Good steady start to the year with 46+ hours of training, missed a few workouts due to reconstruciton work of our Kitchen.
I ran two races, a 5K on New Years 2nd age group, beat a friend of mine for the first time in a run race, I have beat him a couple times in Tris but this was the first run race in 15 years of racing him.
Second race was a 10 mile first age group 17th overall
For my birthday did a 5K swim I will be repeating this workout 10 days prior to Eagleman and Maryland and possibly in July as part of a big week of training.
Lots of threshold work on the bike.
Thanks @giventotri!
Training is going pretty well performance-wise, less well motivation-wise. Really happy with my running at the moment despite some fairly minimal mileage, so I think there’s still a ton of improvements to be had as well. Bike is back to where it was, but probably need a bit of race sharpening and some longer rides to put out my best numbers. Swim is still rough as hell, but recently got kicked out of our C group and I’ve previously been a solid B swimmer when I’m fit, so there’s some glimmers of hope at least.
I’m sort of torn between dialling back on tris and being more run-focused, though- been way more motivated for running recently, and I know I’m not training as well as I could in the other 2 because I just can’t be arsed at the moment, which kind of grates on me. I think I’ll probably still swim/bike regardless because I do enjoy them, but I think I’m leaning towards having those as a more social/fun thing without the pressure of having to maintain a high quality across all 3 sports.
On the other hand I also wonder if it might be because I haven’t had any ‘important’ races since I’ve been back training, so it’s harder to stay focused or see any definite progress. I think I’ll probably shoot for an A event at the end of the season to see of that changes anything (probably either oly state champs or a local 100km), and then it’s mostly into running season in the next couple of months anyway. Short enough that I can still have a relatively solid ‘fun’ race if I’m still not all there.
Thanks @giventotri
Happy with my start to the year - January was my first proper month of “proper training” in over a year. Also the first time i’ve ever followed a plan with any kind of run or swim in it. Following full distance MV base with some slight modifications. A event is not till end of July
For January training:
Total: 47 hours
Swim - 4 hours 30
Bike - 33 hours
Run - 9 hours 30
Has anyone noticed significant changes in the updated triathlon plans yet?
My plan refreshed after my recovery week last week, which is when @SeanHurley said the new settings would take effect, here’s what I see in my next block before and after:
As far as I can tell, it reduced the duration of the Thursday tempo workouts to 1:30, replaced Polar Bear with Polar Bear -3, and reduced the PLs of the endurance workouts a little bit.
Hey @giventotri add me to the list please!
Signed up for my first full distance, doing IMCA in October. Probably do the Lake Tahoe 70.3 in August. I’ve been doing 3-5 rides per week, with 2 strength sessions since January (and last fall after doing CIM). Official training starts beginning of April. Getting back into the pool monday for the first time in 18 months, that should be fun…
Also, I’ve been doing the polarized plans (base and build) this winter and really loving them! I feel like I’m fresh for the hard workout every week and motivation has remained high the entire time (not feeling tired before my workouts). Worth noting I’m 45. I wish the tri plans had a polarized option, I’m doing the low volume masters plan and may swap out one of the weekly SS workouts (the easier one) for an endurance session. We’ll see.
Any other IMCA folks on here?
Added! And on that note, it’s time for this month’s roll call:
@ashfordneil @ashman07 @Bbt67 @Benwgoodfellow @Billabong @bretzky @mrtopher1980 @Owenbrown @Wayne_Smith @windyyet
How was y’all’s month?
For me, February was good, all things considered. Stuck pretty closely to the half-distance plan for the bike and runs, although I’ve had lots of trouble sleeping recently and the fatigue finally caused me to fail a tempo workout yesterday (in my defense it was a PL 10.2). Swimming is still elusive, but I think my work schedule has finally stabilized so I should be able to start swimming more consistently this month. Otherwise, I’m feeling pretty strong, my AI FTP is holding steady, and my knee hasn’t bothered me at all so far.
I am kinda tired of only doing indoor training this winter, though, and I still have at least one more month before I can start riding and running outside, so I think I’m gonna sacrifice a handful of workouts to do the Zwift Games this month, just to get a break from structured training (although I’m gonna try to align the races to workout days, e.g. sprints on intensity days, climb on a tempo day, epic on a long endurance day). I even got a Kickr Climb to make things more interesting, should make racing the Alpe extra fun.
February was a good month of solid training. I struggled mid-month with some personal issues, I am working on overcoming them. Mid January I decided to add a 30 minute recovery/endurance ride on all non-ride days, should add somewhere over an extra 1000 miles of riding. With that I did something 28 of the 29 days last month. I set a goal weight for the month and got under it on the last day of the month.
