Training Week #15 (Triathlon Build Week)

Today is the halfway mark of my 30 week Ironman triathlon training program. In 15 more weeks, I will be treading water, waiting for the cannon to go off and start the race. On one hand, this terrifies me. Will I be ready in time? On the other hand, I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I have never trained like this, and I can never keep this up long term. It’s too intense, and takes too much time. It is burning me out. I know I will never compete in another full ever again. But I think I will need a break from triathlon for awhile after this. I doubt I will leave the sport completely. But I have toyed with making 2015 a running only year. I have considered doing only 2-3 sprint triathlons next year. There is a Rev3 Half nearby that I will likely put off until 2016, or maybe not. After the Ironman race, I have several running events planned including the TC Marathon weekend “Loony Challenge” (5k/10k/10 mile), the Monster Dash HM (all in October), the Route 66 Marathon (November), Houston Marathon (January), Pittsburg Marathon (May). So, I will take a break from swimming and cycling for awhile, and likely wait and see how much I miss triathlon training and competing before deciding what I will compete in next year.

I am pleased with my bike improvement. I did an 85 mile session this week in 5:15. When looking at my splits, every single one was under 20 min/5 miles. Most were in the 18 minute range. A couple were in the 16:30 range. For a mixed use trail with a lot of slow traffic, blind curves and intersections, I think that I did pretty good. Last year, a similar ride had many 5 mile splits in the 20+ minute range. I am getting used to clip less pedals (I only fell once last week) and the time I spent on the trainer has helped. I am over 1100 miles cycling since starting my training.

Finally, I am dealing with a stupid rib injury. I can swim and cycle, but can’t run (well, I can, but it is painful and it sets me back). So I am substituting elliptical cross training. I will just include that with my running miles. The elliptical does not measure distance, just strides. I found a way to convert it to running miles, but you get very few miles in a heavy workout (a 2.5 hour session got me 10 miles). So, my running stats will suck as long as the elliptical stays in the training plan. I have a Half Marathon scheduled for next weekend. I will skip it if I have to, or maybe just walk it. Right now, I am treating at it as my first rehab run.

The Plan:
Monday-Rest
Tuesday-1:00 swim/1:00 run
Wednesday-0:45 bike/0:30 run (with transition)
Thursday-1:00 swim/1:00 bike
Friday-1:00 run
Saturday-4:00 bike/0:30 run
Sunday-0:45 bike/1:30 run

2 hour swim, 6:30 hour bike, 4:30 hour run
Total-13 hours/11 activities

What I did:
Monday-0:45 bike/0:28 run (10 miles/3.1 miles)
Tuesday-rest
Wednesday-1:00 bike/1:10 swim (13.6 miles/1.75 miles)
Thursday-5:14 bike (85.0 miles)
Friday-1:20 swim/1:02 run (2 miles/6.3 miles)
Saturday-2:30 elliptical (10.1 miles)
Sunday-1:30 bike (20.0 miles)

Weekly Total
2:30 swim, 8:29 bike, 4:00 run (% change from week 14: +7.1%, -8.3%, -10.1%)
3.75 mile swim, 128.6 mile bike, 19.5 mile run (% change from week 14: +7.1%, -7.5%, -29.1%)

Total-14:59 hours/151.85 miles/9 activities

Grand Totals:
Swim-31:15 hours/46.5 miles
Bike-75:47 hours/1102.3 miles
Run 86:55 hours/511.3 miles
Total-193:57 hours/1660.1 miles

15 weeks to go.