Looking for a little feedback. I’m really not sure where to turn at this point, and wondering if others have any opinions on this. 2014 was/is supposed to be my year taking another stab at the ironman distance. I started up with a coach last year and had some sub par results (DNF and another sub par result in a 70.3).
After a talk with my coach we decided we’d change the training up for 2014. My focus being a 70.3 in June and full Ironman in August. In January of this year, I wasn’t completing workouts, and struggling with the tempo/threshold workouts(coach had a volume of about 14 hrs per week in January). I told my coach i was tired and the responses i was getting was 'to trust the plan" so I pushed on. I ended up going to a sports doctor who is a triathlete, and determined that i was ‘under recovered’. It appears this happened back in June of 2013. I fired my coach because of this.
Its been about 6 weeks, since i did any significant workouts, and tried to do easy recovery workouts for the past couple of weeks. First week was alright, a little rough, but figured it was shaking the cobwebs out. Today i tried running and lasted 15mins. Feeling pretty discouraged. I’m not sure what to do at this point. Looking for some feedback out there.
I’m thinking of taking the rest of the month off and restarting in April. That would give me 2.5 months to get ready for 70.3 and 4.5 months for Ironman. Been in the sport for about 6 years and have 5x70.3s and 1x ironman under my belt.
Plenty of time to get ready. Go on unstructure training and focus on getting 56-60 hours of sleep per week (treat sleep like part of your training plan). Then you will be ready for another build.
Really good idea. When I thought I was underperforming, I got a blood test and discovered that my iron was low. I corrected it within 2 weeks with significant diet changes and got my mojo back along the way.
What the hell is a “recovery workout” anyway. There is no workout that recovers you more than a nap and a bowl of oats.
My advice:
Stop thinking about “recovery workouts”. Sure you can do light workouts. Just dont imagine that they recover you. They just dont tax you much, physically. They might tax you mentally though since you still have to do all the workout-thingies around them.
Sleep more. At least 3 times per week I sleep for 9-11 hours. It helps me a lot.
Eat more carbs. Seriously. Iron-rich carbs such as lentils is a great idea.
Spend a few weeks working on your favorite sport. Use it as a mental reboot. You are still far out from competition.
Lots of good advice here. I’m gonna build on what Dev brought up.
I agree with all the mentions of…take a few weeks to catch up on some extra sleep, try to eat pretty well, lots of water, go ahead and see if there’s any med condition contributing, etc.
And I would add, August is a long ways away. If you can put all the other buildup races on low priority, then take the spring and just go play. Bike hard with some local groups for the fun. Have some relaxing rides with the buddies in between. Run some trails or hit the track with some music, fartlek style. Swim without putting the pressure of Xmeters in Ytime for a change. Go rogue and just get off of any schedule! If you have any base from the previous seasons and you stay consistently active, you don’t HAVE to buckle down until about 20-16 (hell, even 12) weeks out. Then get back on whatever schedule you have laid out.
Before I get blasted for that by the ST world, I know it’s not the perfect, ideal, OCD, alpha plan cuz it’s not a 9 month build. But, if we’re not having fun with this, what’s the point? My advice is thrown out there so you can find that fun, again. The fun that got you hooked on this.
thanks for the input. not really looking for any time goal at this point, just really want to make the starting line. I do get lots of sleep per night… usually about 9hrs…will shoot for more.
when i say recovery workout, I mean really low intensity… like zone 1 efforts. My run yesterday i bailed at 15mins as my legs weren’t coming around at all… my legs felt really fatigued.
I did have blood work done. My iron is actually high. Not sure if it was a lab error. I went back last week for re testing. Hope to have answers on that as well.
Go out an do workouts that are the most fun. Sounds like you got wrapped up too much with hitting certain training targets and not having enough flexibility in your schedule. Here’s the problem I see with coaching. IF the coaching isn’t getting good feedback or observing how your performing and adjusting your plan, then you’re better off being self coached and allowing you to adjust as needed.
Sometimes you have to throw out what you were doing and start over again. Take a couple weeks of unstructured training, just have fun, then start again by building a base and go from there. I wonder if you lacked enough Zone 2 aerobic work and were trying to jam in more zone 3 & 4 then you were ready for. It can be hard to recovery from repeated Tempo workouts if you’re not used to that type of training load.
You also should consider what your were doing for training volume the last few years. 14 hours per week is a light week for most on here. But if you were used to doing 10-12 hours and now were consistently doing 14 hour without a recovery weeks every 3rd or 4th week, you’ll end up fried pretty quick.
Don’t worry about races, just take care of your health. It may be a good time to ask yourself why you want to race. If you have already signed up just think of them as adventures or long training days and don’t stress about prepared.
About 20 years ago I got really beat down by a combination of 1st child, new job and over-training. I ended up taking about 6 months off from any serious training and slowly built back up. This is why I now take a recovery week every two or three weeks.
Something to consider. Too much tempo/threshold too soon. Or your FTP is too high. Might be what you tested but that was before you add in swimming and running. It all adds up
Take some time to rest the body and mind and regroup. Be sure you are eating healthy and getting proper sleep, then reintroduce your workouts. You have time and experience. Be well
Thanks everyone for the input. hopefully will get this resolved quickly so i can resume training for the ironman. Waiting for the results of the 2nd round of bloodwork. Sounds like I still have time.