Feb stats:
Swim 36,600 Yards
BIke 372 Miles
Run 93.9 Miles
Strength 4:30
For March, continue doing something everyday. Drop two pounds. Shamrock Half Marathon. Triathlon season begins April 6 with Smithfield Sprint (pool swim)
Hit new year hard as usual, but unusually with a big bike focus and swimming twice a week to structured training Going well through February despite outdoor bike punctures plaguing me, and unexpected fiddling with the red light green light feature.
Could be a new swim PB certainly LCM, last week with a 1:28 100m.
Bike FTP rising steadily so far at 257W half way through HV Sustained power build.
Running little, just once a week on average.
Edit FTP just bumped up to 262
thanks @giventotri
February was a solid month for me. Started with a week long training camp in the sun in Fuerteventura. Really benefited from the swim coaching and first time in a 50m pool. Seem to be going a little quicker. Running also improving.
In terms of the month’s activities:
Total: 62 hours
Swim: 7 hours 30
Bike: 43 hours 30
Run: 11 hours
More of the same in March although I’m doing a sprint trip at the end of the month for a bit of fun and for a bit of race practice on transitions
Hi @giventotri. Would you mind adding me to the list? Thanks!
Des Moines 70.3- June 9
IMFL - November 2
Thanks. Feb was a good month for me. Solid routine and training volume, seeing gradual improvement in fitness and feeling good overall. I’ve just been away with work for 10 days, during which I didn’t have the opportunity to do much training but hopefully fitness hasn’t taken too much of a hit.
Until now I have been doing base training so lots of Z2 work on the run and bike, but starting to move into build now so looking forward to upping the intensity. I have four months until my A race so hoping I can stay on track with the progress I’ve seen so far.
Greetings from Pembrokeshire, Wales. New to Triathlon and TrainerRoad. Currently signed up for IMWales on Sept 22nd and training via the Medium Volume plan.
Last summer, my daughters began pre-season training (field hockey) and I joined them on a run. At the same time, I had just given up nicotine, so needed to keep myself occupied and running seemed to fit the bill. Ran too far, too soon and ended up injuring my knee and it was and still is a long road to recovery. A friend was taking part in IMWales so thought I would support. And that is when I caught the bug 
My goals for running have been strength training (legs mainly) during the winter and incline treadmill, trying to strengthen everything around the knee area. Bit of pilates at home too with Mrs. B. Progress on that has gone from 1k in Sept-Oct up to 15k run/walks now. Can likely do further than that but I try not to push it.
The bike… I never thought I would enjoy it so much. Need to be mindful that I do not overtrain but feeling good so far. Making quick progress and up to 2.99w/kg currently, but I’m sure that will taper off soon enough. Absolutely love my Saturday long ride. Being in Pembrokeshire, there’s hills everywhere, so they aren’t strictly endurance rides and I enjoy being out for hours which seems to play havoc with the adaptive AI planning, but I read there are some upgrades currently in the works around unplanned rides, so hopefully that will get the AI Guy to loosen up a bit 
Learned to swim as a kid, but never with face in the water. Picked up the breathing technique after a few local open water swims and then switched to the pool at the end of October as there isn’t much meat on me. Think I was around 2:10/100m at that point and now currently 1:53, so enjoying these early gains while they last. Looking forward to getting back in the sea.
