General Discussion Triathlon Talk » Am I on my way to being ready for the full IM? Rss Feed  
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2017-04-07 1:44 PM


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Subject: Am I on my way to being ready for the full IM?
Hey guys, I decided to sign up for Ironman Lake Placid cold back in October. When I say cold I cant claim I was a couch potato, but I can say that I never had swam in a lap pool in my life. I got a road bike in Spring of 2016 and did a decent amount of biking on some tough terrain in Maine, Upstate NY and my home area. I wasn't really a "runner" per-se either, my first 5k race that I completed after about 3 months of running, came in a 20:34. Now I'm six months into Ironman Training and after wading through countless articles, books by Joe Friel, and talking to randos at the bike shop or gym I still am puzzled concerning volume and TSS. I just want to make sure my progression is adequate. It would be great to just finish the Ironman, that was my initial goal and now I'm putting in an average of 17 hours a week with what seems like a decently high TSS per week. If I could share my Training Peaks calendar I would love to do that but let me just provide a couple stats since February and someone can let me know if they think I'm overcooking, any advice would be great. I usually tack on an hour or two of bodyweight training each week which is not added to the weekly total.

February
Week 1

Volume Hourly: 9.1 hours
Swim : 4600 yds
Bike : 52 miles
Run : 5.5 miles
TSS : 527


Week 2
Volume Hourly: 11 hours
Swim : 8025 yds
Bike : 78 miles
Run : 22.5 miles
TSS : 572


Week 3
Volume Hourly: 14 hours
Swim : 10223 yds
Bike : 107 miles
Run : 21.2 miles
TSS : 975


Week 4
Volume Hourly: 17 hours
Swim : 6210 yds
Bike : 168 miles
Run : 21.7 miles
TSS : 640


March
Week 1
Volume Hourly: 14 hours
Swim : 8850 yds
Bike : 146 mi
Run : 16 mi
TSS : 948


Week 2
Volume Hourly: 16.5 hours
Swim : 6500 yds
Bike : 192 miles
Run : 19.4
TSS : 813


Week 3
Volume Hourly: 16 hours
Swim : 11000 yds
Bike : 150 miles
Run : 25.3 miles
TSS : 1054


Week 4
Volume Hourly: 13 Hours
Swim : 4675 yds
Bike : 145 mi
Run : 25 mi
TSS : 857

Any advice or help would be so greatly appreciated!


2017-04-08 1:21 AM
in reply to: swibiru2

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Elite
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Alturas, California
Subject: RE: Am I on my way to being ready for the full IM?
Are you following a plan, your distance increases/decreases look a bit random, sometimes increasing more than I would feel comfortable sometimes decreasing where you should probably be increasing.

You are currently ok on swim, heavy on bike, lite on run. You have enough base training at this point to be in shape for race day. You are going to eventually want to get in 3 rides of around 100 to 112 miles towards the end of your peak training, 3 runs in the 16 to 17 mile range and 3 swims in the 5000 to 5500 range (long each week over the course of a month not all three in same week with a following 3 week taper to race day).

I would be happy to look at your plan in more detail. You can poke your head into my mentor group or send me an email.

Most plans have your long run increasing about 1 mile each week with a recovery week every 3rd or 4th week depending on your age.
Most ...long bike increasing by 5-10 miles per week...
Most ... long swim increase 400 ish yards per week...

Make sure to have a solid plan for what you are going to eat and drink during the race and practice with those. Some things just don't sit well after biking for 6+ hours and then hitting the run. Tri to get in some long rides with a run brick after to see how your stomach feels with your nutrition plan.

If you will be racing in cold water, practice in your wetsuit some and in open water.
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