Good thing about Boise is that it’s not humid, so the shade and evaporative cooling worked really well. I don’t know how I’d fare somewhere humid, to be honest.
I’ve never felt like I’m burning up in the black Roka trisuit and the fact that I’ve never had any issues with chafing or discomfort in it has made me reluctant to switch, but I’ve definitely thought about it; maybe next year I’ll switch to something like the Zoot P1X.
Maybe, I don’t know. I felt pretty flat on the bike for the first few miles until I warmed up, so I don’t know if the lack of a swim gained me much time.
Washington Tri-Cities next month and that’s it for me this year. I’m thinking of doing the same three races (Coeur d’Alene, Boise, Tri-Cities) and maybe Oceanside next year.
Greetings everyone. First time posting in 2026. Last November I reported that I had a L5-S1 herniation with disc pressing on the sciatic nerve causing incredible pain. Between then and now I (1) took muscle relaxers and pain meds to chill things out, and (2) did a few PT sessions in January before leaving for a work trip to New Zealand from Feb - April…during which time did lots of walking and hiking. Off the bike, no swims, no runs, just some gym work but that was not enough to keep the weight off lol.
Back home, between May and June I sporadically rode a bit on my trainer, continued with gym work (lots of core and spine stability stuff), and swam a few times. The pain has pretty much gone away…the remaining sensations are small bits of numbness in the pads of left and right foot, which don’t seem to concern the multiple physicians I’ve consulted (yet). Starting in July I started riding tempo a bit more, swimming 2-3 times per week, and am now 3 weeks into a TR “Build Endurance” plan combining endurance, sweet spot, and threshold workouts. Still in the gym 2-3 per week, swimming 2-3 times per week. No running. So far so good, I can feel the nerve getting a bit activated on harder stuff (e.g., 2 hour threshold ride on the trainer), but it soon disappears within a few hour post ride.
Got a repeat MRI a couple of weeks ago which showed the herniation is much smaller than before so I guess the disc is being reabsorbed into the spine. New physician who I consulted (with a strong background in treating runners and triathletes) is next getting me into a “performance-oriented” physical therapist to continue with core and spine stability work with a goal (the physician stated goal) to get me back to running.
Not sure if I’ll ever have the capability of doing middle or long distance ever again, but just to get back to the start line of a sprint would be a win.
Thanks for reading and will keep everyone updated.
Are folks generally following the TR triathlon plans, plans / coaching from somewhere else, or self-coach? I’ve been listening to a lot of Team OxygenAddict podcasts and YouTube videos lately and seem to really agree with their training approach. Any perspectives / thoughts on it?
The Team OxygenAddict winter philosophy is essentially:
Do your hard aerobic work on the bike, build run durability through easy/steady running, improve swim technique rather than chasing swim fitness, and use strength/conditioning to make the body more durable.
I’ve been doing the TR plans (minus the swims, mainly due to pool availability/scheduling constraints) and they’ve worked well for me. I think the runs in the plan get a bad rap, but I like the RPE-based approach; I think it largely lines up well with that philosophy. I tend to do the one interval session per week and for the rest I focus more on steady running by RPE rather than chasing specific paces (I tried that last year by using a Runna plan along with TR and finished my season injured, it really wrecked me).
I’ve followed the TrainerRoad plans (more or less including the runs and swims) consistently for several years and they’ve done alright by me. I came third in O25-29 and tenth overall at the British Middle Distance champions back in June which I was quite happy with.
Normally over the winter and spring I switch out the interval runs for track sessions with my running club, then move to longer intervals/tempo sessions as I get closer to race day. I also add two gym sessions over the winter, dropping to one as volume in other areas increases in Spring. For full distance training, I’d also cap the long runs at 30km or so, otherwise the 2.5-3hr runs the plan called for would be massive for me (getting on for 35km+) which is too much every other week and would just lead to injury.
That said, next year I think I’ll start working with a proper coach. I think I’ve got about as far as I can get on an off the shelf plan, and I’d like more help targeting certain weak points. I’ve also got really bored and uninspired by the repetitive swim session, which made swimming quite a drag. I’m hoping with some more engaging (but not overly complicated for the sake of it) swim sessions I’ll enjoy swimming again.
