April 1, 2024 Kate Ironman Training Diary

Ironman Training Journey : Week 1

First buoy and safety crew for the Aviemore Triathlon

W/b 5 February 2024

Training plan: my thoughts and tweaks

After months of base training, the start of Kalmar 2024 Ironman training has arrived. I am part excited and part a little scared. I was excited to be only 28 weeks away and scared to be only 28 weeks away. We have an overall idea of the plan for the next three months. 10 Ironwomen will be posting the plan on Instagram on Monday mornings. 10 Ironwomen (10ironwomen.com) have provided 3 options, a beginner, intermediate and a 70.3 plan. I intend to follow the intermediate plan with some of my own tweaks. This should suit my life and where I left off with my base plan.

I still have a prescription to an AI App called Humango (humango.ai). I am enjoying using this and may continue to use. However, nothing quite like following a plan where there’s chance to train with others. I have been doing long bike rides and runs during my base training. I will therefore make the weekend long rides longer than the 10IW and see how I go.

At breakfast this morning, I checked out the weeks training. I was aware that Monday is a rest day with optional 1 hour bike. Since my current rest is Monday that works pretty well. I cycle to work on a Monday, about 20 minutes each way. So I decided to miss the optional bike ride but replaced it with commuting.

It feels a little odd to start a plan with a day off. But it did give me time to input the plan to Training Peaks and make the necessary tweaks. I am swapping Tuesday’s swim with Wednesday’s bike and vice versa to fit in with my Wednesday group swims. I will also swap Thursday’s strength to Tuesday. Thursday is a long workday so I only have time for a run.

I am not sure how much to change though as my current plan has set a 90-minute run on Thursday but the 10IW one has set only 45 minutes. Saturday’s ride would be 4 hours 50 minutes and the new plan is between 1 hour 15.

I find the short swims in the Humango App very inconvenient. They use quite a lot of time for a small amount of training so I will adopt the 10IW swim distances.

Looking at the training plan from 10IW, two things come to mind. This race is accessible for most people to train for. I will have to work out how I adapt it to suit my current fitness without doing too much and getting tired too soon.

My plan

Day	10IW	Humango	Intention	Actual
Monday	Rest, 1 hour bike optional	Rest	Rest with bike to work (approx. 34 mins total)	Rest plus commute to work (33:50)
Tuesday	Swim:2,200m optional run 45 mins	Bike: 1:40, strength 20 mins	Bike: 1:30 to 1:40 plus strength (20 mins) or Pilates (45 mins) and commute to work	Bike: 1:10 plus Pilates (45 mins) and commute to work and back
Wednesday	Bike: 50 mins	Swim: 2,750m	Swim with group (2,500m or more) plus commute to work and back	Swim: 2,500m plus commute to work and back
Thursday	Run 40-45 mins, strength	Run: 1:30	Run: 1:30	Run: 1:06
Friday	Swim 2,000m	Swim: 37 mins, bike: 32 mins	Swim: 2,000m Vinyasa flow	Swim: 2,150m Vinyasa Flow
Saturday	Bike 1 to 1:15, optional strength and conditioning	Bike: 5:10 ROTB: 40 mins	Run: 5k Bike: between 3:30 and 4:50	Run: 5k Bike: 4 hours (107km)
Sunday	Run: 50 mins to 1hour, optional swim 2,000m, optional reset (stretch)	Run: 1:28	Run: 1:28 Maybe yin yoga

The training

Tuesday’s bike session went quite well. I had to go into work when I normally work from home. This prompted me to do my bike on Zwift in the morning after waking up rather than putting it off until later in the day. Always feel better for exercising early. However, I wasn’t up quite early enough so managed 1 hour and 11. minutes. However, with the ride to work and back came to more than 1:40. Am never sure how useful the commute is in terms of counting towards fitness.

Went to a Pilates class on the way home rather than doing a strength session at home. My core knew it had worked the following day. Attending a class meant I didn’t do some of the leg strength work set for me. I find classes easier to follow and stick to.

Wednesday comprised of my usual Swim for Tri group swim so not much to say there. I felt good and swam 2.5km, as intended.

On Thursday, I was supposed to run for 90 minutes. I still haven’t got my waking really early (5.30) two mornings in a row down so managed an hour and 6 minutes.

I run to work on Thursdays and need time to shower and eat breakfast before starting work just before 9. My goal is to leave the house in time to manage 1:30. I think this will become easier as the mornings get lighter and warmer.

