Ironman St. George 70.3 Training Update - 1 Mo Until Race Day

Welcome back! I am still training for Ironman St. George 70.3. It has been a month since I updated how training, because training for a triathlon is keeping me pretty busy!

Many people have asked me if training for a 70.3 is harder than training for a marathon. As of right now, I would say training for a 70.3 is not harder, BUT is more time intensive. Training for a triathlon requires more dedicated hours of training since there are three sports to focus on. There is also more set up and prep time involved in swimming and biking compared to running.

I cannot believe race day is less than a month away. Twenty-eight days out from the race, I feel fairly confident that I will be able to finish the distance, but I wish I had a little more time to work on my bike leg before getting on the course.

I am happy to report that I FINALLY have a bike that fits me. It is not mine to keep, but a friend had a bike that they were not using that was my size and is letting me try it out for a while to see how I like it.

I am so thankful and so happy to finally have that piece of the triathlon “puzzle” figured out. I am looking forward to getting outside for more rides and hopefully improving my bike handling skills before race day. I don’t think my bike handling can get much worse than it is now, so it can only go up from here.

The bike I am using is a Jamis Xenith. The exact bike is no longer available but current inventory can be found here:

https://www.jamisbikes.com/usa/index.html

In March, I did the majority of my training on the bike trainer, but I am trying to get out for outdoor rides as much as possible. Even short evening rides to get more comfortable on the bike, I think, are incredibly helpful for me at this point. I have the aerobic engine, but I need to find the confidence to use in on the road.

I did see some measurable improvement on the bike this month. My FTP score increased, and I seem to be holding a better average power on workouts. If you are unfamiliar with FTP it is a cycling term and stands for Functional Threshold Power. It is effectively a measure of the power you can hold for an hour, measured in watts. However, on apps like Tacx, Zwift, etc. you can test your FTP test by doing a 20 minute test that gives you an approximate FTP score.

Another positive I have going for me in my final month of training is that a pool closer to me is opening up. I have not been focusing on swimming much in March because:

1. The swim only makes up about 10% of your total time on race day. It is more important for me as a “time starved” triathlete to focus on the bike and run instead of the swim. Even if I focused on the swim, I could probably only take 1-2 minutes off my time. However, focusing on the bike I have the potential to take 10 minutes off my time.

2. With COVID restrictions at the pool I have access to, the longest I can swim is 30 minutes at a time. (Sometimes I luck out and someone doesn’t show up for their swim reservation, but that is rare) There is not a ton I can do in 30 minute sessions.

3. I am usually sacrificing sleep by getting up early to get a swim in. I need to keep this to a minimum because recovery is an important part of training. When I get too behind on sleep while training hard, everything starts to fall apart. Sleep is an essential part to any training program. With a pool closer to me opening up, I will be able to squeeze in more swim sessions without sacrificing sleep.

Here is a breakdown of my training the last month:

Week 9 of 16:

Monday – 65 min run

Tuesday – 100 min run

Wednesday – 60 min bike

Thursday – Long Bike: 120 min bike

Friday –70 min bike / 30 min swim

Saturday – 70 min Run

Sunday – 90 min Bike

Total Training Hours: 9.5

*This was an unexpected “down” week because I got the COVID-19 vaccine and was not feeling that well for a few days.

Week 10 of 16:

Monday – 80 min run

Tuesday – 100 min run

Wednesday – 90 min bike / 30 min afternoon run

Thursday – Long Bike 115 min bike

Friday – Brick Workout: 28 mi bike / 6.55mi run (1/2 the 70.3 distances)

Saturday – 70 min run / 60 min outdoor ride

Sunday – 120 min run

Total Training Hours: 13

Week 11 of 16:

Monday – 60 min bike / 30 min swim

Tuesday – 90 min run

Wednesday – Long Bike – 120 min bike

Thursday – 60 min bike / 1000 yd fast swim

Friday – Brick Workout: 28 mi bike / 6.55mi run (1/2 the 70.3 distances)

Saturday – 60 min run

Sunday – 120 min run

Total Training Hours: 12

Week 12 of 16:

Monday – 60 min bike / 30 min swim

Tuesday – 90 min run

Wednesday – Long bike - 135 min bike

Thursday – 90 min bike

Friday – Brick Workout: 28 mi bike / 6.55mi run (1/2 the 70.3 distances)

Saturday – Easy Day

Sunday – 120 min run

Total Training Hours: 12

Monthly Totals for March:

Swim: 8,525 yards Total / Per Week Avg 2,591 yards

Bike: 27 hours Total / Per Week Avg 5.5 hours

Run: 209 miles Total / Per Week Avg 56 miles

For an easy comparison here was my February totals:

Monthly Totals for February:

Swim: 21,475 yards Total / Per Week Avg 5,369 yards

Bike: 22 hours Total / Per Week Avg 5.5 hours

Run: 186 miles Total / Per Week Avg 46 miles

Raymond Britt has been helping me with training and getting ready for my first triathlon. Almost all the “knowledge” I am sharing about training, I am learning from him and can be found on his website: https://www.runtri.com

He broke down for me that my March training in percentages was roughly:

— 45% - Running — 49% - Bike — 6% - Swim

My bike is by far my weakest link in the race. Especially outdoor riding. My goal in April is to have my training percentages look more like:

- 30% - Run

- 65% - Bike (As much as possible outdoors)

- 5% - Swim

I am excited to work hard this last month and I hope by the end of the month, I am not scared to ride outdoors anymore. That would be a big win.

Thanks again for checking in and training!

#triathlon #triathlete #triathlontraining #iornmantri #ironmantriathlon #ironman