[Aidan5]

My Ironman training starts this week. It takes place on August 15 in Cork, Ireland.

It’s not exactly how i envisaged it. I haven’t swam in about 5 months, not ideal given i was teaching myself how to swim and was only able to swim 750m continuously. Pools are not open for another 3 weeks I think. I’ve had no bike either -I had to get a lend of an old road bike, hopefully i can upgrade within the next few weeks when the shops open. Haven’t relly done a whole lot of running. I have a minor back strain too. But apart from that i’m all set and ready to go!! haha

Given the challenges, it’s only going to be even more sweeter when I pull it off!

[Aidan5]

Hi David,

Thank you for your answer.

Super! Exactly what I was hoping to hear. If it comes down to commitment then I’m all in. This is a major life goal of mine and i’m determined to make it happen this year. It’s paid for, as is the accomodation and your Ironman plan is also paid for. Just need a bike ha!

Thanks for the continued support!

I’ll make sure to let you all know how i’m getting on.

Aidan

[Aidan5]

Hi all,

I’m just throwing mythoughts out here in orer to see what others think.

Basically I have an Ironman Planned for August 15 but now i’m panicking a bit and having second thougts as I’m not sure if i’ll have trained enough/properly for it.

I’ve never done an Ironman (or a triathlon) before. My formal Ironman training does not begin until the beginning of March. Howevr, i’m worried because i’m supposed to be in the middle of a marathon plan to build fitness but due to a perfect storm of lockdown, having to take anti-biotics for an infection in my thumb, and in the past few weeks i’ve been sick (likely covid although it wasn’t too bad), I haven’t trained since november.

I was teachng myself to swim from scratch and had reached 750 metres continuously but then the gyms closed again and where I am they’re closed for the next 6 weeks at least. So i’m panicking that I won’t even be able to have the ability to do the first week of ironman training. Can i still teach myself as I go along by doing extra swim sessions?

I am feeling well enough to start running again come Monday. But I haven’t been able to buy a new bike as yet due to out of stock before christmas and with the gyms closed i can’t build my fitness up there. So I guess all I can do is run until march but will that be enough?

I guess what i’m asking in a longwinded way is, do I still have enough time to train properly for the ironman?

Many thanks
Aidan

[Aidan5]

David,

Thank you for clarifying and for the link – I got it sorted.

Looking forward to getting started on Monday.

KInd regards
AIdan

[Aidan5]

Hi David,

I’m about to transition from my triathlon maintenance plan into my marathon plan. I feel great so far!

Do all the marathon plans have the crossfit options built in or do I have to choose a specific plan?

It looks like the Level 1 plan would be the best fit for me.

Many thanks
Aidan

[Aidan5]

Hi Dr. Gregg,

That’s great advice, much appreciated!

I’m glad to hear that they do not necessarily need to be painful, though i’m happy to tolerate a significant amount of pressure as long as it is useful.

Many thanks
Aidan

[Aidan5]

Hi all,

Quick question

I was thinking of getting a sports massage when i transition from my maintenance tri plan to my marathon plan.

Ive never had one before, and i hear they can be intense so just wondering if there is an ideal time to get one or is it fine anytime?

Many thanks
Aidan

[Aidan5]

Hi Cmlracing,

Thanks for the advice!

Although i trust the plans as i have researched a fair bit about the science, Its great to hear from someone like yourself, it gives me much more confidence. Also, my experience of doing the training so far has been very good as i feel fit and strong.

Aidan

[Aidan5]

David,

You’re welcome – you’ve been more than helpful to me and everything i’ve researched so far has been top quality, so more than happy to plug the work -will get on to my local running club next haha!

Thank you – I will do that now.

Aidan

[Aidan5]

Hi David,

That makes a lot of sense.

I think i will continue to train on the gym bike and change my plan to Run pace — Bike power (using heart rate as a secondary measure). The maintenance plan will be a good learning curve for me to workout what works best for me before my formal Ironman plan begins.

Happy days, im glad i got that right,took me while but i got there haha – thanks for confirming.

Thanks once again for your help with this!

All the best
Aidan

[Aidan5]

Regarding Query 2 i.e. TP calculation – I had another go at calculating it and came up with a different figure which I suspect is more accurate:

TP = 4.56 per km

[Aidan5]

Hi guys,

I have a question regarding the maintenance plan as suggested by David above. I chose the Run and Bike HR plan to start this week. However, having looked into it a bit more I feel that I should change it to Run Pace and either Bike power or HR – but i’m not sure which one for the bike. I completed the 20 min FTP test on a stationaey bike in the gym and the 20 min run pace test at the weekend using my Garmin Forerunner 735xt.

I know that ideally i should go for Bike Power, however, I have a few concerns with that:

1. I don’t have a power metre (and can’t afford one as yet).

It seems I could complete my bike workouts on the stationary bike on the gym, but then I don’t think i’ll be able to transfer the power data to TrainingPeaks.

Alternatively, I am getting a new bike in the next few weeks and I already have a classic trainer. It seems that I could buy a speed and cadence sensor and connect it to the trainer and then connect with Zwift to calculate my estimated power output?

2. Regarding the 20 min pace TP test. I was struggling to understand how to workout my TP. I tried to reverse engineer the example given in the ‘Intensity Guidelines for Triathlon’ article using my own pace. In 20 mins I ran 4.26 km at an average pace of 4.42km. I worked out that that gave me a TP of 4.25 per km – is that correct?

Again all and any advice is greatly appreciated.

BTW the website and forum are fantastic!

Aidan

[Aidan5]

Hi guys, Thank you both for your quick responses.

Charles,

Thank you for that detailed response, I found it very useful. I’ll take your great advice regarding utilising the ATP and applying the appropriate training plans etc. I agree that the historical data captured by TPs could be a treasure trove for development and learning.

David,

Firstly, I just want to say how much confidence (and relief) your 80/20 model and this advice has given me to achieve my goal of an Ironman and to develop myself as an amateur endurance athlete generally. It makes the seemingly impossible, possible – importantly though, I like the fact that as you state in your book, we can use this training to complete our goals ‘with a smile’ and not have to fear that we need to wreck ourselves in the process.

This is great advice, it was exectly what I was hoping for. I have been wrecking my brain these past few weeks and months trying to work out how i’m going to do this – thankfully, I found your work and this forum!

Thanks again
Aidan

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