Lessons learned… 1) Cycling too far with not enough fuel will eventually turn your legs to jelly. Don’t want to experience that again. 2) Walk past cows that have managed to escape their field. Almost got karate-kicked off the bike 
3) There are no aero gains to be had when cycling in a peloton of escaped sheep on the run 
In case you missed it, Ironman just amended the rules for 2024: https://cdn1.sportngin.com/attachments/document/114e-3151546/2024_IRONMAN_Competition_Rules_-_English_Version_FINAL_March_6_2024.pdf
Notable changes (bold parts are new):
Article V – Bike conduct
Section 5.01 – General
(i) Uniforms with a front zipper may be unzipped to any length, provided, that (i) the
zipper should be connected at the bottom of the uniform at all times, and (ii) the
top of the uniform should cover the shoulders at all times; (30 or 60 Second Time
Penalty (as applicable), DSQ if not remedied promptly)
(l) Athletes shall not dispose of trash or equipment (including, but not limited to, water
bottles, gel/bar wrappers, broken bike parts, clothing items, etc.) on the course
except at aid stations or other designated trash-disposal points. Intentional or
careless littering will result in a 5:00 Minute Time Penalty or disqualification.(m) Except as set forth below in Section 5.02(b), additional equipment that has the effect
of reducing wind resistance is prohibited during the bike segment of the Race
(whether such equipment is worn under the athlete’s clothing, over the athlete’s
clothing, or is otherwise attached to the athlete’s body or the athlete’s bike). This
includes, but is not limited to, (i) any bottles/hydration or any other insert located in
the front of an athlete’s race suit and (ii) any insert in an athlete’s calf sleeves; (DSQ)
Section 5.03 – Bike specifications
Protective screens, fuselages, fairings, or any other devices or materials (including
duct tape) added or blended into the structure with the intent to reduce (or having
the effect of reducing) resistance to air penetration are prohibited. Aerodynamic
assemblies and protuberances on the head tube or elsewhere are prohibited; (DSQ)
Article VI – Run conduct
Section 6.01 – General
(e) Uniforms with a front zipper may be unzipped to any length, provided, that (i) the
zipper should be connected at the bottom of the uniform at all times, and (ii) the
top of the uniform should cover the shoulders at all times; (30 or 60 Second Time
Penalty (as applicable), DSQ if not remedied promptly). The uniform should be fully
zipped when crossing the finish line;(f) Athletes shall not dispose of trash or equipment (including, but not limited to, water
bottles, gel/bar wrappers, broken bike parts, clothing items, etc.), on the course
except at aid stations or other designated trash-disposal points. Intentional or
careless littering will result in a 5:00 Minute Time Penalty or disqualification.
Article VIII – Physically challenged (“PC”) / Intellectual disability (“ID”) open division (“PC/ID Open”)
Section 8.01 – General
(c) (iii)Recumbent style tricycles are permitted only on handcycle (“HC”) approved
bicycle courses;
Article IX – Handcycle (“HC”) division
Section 9.03 – Bike conduct
(f) HC athletes must have a mirror fixed either to his/her helmet or at some point on
the front of his/her handcycle to ensure rear-view vision is possible.(g) HC athletes must have a high visibility safety flag mounted to the rear of their
handcycle. The top of the safety flag should measure a minimum of 1.8 meters/6
feet from the ground. The high visibility safety flag must be a minimum size of 21
centimeters/8 inches in height by 28 centimeters/10 inches in length.(h) HC athletes must have a red flashing light mounted to the rear of his/her handcycle,
as well as a solid white light fixed to the front of his/her handcycle.
Curious for y’all’s thoughts, but the biggest change seems to be that they’re banning putting a bottle down your jersey, which I have mixed feelings about. I could see banning something that exists solely for the aero benefit, but putting a bottle down your jersey doesn’t seem that different than putting it in a jersey pocket, even if there’s an aero benefit to it (similar to how aero bottles or hydration systems are fine, but fairings are not).
Zipper rule - seems better - the DQ for unzipped seemed way to harsh.
Trash rule - I think this now includes the careless language? seems fair. Though I wonder the interpretation on the behind the seat bottle launchers? Is that careless? Every major bump/railroad track at every IM I have been at is littered with stuff (bottles, wrappers, tubes). I think if your bottle launched they just ignored it before as not intentional.
Bike Fairings - Yeah, I don’t mind innovation and pushing the edge, but some off the homemade fairings with duct tape or plastic sheeting were a bit sketchy. I suspect, but would look for clarification that this specifically “added or blended” meaning these are generally homemade add on’s.
Body fairing - yes ban them. Its silly, the chest bottle is the gateway drug. Its only a matter of time before someone shows up with molded space filler insert that shoves into their jersey that interferes with their ability to control their bike, but made them 1 watt faster.
Recumbent bikes - is this opening them up to regular laid back tricycle leg pedaled recumbents (assuming HC division)? versus just the different style handcycles? I think this is good.
Mirrors for handcycles helmets - no opinion, but were they banded in comp for regular bikes (were they?) due to Kevin Moats, or was that everyone’s wish for ever and ever?
I did it in IM Frankfurt last year…because I didn’t have a bottle holder (!) and it wouldn’t fit in a tri jersey pocket. I pretended I was copying Joe Skipper et al
I dunno if there is a significant aero advantage, but it was nice while the fluid was cold
Thanks for pointing out it’s a penalty now. 
Hmm.
How are supposed to vent our frustration at cheats if not with harsh language? Nuke IM Barcelona from orbit?
Ha ha - warm Gatorade is trash, why can’t they put it in ice for a bit - trash! Riding on the highway is trash.
I won’t restrict your language, or your opinion on IM Barcelona, but be careful where you put your gel wrappers, only put them in the trash!