For winter / off season training, what types of programs do long course triathletes do? On the road side I typically do a weight / strength / base program, then build in the spring.
Team OxygenAddict, for example, seems to recommend an FTP build program over the winter and then move to specialty with a focus on increasing endurance and durability in the spring.
Last year I ended my season with a flareup of anterior knee pain, so I took a break from running over the fall and just focused on cycling with an “increase FTP” TrainerRoad plan. It was fine and my knee recovered, but I lost more run fitness than I would have like, so I think this year I’m going to keep my TR half-distance plan going over the fall, and just give myself permission to do more fun rides, Zwift events, etc. before re-starting in earnest in January.
Just read your race recap, thanks for sharing! I used to live in Boise and did this race back in 2012 and enjoyed reminiscing. I laughed a bit when you talked about the challenges of racing in the heat because it was FREEZING when I did the race. So much so that they shortened the bike to 12 miles. We rode from Lucky Peak to T2 – the pros didn’t even take off their wetsuits to stay warm (brilliant!)
You mentioned swimming at a fitness club downtown prior to the race. There’s also Quinn’s Pond (also called Clocktower Pond) that’s a couple miles from downtown and accessible from the Green Belt where you can open water swim for free.
It depends on how good you swim and how much buoyancy you prefer? Not an expert at all but I would look at a suit that gives you the best shoulder flexibility.
I’ve only ever used Roka wetsuits. The first one I got was the previous generation MX (their “max buoyancy” wetsuit), which I always thought was too tight around the shoulders, so I switched to a sleeveless one and always found it more comfortable. I needed a sleeved wetsuit again for Escape from Alcatraz, so I got their current-gen entry level Comp.3 wetsuit and I think it has far better shoulder mobility than the previous generation, so I’m gonna keep using it instead of my sleeveless one for now.
I have a Synergy wetsuit and love it. I think it’s the Hyperion model (40% off), which is pretty lightweight and is like a second skin in regards to unrestricted range of motion. My first wetsuit was a cheap Xterra model that is much thicker (warmth and buoyancy) but I hated the restrictiveness to my natural swim stroke. As previously mentioned, just be mindful the design matches your swim skill and goals (buoyancy and body position vs unrestricted and fluid range of motion).
Went with Xterra sleeveless and it did the job for me. Trisuit underneath and a bit of cream on my neck to avoid any chafing. Figured if i took this thing more seriously i’d invest in a nicer one down the road.
Any tips for 70.3 on the bike fueling? I have aero bottle down tube and 2 other bottles (BTA/BTS) available.
My idea was too use one fuel bottle (BTA) with 250gram of carbs mixed (malto/fructose). And then water/electrolytes in the other 2.
I think one central carbs bottle will be beter to manage the correct amount of carbs every 15/20minutes (maybe mark the bottle portions).
Any thoughts? I can also use 150gr carbs combined with 2 45gr gels. But maybe just one carb bottle is easier to handle?
I do exactly this 250g in a 950ml bottle, but its a high osmolality (hypertonic solution,) therefore it is good practice to follow with a few sips of plain water to aid faster absorption (gut emptying) or from the second bottle, again 950ml in size that I have electrolytes in.
Ive never had any issues but some people do, especially in hotter races, so test it in as close to race conditions as possible.
If I put a bike jersey on that has pockets, I put a handful of gels and a 500ml flask of plain water in them to chase the hypertonic carb solution down.
I prefer to keep my mix to the 90-120g per bottle territory and just do 1 bottle per hour. If its too cold to need that much water, i’ll just drink half the bottle and a 50g carbs fuel gel to offset the other half i didnt drink.
I just dont love having to drink from the super rich bottle then a swig of regular water after. Means i’m fiddling around with bottles more than i’d like.
I’ve been using Maurten 320 drink mix and it has worked well for me; I can fit about 2.5 sachets in two BTA 24-ounce bottles for about 80 g/h, which has been enough for a 70.3. If I expect it to be really hot, I’ll also have water in my aero bottle and drink to thirst.