[tedc]

I completed 70.3 Chattanooga in a modified week 14 of my 80/20 Ironman Level 2 training plan that has 23 weeks. I had race recovery in week 15 (light biking and swimming, finished week 15 with a 4hr ride on Saturday and 2:15 run on Sunday) then COVID hit me and I have been recovering for 10 days without any exercise at all. I am going to try a 1 hour Zone 1 trainer ride tomorrow, hopefully that feels ok, do zone 1 1 hr rides and runs until Sunday and then do a Zone 1 2 hr trainer ride Sunday and then try to pick up Monday with a mostly unmodified Week 18 which will be a big spike in volume after weeks of taper, recovery and then total detraining because of COVID, but most of the workouts are in line with what I was doing in the lead up to Chattanooga, and while the long brick (5hr ride, 1 hr run at the end of the week next week, in 11 days is a bit of a stretch but I could handle I’d prefer-Covid so I am hoping I’ll be able to reengage next week as originally prescribed. Any thoughts in this? How has your recovery from Covid and resumption of training gone?

Any other thoughts on the weeks ahead for me? After the week I am in currently (modified week 17), I will have only 4 more weeks of training before the taper week and then race week. Would you do anything different in those 4 weeks than what is originally prescribed? Would you do 4 straight weeks without a recovery week? Would you do 2 hard weeks then a recovery week, then 1 more hard week? Would you reduce the taper week to get more training in (I’m doubting that’s a good idea.)

Thanks for sharing your experiences, support and guidance!

[tedc]

Another option could be I bump down from Ironman Level 2 to Level 1 because of my Covid detour. Thoughts on that for the remaining 4 training weeks and 2 taper weeks?

[leyla@8020endurance.com]

Tedc,
I hope you are feeling recovered from Covid. I would proceed with caution and listen to your body for your next block of training. I would not recommend trying to make up lost training, simply ease your way back into the training and if you notice any slower than normal recovery, elevated resting HR or other symptoms of under recovery then dial back again until you are feeling better. This will be your best bet to stay well, and allow your body to recover from the 70.3, and covid before asking it to handle increased training load.

Leyla

[tedc]

Thank you! I am feeling a lot better. I saw a post from David elsewhere that suggested when returning to training to have the first week back have the duration has planned but no intensity above Z2 so that’s what I am aiming for this week but will listen to my body and not try to force anything to happen that doesn’t feel natural. If I can have a good week of Z1-Z2 this week (about 14 hrs), then next week I should be well positions to return to Z3+ workouts. Fingers crossed!

[Author]

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