Need season planning advice after winning Kona lottery
I asked this in the macro thread, but wanted a bit more advice from some wicked smart people.
My triathlon season has been turned upside down. I got in the Kona lottery last week, having planned to do nothing longer than an Olympic distance this year and focus on my swimming. Obviously, that’s all out the window.
Last year was my second season of triathlon. I did IMLP (12:27:xx) in July and Savageman (6:30:xx) in September. I then did some cyclocross races and focused on getting a BQ at a December marathon (3:13:43, got it by 2 minutes, but probably won’t get to use it with the rule changes). Since then, I’ve shifted to weightlifting and done some running, though pretty low mileage. I’ve gained 5 pounds of muscle since December that will probably come right back off as I shift my focus. I've been exhausted with a new puppy in the house who has screwed up my sleep and early-morning training (but she's so adorable, it's worth it). That said, I’m in decent running shape right now given how little I’ve run since December (1:09:14 for a 10 miler in April that I ran in 1:08:32 last year at the end of the OS.) I’ve barely been on the bike this winter. I hate the trainer, and rode outside a handful of times but only on warm weekends. I swam a lot in February, not much in March, and am getting back in the pool now.
Here’s what I already had signed up for before my plans changed:
May 1: Muddy Buddy with my wife
May 22: Columbia Tri (Olympic)
May 28: 1 and 2 mile open-water swim races
May 29: Local sprint
June 5: Escape from Alcatraz
June 12: Chesapeake Bay 4.4 Mile swim
October 30: Marine Corps Marathon
I counted back 12 weeks from Kona, and that makes the 12-week plan start July 18. I’m trying to figure out what to do before then. I’ve got 13 weeks until July 18. If I wasn’t doing the Chesapeake Bay 4.4, I’d probably do 11 weeks of OS, with a two week transition (which conveniently includes July 2-9, when I’ll be on vacation and have access to a clunker hybrid but no road or tri bike).
The next 10 days are mostly a loss as I head to Paris with my wife April 19 to 27. I’ll be able to run, but no biking. There’s a public pool near where we’re staying, but I’m not sure if I’ll make it over there.
But I definitely need to get some swimming in the next 8 weeks so I don’t drown in the Chesapeake or San Francisco Bay. I’m in decent swimming shape, given how little time I’ve spent swimming over the winter.
I’m willing to skip the Columbia Tri (mainly for family sanity reasons, not that it would interfere with my training). I’ve already bought the plane ticket for San Francisco, so I definitely want to do Alcatraz. And I’m doing the May 29 sprint because they’ve got a kids race for my 7-year-old daughter.
I have mixed feelings about doing the Chesapeake Bay swim. I was already considering skipping it because I wasn’t all that excited about the pool training to get ready. What do you think? If I do the Chesapeake, it won’t really be a race—it will truly be just to finish. And the May 28 swim races are just a warm up for the Bay. I’m not a competitive swimmer and never will be. If I frontload all that swim training, I may be able to coast a bit on the swimming prep for Kona to focus on biking.
I’ve been injury free running. Obviously the Marine Corps Marathon is an afterthought now. I wasn’t planning on improving my BQ time anyway. At this point, if I’m healthy, I may jog it three weeks after Kona. If not, I’ll happily skip it.
How does this sound:
10 weeks of OS but modified to swim on Wednesday, make the Wednesday run 30-40 minutes, and also swim Monday and Saturday? I’d probably drop the Tuesday brick run as well. Once I emerge from the Bay, I’ll do the regular OS but keep swimming once or twice a week.
2 week transition
12-week intermediate IM plan.
Is the swim focus compromising everything else? Should I just do some OS now and then do the 20-week IM plan instead and skip the Bay swim?
WTC was willing to accept Savageman as my validation race, which surprised me as 1) it’s not a WTC race and 2) it’s one year and two weeks before Kona. Who says WTC isn’t flexible? Otherwise, I would have gone to Racine in mid-July just to punch my ticket.
Thanks in advance.
Comments
Keith - I don't know how good a swimmer you are. If your IM LP swim time was under 70 minutes, you don't *need* to do a lot of swimming, and could probably gain much more, given your competance at running, from a heavy bike focus. OTOH, if you are 1:30 swimmer, then Kailua Bay with the swells, current and no wetsuit would be a real challenge; that swim focus would come in real handy. In between, mix and match.
In any event, don't shirk the biking. Strength there is a big asset in the winds. Your run in Hawaii will be a product of biking strength and execution, modified by the heat.
If it were me, I'd stick in an Olympic distance race in at the end of June, just to prove to myself I got the speed from the OS. A big boost of confidence going into the IM training would be helpful.