A quick recap from IRONMAN – SEASON 4 PART 2 first off. I had just started back running after a 104 day injury lay off, I “cycled” my biggest ever month in terms of miles (all on Zwift) passing the 1,000 mile mark for the first time and I had another solid month of stretching and strength training.

This four week block has been a bit rocky. motivation levels have taken a hit at times, it has been cold and icy, some times snowy but looking below at my weekly stats, I have achieved what I planned across this block of weeks. Whilst it has been tough mentally, I have got it done and come out the other side in what seems to be slightly more hopeful times.

Let’s get some admin out of the way first. So, the big A race for 2021 was Challenge Roth. This whole training block was to take me from injured running recovering from COVID-19 to PB shape (maybe sub 11 hour) for Challenge Roth on 4th July 2021. In mid-February, we got the confirmation that Challenge Roth was postponed from July to 5th September. Currently, I have Ironman Cork 3 weeks prior to that date and Ironman Wales a week later. I was already concerned about how my body would cope with two full distance races in four weeks, there was no way I could then squeeze a third full distance race into that period. Challenge Family gave us some very good options following the postponement. We could either transfer over to the September date or the July 2022 date or receive a refund mind a €90 admin fee.

I decided to take the refund, I can’t just keep pushing races back. I have so much money tied up in these events, flights and accommodation which has been carrying forward since all of the 2019 deferments following the calf injury and then the 2020/21 COVID cancellations.

Thankfully, one of the knock-ons from the 2019 & 2020 deferments was I still have a place at Ironman UK which is also scheduled for 4th July, the same day Challenge Roth was originally planned. That means I can continue on with this training block with the same race date. Just a different venue and course profile to train for. Let’s face it, the name of this training series “IRONMAN – SEASON 4”, does fit a lot better with an Ironman race at the end of it, rather than a challenge race. That said, once I have done this year’s planned Ironman races, I don’t think I will ever race at an Ironman branded event after the way they have treated athletes during this past 12 months, but let’s not go there right now.

So that was the first hit to the motivation levels, not massive with having the backup event but I am now missing that bucket list race for the time being.

The next hit was also the same week as the Roth announcement. I got notice that my role at work was to be made redundant and I would leave the company on the 9th April. That caused a lot of stress and anxiety. Thankfully, I have managed to secure a new role as a Project Manager and will remain at the same company.

Some light at the end of the tunnel after a rocky month. A new job, a new race to train for and at the end of February, the UK government announced their reopening plans which will see my daughter back in school from March 8th, the first steps out of this third full lockdown will commence at the end of March with pools/gyms potentially reopening from 12th April and all restrictions removed by July at the earliest as well as all over 18’s being offered a COVID vaccination by the end of July.

Some much needed positive news and the potential for a return to racing in summer/autumn if everything goes to plan and stays on track. One thing we have learned during these last 12 months is plans can quickly change, so let’s see how it goes.

Anyway, on to the weekly updates now.

Week Nine – 8 – 14 February

Continuing with the slow and steady build up of the running, I added a third run to the plan for this week. Like in week 8, I am still running 2 miles but three times and all went without any issue, besides the temperature for all three runs being below -12’c.

For the bike, this was week 2 or 4 on the Zwift Hunters Challenge but I decided to pull the plug on that challenge after two failed rides.

Monday I did the final stage of the Tour De Zwift at lunch with Week 2, Day 1 of the Hunters Challenge “The Quick Fix” in the afternoon. This was my first failure, I called it a day 48 minutes into the 92 minute threshold and VO2Max session, my legs just couldn’t push the required 400w for the VO2Max blocks, I felt pretty weak. I put this down to doing this session a few hours after the Tour De Zwift and not refuelling between rides.

I moved Tuesday’s ride to Wednesday to allow some recovery time for my legs and I completed this ride which was pedal drills, not too taxing but then didn’t have the strength to do the next session on Thursday. This was when I decided to stop with the Hunters Challenge and refocus back onto the Ironman endurance training, rather than the big power building sessions, or at least, not doing 28 power building sessions in 28 days.

I did an easy bike on Friday, a 3hour 30min endurance ride on Saturday at an average 235w and 139bmp heart rate, also ticking off the Mega Pretzel route on Zwift. Sunday was another 90 minute of endurance work with some bursts thrown in and also an easy hour ride to finish the week off and bring the weekly mileage closer to the target of 250 miles.

• Swim – 0 yrds, 0hr 0min
• Bike – 230.9 Miles, 10hr 13min
• Run – 6 Miles, 53min
• Strength & Stretching – 2hr 25min

Week Ten – 15 – 21 February

For this weeks running, I increased the run mileage to 5k, run four times with two days back to back. The knee felt ok during these runs, the increased mileage and frequency felt good. Still not pain-free but it is improving week on week which is pleasing. All about taking baby steps and not trying to do too much too soon.

