Week 1: Weekly Report & IRONMAN Swim Cancellations
Week 1 of 13 in the books. 84 days to go.
Week 1 of the Sub8 build is officially in the books.
12 more to go.
84 days if you’re counting.
I came out of the gates hot with 20 hours (yes 20 exact, I’m THAT guy). The last few months, I’ve been averaging closer to 15-17 hours per week while doing some 70.3 races.
After Muncie 70.3 on July 11th, I did a recovery week (but to be honest, I just took 3 days easy and got right back into it).
So this is my first full week of Sub8 training. Week 1 of 13.
Hot Take of the Week
Before we jump into training, I want to start each week with a hot take.
This week: IRONMAN swims.
If you follow me on Instagram, you’ve probably already seen me rant about people complaining when swims get canceled or shortened. I get it. You trained for a triathlon. You paid a lot of money. You wanted the full race. You wanted your PR to count.
But some of the reactions lately are insane.
There have been a lot of 70.3 swim changes recently because of wind, water conditions, safety concerns, and race-day variables. And every time it happens, people act like IRONMAN and the race director are teaming up in some backroom conspiracy to ruin their day.
They’re not.
Right now, the only national press IRONMAN is getting is about athlete deaths. Triathlete just wrote about it, too. So yes, I believe IRONMAN is going to be cautious. And honestly, they should be.
Also, please stop comparing swim conditions to wind on the bike or heat on the run. They are not the same thing.
On the bike, you can slow down.
On the run, you can walk.
In open water, things can go bad fast.
And just because conditions “don’t look that bad” from shore does not mean they’re safe. Wind, chop, current, visibility, water temp, congestion, panic, and rescue access all matter. The race director and swim safety team are the ones who have to make that call, not someone watching a shaky Instagram video from the beach.
A lot of races rely on lifeguards, kayakers, paddle boarders, volunteers, and safety boats. If those people can’t safely hold position, navigate the course, or reach athletes quickly, the swim can’t happen as planned. It’s that simple.
Put yourself in the race director’s shoes.
Cancel the swim and people complain.
Let it happen and someone dies, and that is on your conscience forever.
No thanks.
And yes, many swim deaths aren’t caused by waves alone. Sometimes there’s an underlying medical issue. But if rough conditions increase the risk, or make rescue harder, then changing the swim is still the right call.
Does it suck if your swim gets canceled? Yes.
Does your PR maybe get an asterisk? Also yes.
Is that more important than people getting home alive? No.
It’s a sport. You’re alive. The volunteers are safe. The safety crew is safe.
Get over it.
Okay back to training now. Here’s the weekly breakdown
Last Week Training Log
The Swim
Just over 3 hours with 14,300 yds for week.
Traditionally, I used to swim 4 or 5 days a week (15-20K yards).
At times that was 6 or 7 times per week. Back in 2021 or 2022 I did Swim-February where I swam every day for a month.
But this time around, I’m sticking to 3 days per week for now. With the downstream swim at California, there’s less emphasis needed on the swim.
However, swimming is a great recovery tool that keeps you injury-free and healthy to put in the other training volume.
My weekly swim breakdown is
1 Endurance Swim (usually 4-5K yds)
1 Speed Swim
1 Strength swim (paddles and pull buoy)
I’ll keep this structure the same for most the training block, but I’ll be adding a few more open water swims in on the weekend when I have the option. This is my biggest limiter right now in the swim—converting my pool speed to the open water and not having such bad anxiety. More on that in a later blog.
The Bike
11 hours on the bike as:
4 recovery or Zone 1 rides
1 Threshold Ride
1 Z2/IRONMAN Specific Ride
1 Long Ride
I did 100% of my riding indoors on Zwift. For me, training indoors is much more efficient (and effective). I’m able to push myself harder than I would be able to outside, without having to stop at traffic lights and worry about any mechanical issues.
As the race gets closer, I’ll start to do my weekend riding outdoors, but for now, Zwift it is.
The Run
51.5 miles for the week and just shy of 6 hours. My run volume since Rockford has been much lower than I’ve wanted it.
Leading up to the Eau Claire Marathon in May, I peaked at 69 miles (yes, again intentional) with 3 total weeks being 60 or more miles.
For triathlon training, I don’t necessarily need that volume I did during marathon training, but being 13 weeks out still, I can use this volume to build my durability on the run.
What’s Missing
You can see I have 0 hours of strength work. I just finalized my strength plan and will be adding this week.
To be honest, strength has always been one thing I’ve struggled to maintain. I get bored easily. Also, you don’t see the direct results you do like swimming, biking and running.
But strength is so important, especially for long distance endurance sports when the body (and form) starts to break down.
I’ll share my strength plan in an upcoming blog (paying subscribers will get the full workout by workout plan).
Highlights of the Week
Hardest session: My long ride was challenging this week ( 4x50 min as 10 above 70.3 effort into 40 minutes at IRONMAN effort)
Favorite session: Monday’s threshold ride I felt super strong and gave me good confidence starting the new training block (3x15 min as 12 min at 90%, 3 min at 97% FTP)
Longest session: 4.5 hour bike, followed by 40 min brick run
The Balancing Act
Despite putting 20 hours of training in, I’m still able to balance my full-time job working for Outside (most of you may know Triathlete Magazine or Outside Magazine), where I manage our Email Newsletter and Syndication platforms.
On top of work and training, I’m making an effort to make sure other relationships don’t fall short or get neglected—with my girlfriend, dogs, friends, and family.
Going for dog walks, weekly date night, keeping weekends open for social activities, etc is all part of trying to find a balance. I’ll admit (and Sarah can tell you), I’m not perfect at it. I’m adjusting as I go. There’s much bigger things in life than this Sub-8 project, and I won’t let this sport define me like it once did. I have so much outside of the sport to be thankful for.
Also, I still think its crazy how some athletes can have full-time jobs AND kids, and still kick ass in the sport. Big shoutout to all the parents out there. Superheroes.
This Week
This week is already off and running. 12 weeks to go. I give a full breakdown of this upcoming week in the paid section below.
I’m committing to doing 2 blogs per week. One blog, recap style on how training is going on Tuesdays and then 1 blog covering a specific topic on Fridays.
This Friday, I’m going to talk about how I plan to “eat the elephant.” How I’m tackling the plan, training breakdown, and goals for the Sub-8 attempt.
Other upcoming blogs will feature
The gear I’m using and WHY - including any testing
My history in the sport of triathlon and advice I have someone getting started (or anyone feeling burned out)
Dealing with mental health issues during triathlon training
Sponsorship search - how I’m reaching out and if I can even get a sponsor for this challenge.
The small things that make a big difference (or no difference)
And more!
If you have ideas, please shoot them my way!
That’s it for you free subscribers on this post.
But, paid subscribers ($8/month) get the full data report from last week. The TrainingPeaks breakdown, WHOOP readiness, full workout details, fueling notes, and inside information I didn’t share above.
Also, if you haven’t followed me on Instagram yet, give me a follow
