About the Training category

Training
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Discuss training here

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Hi,

BACKGROUND

  • I have entered Ironman Austria (20-ish weeks away) - my first one.

  • Started structured training in October and the first 12 weeks were amazing. I felt like Alex Yee mixed with Jonny Brownlee - just strong, fit, each session was brilliant.

  • I was doing 50 mile rides with my triathlon club and feeling fresh after.

  • My runs each Sunday increased every week (apart from recovery weeks), and went from about 60mins to 90 mins. (Run 9 minutes, walk 1 minute)

  • Around mid-December I was heavily disrupted due to Christmas and New Year.

  • I drank and ate too much, didn’t move as much, and also developed a minor lower back issue. It was muscular but it just made running impossible for about 2 weeks.

SITUATION NOW

  • I am back to full health and no issues now
  • However, I just feel really weak, really feeble and just way behind my program.
  • As an example, my 1hr50 run was actually just 1hr10 at the weekend and I did a 9:1 run/walk as I find it helps me stay in zone 2
  • My 3hr40 easy ride was a 2hr40min ride in which I asked to be picked up as I just felt horrendous the whole time and just weak. I wasn’t bonking, but I just felt powerless and miserable - especially with the weather.
  • I am worried that each week that goes past, I am falling more and more behind. I know there’s a lot of time to go but I am a worrier, and feel unfit and just off the pace.
  • I keep thinking “10 mile runs should be easy” but I am still struggling to do 5 miles in zone 2

OTHER THINGS

  • I have sleep issues which aren’t helping. It’s always been an issue my whole life. When I have trained heavily, and exhausted, I still find it hard to get a full night’s sleep. Often my Garmin sleep score is 50-ish or at least I am getting about 4-5 hours of sleep
  • I lost a bit of weight after Christmas so it’s likely my calories were just too low. I am correcting that now and focussing more on carbs and eating enough
  • I am due to go on a Triathlon Training Camp in Majorca in about 6 weeks. So I am hoping that this will help get me consolidate training, get some warm weather in, group train and come back feeling stronger. It’s also a nice milestone to aim for as it breaks up the time a little.

Does anyone have any pearls of wisdom as part of me is being irrational, and just thinking I am failing and this Ironman is just going to be a failure.

Thanks all