I’ve been alluding to my next big race for weeks and I’m finally ready to share the details; it’s the Syracuse Ironman 70.3 on June 21st! I’m honored to be partnering with Ironman as I take this on, my first 70.3. I’d been thinking about this race for a while; I’ve completed 5 olympic triathlons and a number of sprint tris and I have been looking for the next challenge. I’m so excited that it’s a 70.3 or in other words, a 1.2 mile swim, a 56 mile bike ride and a 13.1 mile run.
Ironman is helping me get to the start line by setting me up with Ironman gear and a training plan via Training Peaks, a site and app that connects athletes with coaches and training plans for all sorts of races. I’m using the 70.3 Training Plan for Beginners with TrainingBible Coaching Elite Coach Ryan Riell, which is 16 weeks and has me doing 2 workouts per week in each sport with 2 additional weight training sessions.
The app is super easy to use, each day you go in, check your calendar and see your workout with details and notes from your coach.
I kicked off my training this weekend and at first was like wait, is this accurate? I’m supposed to ride my bike for 2 hours on Saturday and 2 hours on Sunday? This must be a typo. Nope, training for a half iron is apparently no joke. My biggest challenge will be balancing all these training sessions with my 4 classes per week of cycling without over training and injuring myself. My other concern is the weather, riding a bike indoors for 2 hours is pretty brutal but riding one outside for 2 hours flies by. Same goes for running. Give me some sunshine NYC!
My race is only 16 weeks away and it is time to get serious. I’ve written in the past about prepping for a race, only to let my training slide and go about my normal workouts. I’m going to do my best to stick to this plan and I’ll be bringing you along for the ride. Stay tuned over the next 16 weeks to hear how my training is going as I prep for my first 70.3!
Have you done a 70.3? Got any advice for me?
