Ironman Training – Weeks 1-2

The first 2 weeks of my 30-week training is in the bag. In looking back at my training log, I have managed to do all the run and bike workouts as prescribed except for one run. That one run had called for 45 mins in Z1-Z2, but I only did 24 mins. For that run, my body was just tired and I could tell from the first few feet that I wasn’t going to be able to do the whole run.

The biggest concern though is the lack of swimming. With all the pools closed due to COVID-19, I have not done any swimming for about 9 weeks and it may well be several more before I can swim again. Swimming is my achilles heel and not even being able to swim is raising all kinds of doubts in my mind.

One the bike, I’m doing more indoor cycling that in the past. While I hate being on the trainer, I think it’s better especially for the shorter mid-week rides. For example, one ride is always done at 100+ RPM and it’s easier to replicate that RPM on the trainer than on the road. My hope is to get into. routine where I do the mid-weeks ride indoors and the longer weekend ride outdoors.

This past weekend, the Ironman Virtual Race #6 is very close to the distances I needed to do , I so completed that event. For the 6 Ironman VR races, I have done 4 of them. It is unlikely I will do any more unless the distance matches or is very closed to my training plan. Since I’m gradually building up, that may have to wait until I’m running 13 miles or so on the weekend. The sprint and olympic distances would be too short