Now I have reached the end of this triathlon training block, I thought I would do something different and write a debrief and discuss how I felt the training plan went, what worked well, what didn’t work so well and any changes I may make for the next block.

This training block began on the 14th December 2020 and ran for 31 weeks through to the 18th July 2021.

There were a number of factors that affected the plan early on which wouldn’t typically pose an issue. Firstly I was starting this plan one week getting the all-clear after testing positive for COVID-19 at the beginning of December.

Whilst I was returning a negative test and over the worst of the symptoms, I had issues with fatigue and a higher than usual heart rate well into the second half of January.

Secondly, swimming pools were closed from the end of December to 12th April.

Then probably the biggest impact to the plan was a knee tendonitis injury which resulted in no running from 18th October to 31st January, then just 1 – 4 mile easy runs up until 9th May. From 9th May I was able to return to run training.

Below is a screengrab of my fitness tracker from TrainingPeaks covering the 31 weeks of this training block.

As you can see, there is a good upward trend from start to finish with a slight dip mid-way through where I took two weeks off before bringing the run training fully back.

Bike Training

The early weeks in December were spent on the Peloton bike doing two spin classes per day. I would do a 20 minute low impact ride before work and then 30 minute spin class in the evening. The evening classes alternated between low impact and an interval class. I used these Peloton classes to build back some basic aerobic fitness following COVID. The low impact classes were to not put much workload through the knee and the high-intensity interval sessions were to gradually build up the aerobic engine again and over time saw the peak heart rates decreasing closer to normal levels.

Knowing that I could not run or swim during the first few months of this training block, I mixed things up a little and front-loaded the bike training. I had more time available to focus purely on the bike. From January I swapped from the Peloton bike back onto Zwift. Jan – Mar I averaged 1,020 miles per month (virtual) but more importantly than those virtual miles, I was building the base and increasing my strength on the bike. I improved my FTP from 302w to 364w.

In April and May, I used four sportives as my longer training rides for this block covering 85 miles, 102 miles, 104 miles and 116 miles. Typically, you would do the longer rides towards the end of the training block building into race day but as I said, I front-loaded the bike training and as the running increased from May onwards I stepped the bike training back slightly.

Swim Training

Once the pools opened on the 12th April, I left it a week before starting back with three pools sessions a week and quickly found that I was swimming faster times than pre-lockdown despite only doing 6 pool sessions over the past 13 months.

In May I added a weekly open water swim to the plan. The early weeks had a few difficulties with cold water temperatures and adapting to swimming with socks and gloves. Once the water warmed in June I felt more comfortable and confident swimming outdoors once again. Slower than in the pool but still quicker than previous years.

Strength and Stretching

Undoubtedly the biggest improvement in this training block has been strength training and stretching. This has always been an area where I needed to do more consistent work. It is an area where I would focus on a lot whilst injured and towards the beginning of a training block but then fade away as training picked up.

This time around I knew that I needed to really make the effort to stay consistent and build a routine early on to make it easier to stick to once training levels increased. Also, improving my core strength and flexibility is going to really help with injury recovery and prevention going forward.

Throughout this entire training block I stuck to a plan of doing 6 x 20 minute core strength classes a week, 3 x 10/20minute upper body strength classes a week all using the Peloton app. I have really enjoyed doing these classes and have seen massive improvements in strength as a result.

I also used the Peloton app for 20 minutes of stretching every day of the week. 10 minutes lower body and 10 minutes upper body.

I put my initial swim improvements down to the increased core strength. This has really helped me to hold a better more streamlined position in the water and helped to pull the legs higher in the water.

Whilst it is difficult to show the improvements as a result of the stretching, I am now able to bend more and have no doubt increased my mobility. This will have a positive impact on the running side of things and hopefully, reduce the risk of picking up more injuries as a result of tight stiff muscles.

Run Training

What was once my strongest discipline has now become my weakest as a result of missing so much running during the winter. Ultimately, I went into Ironman UK on 4th July having only completed 9 proper weeks of run training, two of which were taper weeks.

By proper training, I mean running a speed session, longer tempo sessions and a long run each week. Prior to the 9th May, I was running a maximum of three 4 mile easy runs a week. The first few weeks were 1 or 2 mile weeks.

It was a slow process to get back to running and those initial months of short flat easy paced runs were tough mentally. When I did my first week of training in May I still was not sure whether I would be able to do sufficient run training to do the 26.2 Ironman UK run justice.

I did one speed session each week with my run club, City of Stoke AC. This was a struggle at first and I still haven’t regained my full speed but as the weeks progressed my confidence and speed increased. I would then do a longer endurance based session on Thursdays aiming to push the intervals for longer at around half marathon pace then use the weekly longer runs just over marathon pace to build the endurance back.

