 recovery week, the first 4 weeks of build and then the full 8 weeks of specialty. There’s something about going into a race w/ a plan designed to peak for a race.
At the end of the day though. I don’t think it matters too much if you prioritize build or specialty; there is so much overlap on the zones they focus on.
I will be doing the same race as you and somewhat in the same situation with a 1 week old. I have done few full’s and some halfs and for all them consistency outweighed duration. I will be doing the same approach this year, a smaller or failed workout is better than no workout with the promise of doing a bigger one later. Not to mention that can increase the risk of injury.
As for food in the morning, I used to use Ensure the meal replacement drink, it had calories and sat well for me.
Hopefully this course isn’t too hard (easier than mont tremblant?)
Agree consistency is key! Think the body is adjusted to the 5am wakes and new training load. Been eating the Costco Kirkland protein bars for food, not sure if it’s good for me but the carbs get me through most of the swim/bike/run workouts
The raison d’etre for The Thread these last four years
Welcome on board. Yes, it’s hard. “Marshmallow man” might’ve been on the table in the 70s* but they settled on Ironman for a reason
Does it get easier? Psychologically, I’d say yes. Physically…maybe over a few years.
I’m also struggling with family and work at the moment, and real life meant I missed two days training last week, and I won’t try to catch up. If today’s workout can’t be done, see if you can get sleep and nutrition right instead.
You’ve got yourself a training slot each day - that’s a big plus, but getting up early is hard and sleep is important. I’ve been training a long time, my routine is sweet coffee to wake up and a protein shake or boiled eggs and toast after the workout.
‘Stealth’ training is good, using real (or imagined) commute time as your training time can help.
You will see @Murph333 on the start line at Muskoka 70.3, you won’t be alone(!)
@matthewgreer I actually really like that suggestion, and that may be the way I go. You are correct in that the training stress between Build and Specialty is not REALLY all that different. As opposed to Base vs the other 2 phases. I really appreciate your input on this.
@JoeX Plan Builder spits out 6wks Base, 5wks Build, 1wk Specialty.
Plan Builder doesn’t seem to be taking into account that I am coming into this second race training phase on the heals of a full prep. Like…its the continuation of a racing season, not a full restart. Because Plan Builder is seeing it as a standalone race prep, it tries to squeeze in every phase (with an emphasis on Base…which is unnecessary at that point).
This may be my fault? Maybe if I had already planned out both A races when I ran my initial Plan Builder it would have accounted for it and would not have put such an emphasis on Base for the 2nd race. But I was already 4 weeks into my plan before I nailed down where/when my 2nd race would be…
I sat down with my coach in October and layed out goals, thoughts, and plans for the year. The big goal of the year is IM Maryland.
In December we began a plan for Eagleman, it is a B+ race, the test for this part of the year is Shamrock Half Marathon March 19. After that it is right into IM training.
After Eagleman in June we agreed that I have a few easy days of training before kicking it back up to Ironman volume and intensity.
Plan the year, work your plan. Your fitness upto and after the 70.3 should allow you to take a week break before moving into the IM Plan. You can also play with Plan Builder and add both your races and see what it creates for you,
@JoeX it definitely feels wrong! lol I just cant bring myself to remove the plan while I’m currently progressing through it. I feel like if I’m already 4 weeks into base, I delete it and re-add it with both races…my fear is that it will restructure as if I havnt already done those 4 weeks and throw in a whole new 8 week base phase lol. But who knows…
And I’ll have to try doing the expert selection. I always select “advanced” because I cant convince my brain that I’m an expert at anything lol
Wondering if I can avoid the spreadsheet this year and rely on Garmin:
Activity Type
Activities
Total Distance
Max Distance
Total Activity Time
Activity Calories
Max Heart Rate
Cycling
12
37.47 km
30.23 km
11:33:36 h:m:s
7,740
166 bpm
Gym & Fitness Equipment
2
–
–
1:03:11 h:m:s
273
125 bpm
Running
20
125.86 km
11.39 km
13:16:11 h:m:s
9,906
185 bpm
Swimming
5
7.90 km
2.40 km
2:50:31 h:m:s
1,424
155 bpm
Walking
2
1.57 km
1.15 km
20:27 h:m:s
116
115 bpm
Missed two bike workouts, so okay but with only 3/wk could’ve done better. Run has been good I think. Swim a struggle with pool closures and train strikes, but okay for January.
