Training

This was the first week of the 20-week training plan.  There were no hiccups and I was able to do all the workouts according to the plan except for the swimming – more on that in a bit.  I ended the week with 8.5 hrs of workout time.

For the swimming, I am not sure about doing the various drill sets etc, but I did do a few lengths faster than normal when the workout called for the fartlek swimming.  I did swim the required distances though.

For the long run on Sunday, I was tempted to run about 1.5 hrs instead of the planned 50 mins, but in the end I ran just under an hour.  I decided to try and stick to the plan even though it has me running less than my typical recent weeks.

All my bike workouts were on the indoor trainer, but luckily for me, the weather was nice on Saturday and that allowed me to do my long ride outside.  I felt really good and Training  Peaks identified a new FTP based on a 20-min segment during my ride.  I now have an outside FTP of 162W.

 

Plan for Next Week: 

Here is the planned workouts for the coming week.  I’ll be in FL so a couple of the bike workouts will be on an indoor gym and my swimming will be in a short 15m hotel pool

This week started off in Arizona on Monday so I didn’t do any workouts on Monday.  I did manage to to do one work every other day of the week, but I ended the week at just under 6 hours.  I got in one swim day, two bike days, and three run days.  I managed to run my normal 18 miles for the week.

I wasn’t too worried about doing a lot as this was the last week before I start my actual 20-week half-Ironman training plan…..yes that starts tomorrow.

Today marks EXACTLY 52 weeks to my full Ironman in Arizona next year.  My plan is:

• 20 week Half- Ironman plan and then do the Ironman 70.3
• 2 weeks rest
• 30-week Ironman plan

For my Ironman 70.3, I will be using Level 5 plan from Matt Fitzgerald’s book Essential Week-By-Week Training Guide.  Even though this will be first Ironman 70.3, the starting point for the level 5 plan matched up well with my current training load.

Also, depending on how my training goes, if the load ends up being too much, I can drop down a level or two as needed.

 

Next Week’s Training Plan

Here is a screenshot of my planned workouts for this coming week:

My main concern is the long ride.  So far I have been trying my best to use the indoor trainer and so far it has been a struggle.  I did do a 1-hr ride this week.  Hopefully the weather will cooperate and I can get to do my long ride outdoors.

 

This week was a mixed bag.  The week started off great, but I didn’t any workouts in the latter part as I was travelling to Ironman Arizona to volunteer.

I did my 3 running days for a total of 18 miles.  This was some cold running, but it was great to get the 18 miles in.

I swam for 2 days, 1500m each day.  The good thing is that I did both 1500m continuously.  I didn’t intend to do that, but it worked out.  I never thought I would have ever said this, but swimming 1500m is actually quite easy.  It’s the equivalent for going for an “easy run”

For cycling, I tried the Zwift experiment again. It started off with my trying to do a FTP test and that failed miserably with my giving up abut 5 mins into the 20 mins FTP section.  In the course of doing that FTP test, I found I actual like the training part of Swift where you follow a workout in ERG mode and Zwift simply controls the trainer so you are at a given power.  The key though is having a proper FTP value to use to base the workouts off.  I will attempt to do the FTP test again next week

 

Goals for Next Week: I want to get a Zwift FTP test done.  I will try and run 3 days, but I may only get to swim 1 day with Thanksgiving this week.

The plan for this week was to make it a recovery week with much less training time and that is how it ended up.  I ended the week with just about 5 hrs of training time and it included 2 swims, 2 runs, and 2 bike rides.

The 2 runs I did were quite a contrast.  Wednesday’s run was in warm and humid FL at about 77F while Saturday’s run was 40 degrees cooler at 35F

For the coming week, I expect my workout volume to also be reduced as I’m flying to Phoenix on Saturday.  I’ll be there to volunteer for Ironman AZ so that I can register for next year’s Ironman AZ

 

Goals for Next Week: The weather this come week is going to be brutal and so I expect all my bike rides will have to be indoors.  I will be aiming for at least 3 swim days of 1500m each, 3 run days for a total of my normal 18 miles, and 2 bike days of about an hour each