This was my first run in the rain for a while. I wasn’t looking forward to that part of it. However, the run was better than expected, despite soaking my trainers within 10minutes. I had to work until 8pm twice this week so was glad to get most workouts done early. Despite finding it difficult to motivate myself to work out early unless I have to, it is definitely preferable as it leaves the rest of the day free (or for work!).

I didn’t want to get up early on Friday. Instead I did some chores done before starting work. Somehow, after 20 years living in my flat, some mice have taken up residence. Pest control came this afternoon so felt the need to tidy up and clean a bit.

This meant my swim was pushed until early evening, not a great time on Fridays in Mile end pool, in my experience. Luckily I managed to get there in time to be finished by around 6 and so avoid being pushed to a lane with slow breast stroke swimmers. I’m not berating breast strokers just those who seem to fill Mile end on a Friday evening!

I managed to get to a vinyasa flow class during lunch. I should probably be doing specific strength workouts but enjoy yoga more plus to repeat my comments about the Pilates class on Tuesday, being in a class setting makes it easier to get the workout done.

Yoga has certainly has made me stronger – can now do multiple full push ups and don’t need to put my knees down during chataranga at all. However, from my reading on yoga for strength, it seems I should also be doing some specific strength work ie for triathletes. I do this sometimes, just prefer yoga. Will endeavour to fit the strength session in next week’s training.

I decided to join LFTC (London Fields Triathlon club) for a social run on Saturday morning. An 8am meet in Richmond for the long bike just didn’t appeal.

The run was great, a 5k from London Fields Lido to Victoria Park and back followed by coffee with club members. I decided I would make more effort to train with people this year as I tend to train alone too much and this has effected my motivation at times. I have also found that running with others makes me faster without feeling it. Was nice to see some people from track and meet new members. It can be reassuring speaking to others who have signed up for a full distance ironman. Makes my obsession with Training Peaks, Strava and training plans seem normal!

The long bike ride

I then had to bike between 1:15 and 5:10 (difference between my 10IW plan and Humango). In the end I completed 4 hours, 107k while binge watching Netflix. I am going to have to get the bike outside soon but for now Zwift works pretty well.

While it may not help in terms of bike handling or dealing with headwind and tailwind, I think the mental challenge of four hours on a turbo is mentally helpful, as it’s necessary to deal with the tedium of an indoor ride. It also means I can put real food on the windowsill to eat during the ride. This week, I bought a croissant and also ate 4 dates, some carbohydrate training mix and drank over 2 litres of water. At present I mostly only need to fuel my long rides. I find I need gel or electrolyte mix on some of the long runs too.

Allowing normality

I need to try to have some normality in my week while doing this long-distance training plan and so won’t refrain from the odd night out for the next few months. Perhaps I’ll be more restrained closer to the race. On Saturday night, Anne and I went out to eat in Spitalfields market, shared a bottle of prosecco followed by a double calvados. After waking in the morning I knew I would need to rearrange my plans for Sunday and I decided to put my run off until the evening.

Winter runs

I am reluctant to leave my runs to the evening during the winter as I enjoy running along the canals or river and don’t feel safe to run along the canals when it’s dark. However, I left the flat in daylight and ran to St Katherine’s Dock and then the river.

I spent much of the 12k dodging tourists and other Sunday strollers but enjoyed my run and decided to run back along the small canal that runs from near the Dock to Shadwell basin. It was dark by then but there were plenty of other walkers and runners so it felt safe enough to do this. I am however glad that the nights are getting longer as it feels less restrictive, especially for running alone.

Conclusions on my first week

If I was completely new to this level of training, I may have some insightful things to say about how I felt with the structure of training 6 days a week and how it was to finish the first week of a full ironman training plan. However, I trained a relatively normal amount and so don’t feel any amazement at getting through the first week. I don’t feel any more or less tired either.

However, after last week when I took the weekend off to attend my mum’s 80^th, it felt good to stick to my plan and see my fitness (on Training Peaks) increasing again after a small dip. I also feel that I need to stick to my plan almost completely from now until the race, which I didn’t feel as much during base training.

On the whole a good week and a good start to the training.

As a final takeaway, I appreciate I am lucky as my job is partially flexible and I have very few family commitments. My son is an adult and proud that I am attempting an ironman.

February 21, 2024 Kate Triathlon

My first Sprint Triathlon: getting to the start line

woman holding hands and running in triathlon race

Why Tri?

