Oxygenaddict Triathlon Podcast · Rob Wilby

Ironman Q&A: Key Session Framework, Missed Bike Workouts, Practice 70.3s, Race-Specific Prep, Training Around Travel and much more! | Ep 575

·37 min·2 clips

Coach Rob says the week should be built around four key sessions: two bikes, one run, and one swim.

1. Oxygen Addict Triathlon Podcast episode 575 is a listener Q&A about Ironman training decisions. 2. Coach Rob Wilby from Team Oxygen Addict Triathlon Coaching answers ten athlete questions and explains why they matter for busy age-groupers. 3. The episode asks how to fit Ironman training around work, family, travel, races, and missed sessions without losing momentum. 4. Rob says the first priority is a repeatable week built around four key sessions: two bikes, one run, and one swim. 5. He explains that the weekly plan usually needs to change and that athletes should prioritize the most important sessions before adding extras. 6. He says the bike gets extra emphasis because it is a better way of building Ironman-specific fitness than run or swim volume alone. 7. After the four key sessions, he adds ideal progressions toward three bikes, three runs, three swims, plus strength and conditioning. 8. Rob gives an example of a busy week where simply protecting four one-hour sessions can keep an athlete moving toward the start line. 9. He also says an athlete who cannot carve out those four hours may need to question whether an Ironman project is realistic right now. 10. On travel weeks, he advises not trying to make up missed bike sessions by overloading the next week. 11. He says the safer approach is to close the book on the missed week, then review the next week in the context of the wider build. 12. For scheduling, he recommends avoiding back-to-back key bike days and being careful with long runs after long rides. 13. He says the common cutoff is around 75 minutes for a long run and around two and a half hours for a long ride before recovery starts to matter more. 14. Asked about a half marathon during Ironman build, he says a flat-out race does not help Ironman preparation if it creates several days of soreness. 15. He is more comfortable with half marathons, 20 milers, or even marathons when they are run as controlled long runs rather than all-out efforts. 16. On FTP testing, he says athletes should usually retest about every eight weeks during winter FTP work so training zones stay accurate. 17. He says Ironman-specific work usually takes over about 12 to 16 weeks before race day, when long sessions become the focus. 18. He also describes a race-ready score used with coached athletes, based on training completion and a 12-week rolling average. 19. The tone is practical, coaching-led, and structured like an advice clinic with sponsor messages and direct answers to email questions. 20. Busy age-groupers juggling work, family, and an Ironman goal will get the most from it, while listeners wanting race stories rather than training frameworks may skip it.

As heard by us

Practical Ironman coaching that turns busy-week chaos into clear training decisions.

This episode stays close to the questions listeners would actually ask, and Coach Rob Wilby answers them with practical Ironman guidance: how to handle key bike sessions, when a long run should follow a long ride, and how to keep the week on track when work or travel gets in the…

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Why you'd press play

You want clear Ironman answers when your training week gets messy.

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