My goal for the bike was to not tap out on any sessions this week and make up for those missed miles last week, I still want to hit 1,000 miles in February so it’s a bit of catch up work this week. I will breakdown the week below:

• Mon – 90 minute easy @ ave 190w, 112bpm HR
• Tue – 90 minute endurance with bursts @ ave 249w, 134bpm HR
• Wed – 60 minute easy @ ave 189w, 114bpm HR and GTCC Weekly Ride @ ave 266w, 141bpm HR
• Thu – 62 minute Sweet Spot Session @ ave 270w, 143bpm HR
• Fri – No bike
• Sat – Zwift Uber Pretzel Route – 4hr 59min @ ave 219w, 136bpm HR
• Sun – Zwift Petit Boucle Route 1hr 40min @ ave 238w, 138bpm HR

Really decent week on the bike, good milage, lots of climbing and heart rate averages all comfortably falling within zone 1 and 2.

Five 20 min core and two 20 min upper body strength training as well as nine 10 min stretch sessions. I used the Peloton app for all of these and in fact, all of my strength and stretching is guided by Peloton right now, I have really been enjoying using Peloton for this during 2021 and feel I am making big strides forward with my strength and flexibility. Still some way off doing the splits but its all about the progress.

• Swim – 0 yrds, 0hr 0min
• Bike – 268.73 Miles, 12hr 14min
• Run – 12.44 Miles, 1hr 42min
• Strength & Stretching – 3hr 50min

Week Eleven – 22 – 28 February

This week was very back heavy, meaning the vast majority of the training was done towards the end of the week.

Wednesday I had a Microsoft artificial intelligence certification to take (I passed!!!), meaning I spent all of Monday and Tuesday revising for that.

I stuck with four runs again this week, to be honest, I don’t think I will increase the number of runs past four for the rest of this training block. Ideally, I would run 6 or 7 days a week and be hitting 60 – 70 miles a week but I am a LONG LONG way off that right now, I just want to get in a good injury free block to build on for the second half of the year.

Tuesday was another 5k, I used this as the New York Road Runners Virtual Black History Month 5k, I did run faster than last week but at 23:11 still a long way off my sub 17 ambitions. Wednesday and Friday I increased to 4 miles with a long run of 5 miles on Saturday. Again, no major issues with the knee, same report as last week. Still not pain-free.

Bike wise, it was pretty similar to last week but with double days on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday to make up for not riding earlier in the week. It got done and felt really good again.

That brought up the 1,000 miles for February. Starting the year with two months of 1,000+ miles has really given me a good base to build on now. At the end of 2020, the easy bike sessions were around 170w and heart rate in the mid 130’s, now I am at 190w and heart rate down to mid-teens. More power and lower heart rate. I’ll say it again…. Progress!

• Swim – 0 yrds, 0hr 0min
• Bike – 245.63 Miles, 11hr 42min
• Run – 16.12 Miles, 2hr 7min
• Strength & Stretching – 2hr 40min

Week Twelve – 1 – 7 March

It was recovery week to start off March. Lower mileage and lower intensity, all designed to give the body and muscles a chance to absorb the training and recharge for some more work.

I dropped the bike mileage down to 150 and will stick between 150 – 170 for March. I will focus a little more on the running breakdown this week.

Four runs again, with a day off running in between.

• Mon – Easy 3 miles @ ave 8:57/mi, 124bpm HR
• Wed – 4 miles + 3x10sec strides @ ave 8:21/mi, 141bpm HR
• Fri – Controlled Tempo (6.4 miles) @ ave 7:49/mi, 146bpm
  • 1.2 mile warm up
  • 3 x 10 sec, off 25sec, strides
  • 2 x 1.5 miles @ 7:30/mi, off 3 min @ 8:45/mi
  • 1.2 mile cool down
• Sun – 7 mile “long run” @ ave 7:53/mi, 140bpm HR

A bit more structure to this weeks running and beginning to feel more like a training week. Some longer distance runs and increased pace in some areas. The aim is to keep testing the knee and increasing the run fitness in a slow controlled manner.

So far so good with the knee, it held up well during the strides and the two 1.5 mile reps at 7:30/mi pace which felt like I was really pushing the pace and running fast when 5 months ago I was running a marathon at 6:57/mi pace with a lower heart rate. I just keep saying to myself, right now it is not about comparing back to last year or my PB’s. I just have to compare to yesterday and keep taking steps forward.

• Swim – 0 yrds, 0hr 0min
• Bike – 157.3 Miles, 6hr 35min
• Run – 20.64 Miles, 2hr 47min
• Strength & Stretching – 3hr 5min

Four more weeks are done with! four weeks closer to Ironman UK. I am really pleased with my progress on the bike. I did give up on the Hunters Challenge (for now) but I feel the endurance sessions since then have gone well and I have mixed in some good “free rides”. I will retake the ramp test in March to see how that tracks against the January test.

Running has really improved from the 1 mile run in November – February to now clocking 20 miles last week. I will hold the milage at 20 miles now for a few weeks but look to gradually increase the longer runs. We are 17 weeks out from Ironman UK. I need to go from a 7 mile long run to ideally the longest run of 22 miles with 4 or 5 over 18 miles. It is looking like that is going to be a big ask with the knee still not 100% pain-free which will mean going into Ironman UK off the back of a sub-optimal run training block. If I can have an injury-free run training block and get the knee back to being pain-free, I can then build on this for Ironman Cork in August and Ironman Wales in September. I just cannot afford to make the knee any worse and risk going back to square one or worse, having to take another 5 months off running.

The journey continues on my IRONMAN – SEASON 4 PART 4 post.