It was 2016, we were living in Khalifa City in Abu Dhabi. I was working exclusively from home and my exercise regime was sporadic, to say the least. Completion of a triathlon had been on my bucket list for years. I finally signed up for a sprint triathlon called Tri Yas. It took place in February 2017 on the Formula One racing track, Yas Island, Abu Dhabi.

I wanted to be more consistent with my exercise and for me, the only way to do this is to have a goal in mind. I had always enjoyed swimming, cycling to work and running.

This was it! I was 46 years old with zero athletic talent and about to embark on my first triathlon. I would be swimming 750m in the sea, cycling 20k and running 5k. This may not sound like much, or it may sound insurmountable. In truth it was a bit of both.

However, I could never have imagined the journey the sport would take me. From bike rides in the desert, 10 kilometres of non-stop climbing on a bike, hikes in the arid mountains of the UAE, travels to Sweden for a race and runs in France, Canada, Azerbaijan and Iceland to name but a few. This first triathlon may not have transformed my life at the time but the journey the sport has taken me has had a greater impact than I could ever have conceived.

Back to Tri Yas. To complete this race, I needed two things, the right equipment and a training plan.

Equipment

There is no doubt that triathlon can be a very expensive sport. Bikes range from hundreds of pounds to 5 figures. Wetsuits cost hundreds of pounds. Not to mention bike shoes, trisuits, aero helmets, training plans, swim lessons and many other potential expenses. But it needn’t be prohibitively expensive.

What did I need for my first triathlon?

A bike!

I hadn’t ridden a bike since leaving London for Dubai in August 2014. However, I was gifted a hybrid bike for my birthday in August 2016. My previous experience of cycling had been for commuting to work and I was used to riding hybrid bikes. So, I got a cheap hybrid bike, about £400 new. I now use it to commute to work in London and would not race in it. It is heavy and cumbersome. However, it got me around my first three sprint triathlons.

If you are considering entering your first triathlon, you don’t need an expensive triathlon bike and you don’t even need a road bike, as I know from my use of a hybrid. In fact, I saw someone riding a Brompton in an Olympic triathlon (1.5k swim, 40k bike and 10k run) and have seen plenty of people using mountain bikes. Look out for second hand ones too. I completed a half ironman using a second-hand road bike and this is currently my only road bike so may have to get me around a full Ironman.

Bicycle helmet

This is a must. It has to comply with relevant rules (European Standard EN 1078 in Europe or the equivalent elsewhere). Again, you can spend huge amounts of money on an aero helmet. However, I bought one for a couple of hundred dirhams (about £40) from Adventure HQ. A similar quality helmet from Evans, Halfords etc would do the job.

Bike shoes

These are hard shoes that clip into special pedals option but, unless you’re already a keen cyclist, I would say it’s better to wait until you’re sure you want to continue in the sport. You would need special bike shoes (upwards of £50), cleats (£7 min) to attach to the shoe that then clip into special pedals (£35 min). Then you need to learn to ride again, as a fall is pretty much inevitable the first time you try to use clip in shoes. But that’s for another post.

Trainers

My only comment here is, get a run gait analysis. Running shops will carry this out, often for free if you purchase trainers from them. Even if you only train for one sprint triathlon, a well-fitted trainer will help avoid injury. I go to runners need – www.runnersneed.com.

Clothes to wear for the race and training

You can wear shorts/leggings for training and could wear swimming costume/trunks for the swim part of the race and then put your running kit on over the top. A couple of pointers here. My first triathlon was in a warm (well let’s be honest mostly incredibly hot) country and so wetsuits were not compulsory. This meant I was able to swim all triathlon races (and outdoor swim sessions) without. If your first race is in the UK, Europe or any other colder clime, you are likely to need a wetsuit (more on that later).

Cycling distances in shorts or leggings may not be very comfortable either so cycling shorts/bibs will make your training more comfortable. I didn’t buy cycling bibs until after my first triathlon and trained in leggings. I had enough natural padding!

You may also want to consider buying a trisuit, to use for the whole race. This piece of kit has less padding than cycling shorts to make it easier to run in. I did purchase one of these and there are many trisuit manufacturers now so you can buy some reasonably priced suits for as little as £40. I had to pay more as there were less cheap options in the UAE at that time.

However, if you want to keep the costs down for your first race, after all you may hate it and never want to do another triathlon in your life, then you could use swim kit and running kit for the whole race. I would wear a sports bra under the swimsuit if you choose to do this to avoid a full change between the swim and the bike.

