Oxygenaddict Triathlon Podcast · Rob Wilby

IRONMAN Training When Life Gets in the Way: travel, fatigue, missed sessions, bike (dis)comfort, TT vs road bike | Ep 576

·27 min·1 clip

Rob says long indoor rides on a TT bike should build aero comfort, not avoid it.

1. Oxygenaddict Triathlon Podcast Ep 576 focuses on IRONMAN training when life gets in the way, especially travel, fatigue, missed sessions, and bike discomfort. 2. Coach Rob Wilby from Team Oxygen Addict Triathlon Coaching answers questions from athletes, listeners, and YouTube viewers and invites more questions by email at [email protected]. 3. The episode asks how to keep training effective when work travel, limited facilities, and disrupted routines make a normal week impossible. 4. Rob says the first principle is recovery, because the week should be organized around recovering from prior training, travel time, and work stress. 5. He recommends prioritizing four key sessions in a disrupted week: two bike rides, one run, and one swim. 6. For bike sessions away from home, he says heart rate or RPE can replace power if a gym bike lacks a power meter. 7. For treadmill access, he suggests using it for the week’s run or long run and breaking the effort into a 9-1 run-walk pattern. 8. For hotel pools, he says even a small 10-meter pool can still be useful for drills, pushing off the wall, and stroke mechanics. 9. Rob does not recommend trying to replicate swimming with stretch cords, saying Team Oxygen Addict found little value in that approach during COVID. 10. He says spare time on travel weeks is better spent on strength and conditioning or flexibility work than on fake swim reps. 11. When sleep, meals, and stress are all elevated or disrupted, he advises reducing both training intensity and training time. 12. He suggests easy runs, easy spins, and easy pool drill sessions as a way to take the mind off work stress rather than adding more strain. 13. On missed sessions, he says the default is not to make them up later in the same week or the next week. 14. He allows limited rescheduling for long rides or long runs during build periods before a long-distance event if the original duration has not fit. 15. His long-term advice is to define the week that is actually normal for the athlete, then plan travel weeks around that reality. 16. He says consistency over months matters more than hitting every session perfectly, especially for age-group athletes balancing work and family. 17. The second half shifts to bike training, and Rob’s tone becomes direct and practical rather than cautious. 18. He argues for more time in the TT position indoors, more time with erg mode switched off, and more race-specific riding as Ironman or 70.3 race day approaches. 19. Listeners focused on Ironman preparation, travel-heavy careers, or TT-bike setup will get the most value from this episode. 20. Listeners wanting a story arc, a guest interview, or race recaps may skip this one.

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