The long runs began at 8 miles and reached 20 miles in the end, these long runs really gave me the confidence that I could at least cover the distance at Ironman UK.

Races / Events

I like to use some shorter distance races in training as tune-up races leading up to the big A race of the block which was Ironman UK this time. I will list the races and events used during this training block below.

• 11 April – Velo29 Manchester – Sheffield Sportive – 102 Miles
• 25 April – Velo29 Tour of Lancashire Sportive – 104 Miles
• 15 May – Velo29 Daffodils Sportive – 85 Miles
• 23 May – Velo29 Tour of the Peak Sportive – 116 Miles
• 02 Jun – Chase the sun Tatton 10k – 37:30 New 10k PB
• 20 Jun – Cholmondeley Castle Triathlon – 05:01.42 New Middle Distance Tri PB
• 04 Jul – Ironman UK (A Race) – 11:53.43 New Full Distance Tri PB
• 18 Jul – Ironman 70.3 Staffordshire – 05:33.22

Really pleased to have run a 10k PB during this run come back and then to go on to PB middle distance and full distance triathlon has been amazing! I didn’t think I would get back to that kind of pace again so soon and off the back of so little swimming and running. Really does give me more confidence for what I could potentially do in the future.

Training Time & Distance

Above is a screengrab from TrainingPeaks detailing a breakdown of the percentage of time spent training in each individual discipline. Note, the custom segment is stretching.

Below is a list of time and distance for each discipline running from 12th December 2020 – 18th July 2021:

• Swim – 32hrs 24mins – 117,943 Yards
• Bike – 246hrs 18mins – 5,118 Miles
• Run – 74hrs 13mins – 569 Miles
• Strength – 89hrs 25mins
• Stretching – 64hrs 55mins

What went well?

Having PB’d both the middle distance and full distance I feel confident saying this training block as a whole went well. On the racing side of things I made progress in the two triathlon distances as well as 10k road running.

Training wise, I have made really big steps forward in the pool this year. I have hit new PB’s in every distance from 100m up to 3.8km. Behind that increase in speed is a newfound confidence and enjoyment in the water. My breathing has improved and my position in the water.

The bike training went really well early on with 20min power increasing up to 364w. By spending three months purely focusing on bike training, I was able to really push my bike power and endurance to a new level. During the three triathlons, I was either the fastest or one of the fastest bike splits on a road bike. I found that I am able to hold onto those riding TT bikes for the most part, but in doing so, I have to put down more power to keep up, this then impacts the run as I have expanded more energy.

Having missed so much running and spent so little time actually run training it could be easy to overlook the running aspect, however, I did run a 10k PB and my 13.1 run during the Cholmondeley Castle Triathlon was actually my second fastest half marathon run.

For me, the biggest improvement has been strength and stretching. To have gone through the entire 31 weeks and remained consistent throughout clocking up 89 hours of strength and 64 hours of stretching has really laid some good foundations to build on. My core strength has drastically improved and overall mobility has taken huge steps forward.

Another big win for this training block has been no new injuries or niggles. The knee still is not 100% pain-free but compared to day 1, I would say I am now 98% there. To get through any training block with no injuries or niggles is always a great result. I can now use this block as the base to build the next block and progress my training further.

What can be improved?

The clear massive improvement that jumps out is the need to continue with the run recovery. My mileage is still below pre-injury mileage. I have done this on purpose to gradually build the running back and not risk pushing the body further than it can handle right now. Having gone through this block I feel I can continue to increase the weekly mileage back up to the pre-injury levels now. Again, this will be gradual and I am prepared to drop back if needs be.

I don’t see the requirement to make drastic wholesale changes, this block has gone well and seen great results. Building a second great injury-free training block on top of this one is the key. Putting multiple injury-free blocks together will show the best results further down the line.

What’s next?

Now I have completed Ironman UK and Ironman 70.3 Staffordshire, I am taking a one week break from training to allow the body time to recover and recharge as well as giving the mind time to relax from the focus and stresses of training for an event, especially during the current COVID pandemic times where the goals posts are ever-changing with postponements and cancellations.

After that rest week, I will go into an 11 week training block for the Ironman World Championship in Kona Hawaii on 9th October. The big caveat on that one is whether the US will lift their travel ban in time. If I am not able to travel to Hawaii, I will be racing the Manchester Marathon on 10th October. Then there is a 4 week gap until the New York City Marathon, which is another that is dependant on the US travel restrictions.

So in short, I will be back training for 15 weeks which will hopefully include Kona and New York City.

I always look to take 2 weeks off after the New York City marathon, I have planned to do this again this November. That will bring an end to my 2021 training, after that, I will just spend 6 weeks focusing on my running speed work.