Swimming costume/trisuit, goggles and swim cap. Most races give you the swim cap, but you will need one to train in.

Wetsuit

You will almost certainly need a wetsuit for a race in the UK and also for some open water swim practice. A triathlon wetsuit is not the same as the ones used for surfing. Tri/swim wetsuits are thinner and designed, funnily enough, for swimming. You may be able to get a cheap suit for £40 to £50 or look out for a triathlete who is upgrading and buy second hand (same goes for the bike). Another option is to rent one for the race and for the week or two before to give you time to practice swimming in it.

Because of where I was living, I didn’t buy a wetsuit until a couple of years into my tri journey and only because I had registered for a half ironman race in Sweden (1.9k swim, 90k bike, 21k run). I spent a few hundred pounds on it but knew I would be using it until it fell apart. I’m still using it 4 years later and it has the patched rips to prove it!

Wetsuits come with sleeves or sleeveless, full length or short. Unless you will be training and racing in warmer water, you’ll probably want a full-length, long-sleeved suit. Make sure you try it on before renting/buying a whole skill in itself! The right size will take some time to get on and should feel like a second skin. You should be able to move easily in it though!

Nutrition

You’re unlikely to need any special nutrition for training and depending on your fitness and ability, nothing during the race. As a slower athlete, I used carb chews but at that stage I don’t remember using gels. This meant I needed some idea of whether the chew/gel would agree with me (eg give me no stomach issues). It may be worthwhile trying some different things on longer bike rides to make sure you get no stomach issues. However, I wouldn’t recommend spending much money on specialised nutrition at this stage. You could even take a banana or a couple of dates on the bike and that would get you through a sprint race.

You will need water!

Other kit needs

A small towel to dry your feet after the swim. Socks and water. Races usually give water out but check to make sure.

You will also want suncream and may want a visor for the run and sunglasses or cycling glasses if it’s sunny. Also useful to keep flies out of your eyes.

Training

A training plan

The great thing about entering a sprint triathlon is that the training need not take much time and a 12-week plan should be sufficient for most people. For that first race, I used a free 16-week plan which included 3 sessions of bike, run and swim each week. This may sound a lot, but the shortest run, swim and bike were 12 minutes, 12 minutes and 24 minutes the longest 39 minutes, 35 minutes and 70 minutes respectively. There are different ways of structuring this and 2 sessions per sport per week may be enough.

I remember feeling very proud of myself for training six days a week, even if some days this was for no more than 30 minutes. I was amazed the first time I cycled 20 km and loved the journey training for this event. The environment I trained was much different to training in the UK but that was part of the journey. I still find joy exploring during training, whether for a run or a bike ride. I would say this is one of the most important things about training. If you don’t enjoy, at least most, of the sessions, it will be very difficult to stay on track.

Long bike rides

My long rides in the UAE were usually around custom made cycle tracks. We were very lucky in that respect. I would drive out to the desert very early on a Friday morning, the first day of the UAE weekend and cycle around Al Wathba cycle track. This was an incredible space outside the city, literally in the desert with bike circuits of varying lengths (8, 16, 20, 24 and 30k), completely traffic free. This was a luxury I still miss nearly three years after returning back to the UK. Those bright, sunny mornings cycling with golden sand dunes surrounding me were glorious.

Brick sessions

The first brick sessions were not. As part of your training, you will need to complete a few of these. A session will usually be completed on long bike ride day where your ride will be immediately followed by a run. After all, you will be running off the bike in a triathlon, so this is supposed to get you ready for that. I can still recall my first brick.

After proudly completing a 16 or 20k bike ride, my longest to date. I felt great, I could conquer the world. The sun was shining, I was feeling strong, getting fitter and thought I had it all sussed. That is until I got off the bike and started to run. My legs barely moved. That first run off the bike was for 5 minutes, but I wasn’t sure I could keep my legs moving for 30 seconds. Each step felt like I was running through treacle while simultaneously having jelly legs. Very few runs, have felt quite as hard as that first 5-minute run off the bike.

But like most things the more often you do them, the easier they get. I won’t pretend that the first few minutes of the run after along bike rides becomes easy but they become easier and you really do get into a rhythm after a few minutes running.

With a training plan and the minimum equipment, you can make the start line to your first sprint triathlon. Give it a go. It may change your life too!