This Week in Training: Base Phase – Week 4….
This entry will look a little different than the previous ones because I switched tracking platforms this week. Up until now, I’ve been using Strava, but I’m moving back to TrainingPeaks for Ironman training. It’s what I used the last three times I trained for IMWI. It has more bells and whistles and—if I can figure it out—might even have my old workouts that I can copy forward.
With that change noted, this was a good, solid week where I hit about 90% of the plan. The only thing I missed was a 15-minute run off the bike.
Total planned training time was 7:00, and I finished at 6:41, which I’ll happily take. Fifteen minutes of that gap was the missed brick run, and the rest was just being a few minutes short on swims that were distance-based anyway.
Swim 🏊
- Workouts: 2
- Total Distance: 4,850 yards
- Total Time: 1:25
Both swims felt good. Nothing heroic, just steady work and decent rhythm in the water.
Bike 🚴
- Workouts: 4
- Total Distance: 47.1 miles
Also felt good. Once I get back from Spring Break, I’ll switch back to the road bike. For now I don’t mind using the e-mountain bike because it keeps me solidly in Zone 2, which is exactly where I want to be during base.
Run 🏃
- Workouts: 3
- Total Distance: 13.6 miles
- Total Time: 2:16
This was a nice jump from last week’s 10 miles, and I definitely felt it. Today’s six miler was basically slow miles, slower miles, slowest miles. But it got done, and I immediately followed it with a 2,500-yard swim, which is the kind of back-to-back work that builds durability.
Total Training Time 🧮
- Total Time This Week: 6 hours 41 minutes (out of 7:00 planned)
TrainingPeaks Metrics 📈
Because of the switch to TrainingPeaks, I don’t have a comparable relative effort score this week. TrainingPeaks uses a different system:
- Fitness: 35
- Fatigue: 70
- Form: -9
Since I don’t have historical data loaded yet, those numbers don’t mean much on their own. What I really care about is the trend—the week-to-week deltas—not the raw numbers.
Reflections ✍️
Overall, this was a very solid base week. Good volume, most of the workouts completed, and no real signs of overreaching. The runs felt a little heavy, but that’s expected with the mileage bump.
Once I get back from Spring Break, the plan is simple:
- move back onto the road bike,
- keep stacking Zone 2 time,
- and keep nudging the run mileage upward without forcing it.
Base Phase Week 4: steady progress.