Nolondin is becoming a hybrid athlete!

[Nolondil]

Hello everyone, welcome to my ‘Epic Quest’ to become a true hybrid athlete as I train for my second full/ironman-distance triathlon.

 

Training plans:

• Strength: Jim Wendler’s 5/3/1 Boring But Big (4 x per week)
• Triathlon: 80/20 Endurance Ironman Level 0 (2 swim/bike/run per week, for 21 weeks)

 

My background:

• Completed Ironman UK in 13:51:25 (July 2022)
  • Swim (3.8km) - 1:18:07
  • Bike (180km) - 7:30:17
  • Run (42km) - 4:48:23
• Completed Zaragoza Marathon in 3:34 (September 2023)
• Regular runner
• Weight lifting on and off for around 6 years, with no real programme.

 

Goals:

• Complete Challenge Almere-Amsterdam full/ironman distance triathlon
  • A new PB should be easily possible, due to the flatter course at Almere compared to Ironman UK so I would also like to increase my finisher percentile position.
• Complete 5 cycles of Jim Wendler’s 5/3/1 Boring But Big (primarily for aesthetic reasons)
• Reduce body fat (I'll spare you the before pictures...) and improve body measurements
  • Shoulders  - 114 cm
  • Chest - 102 cm
  • Waist - 88 cm
  • Hip/ass - 95 cm
  • Left thigh - 56 cm
  • Left bicep - 13.5 cm

 

I know how important rest is going to be, listening to my body, and feeding it the required amount of protein. I know it's going to be a challenge to combine the two, and I am willing to reduce the weight lifting element if necessary, but I would like to see how far I can go using both plans. I know all the literature says you cannot be optimal at both endurance and strength, but I'm not looking for optimal, I'm looking for decent! 

 

Calorie plan:

• Weeks 1 - 10 - calorie maintenance
• Weeks 11 - 21 - low calorie surplus

 

I'll be doing weekly updates here, answering any questions people have, and listening to all the advice I can get!

[Nolondil]

So, week 1 has been pretty interesting - it's the start of my ironman plan and a deload week on my strength programme. The week looked like this:

 

Friday - Swim 30m & gym

Saturday - 1h Zwift bike ride

Sunday - 1h20 Zwift bike ride

Monday - Gym

Tuesday - Swim (30 mins) & gym

Wednesday - 1h Zwift bike ride

Thursday - Swim (35 mins) & gym

Friday - 1h15 Zwift & gym

Saturday - 45 min run (including 20 min 5k). 

 

By Wednesday I felt really tired, and this carried to Thursday evening. I think it's partly the workouts starting, but also because I went through a breakthrough on the Friday and that has an emotional impact. Friday and today have been fine though, and I think it shows the importance of good sleep more than anything. I also think my body is kinda getting used to being back into a routine more than anything. I'd forgot how hungry swimming makes me!

 

I have generally been ok on calories, but I haven't been focusing on them as I get into the swing of things. Today has been a bit of a cheat day, and I'm happy with that.

 

On to next week!

[Nolondil]

Another busy week - keeping on track and just getting through the workouts, alongside/despite something of a social life...

 

Sunday - 1h10 run (easy Z2 stuff)

Monday - 1h bike ride (Z4 intervals)

Tuesday - 30 min bike ride (Z3 steady) & gym

Wednesday - 1.5k swim (30 mins) & Gym

Thursday - Gym

Friday - 1h bike ride (Z3 intervals) & gym

Saturday - parkrun (free, weekly 5k)

Sunday - Horwich Triathlon - 500m pool swim, 40k bike ride, and 8.8k run, in 2h37 total (9 min swim, 1h27 cycle, and 53m run). It was hard going because it was hilly - 500m of ascent on the bike, and 257m on the run. Still, I signed up on a whim and I'm happy with my time, although looking at my relative performance my swim was pretty much average, my run was above average, and my bike was below average, so there is obvious areas for improvement there. It was a fun experience though, and it takes the place of two of my work outs (a 1h40 Z2 bike ride, and a 45 min Z2 run)

Monday - rest.

Tuesday - 1750m swim & gym.

 

Quite happy with my aesthetic progress too, I'm going to Lisbon for a few days on Sunday and will keep on running there, but when I get back I am getting serious about calorie tracking! (Famous last words...)

[Nolondil]

Oh well, it's going to be a bumper update today! 

 

Basically, things have been going well from a 'ticking off the sessions' perspective, but I have been oh so tired pretty much all the time. There is a clear reason why: I have been drinking far too much on far too many social occasions, and so have to do workouts hungover/not at full capacity. That's something I'm going to really work on though.

 

Wed - Rest (heavy night out the day before) + gym

Thurs -  1850m swim + gym

Fri - Rest (another, heavier night out the day before)

Sat - parkrun (5k race, 20:40) + gym

Sun - Flew to Lisbon

Mon - 45m run (intervals)

Tues - Rest

Wed - 1h run & came back from Lisbon

Thurs - 1750m swim  + gym

Fri - 2000m swim

Sat - Rest

Sun - Southport Triathlon - 1500m swim, 40k cycle, and 10.5k run. Did really well here, shaving 21 mins off my previous time, even though the run was 1k longer this time. Very happy!

Mon - REST!

Tues - 1750m swim + gym

Wed - 1h bike ride (long interval sessions) + gym

Thurs - 1850m swim + gym

Fri - 1h46 bike + gym

Sat - parkrun (5k race, 20:44) followed by 6 x 1m intervals + gym

Sun - 1:33 bike ride (long interval sessions)

 

[Nolondil]

It's been a while since my last update, and I won't list all my workouts, but... it's been going 7/10. I've been really busy travelling around and... life. Generally I'm hitting my workouts, but I've noticed I've got a tendency to jettison the long runs when life gets manic, or swap them with the Saturday parkruns (free, times 5ks) that I love. Given I was quite weak on the run leg of my first Ironman I need to get my ass in gear. 

 

The gym has also fallen by the wayside a bit, which I am fine with - going down to 2 times a week is fine, even cutting it out completely if necessary, since the focus is the Ironman training. 

 

Today hasn't been great either - I had a 4 hour bike ride planned in zone 2, but I stupidly chose to go at the very high end of the zone, maintained it for about 1h30, and then ended up burning out at 2h40. So, 2/3 of the workout done... need to leave the ego at the door I think, instead of chasing the TrainingPeaks medals because I'm only making life harder for myself!