Oxygenaddict Triathlon Podcast · Rob Wilby

Winter IRONMAN Training: Common Questions, and Common Mistakes to Avoid | Ep 567

·32 min·1 clip

The best performance enhancing drug is a nap in the afternoon.

Rob Wilby opens with sponsor housekeeping and reminders to follow, review, and reach out about coaching. He frames the episode around questions from athletes training for 70.3 and Ironman. The questions touch swimming, biking, running, and season planning. His default answer is not to chase more work just because winter feels like the moment to load up. He says athletes are often better served by recovering more completely from the training they already did. He points out that the load on a coached plan is already substantial. He cites a typical week with three bikes, three runs, three swims, two strength conditioning sessions, and a yoga session. That is already plenty to manage week after week through the winter. When people want to add more on top, he thinks something else is usually driving it. The urge can sound like more would be better, or like a comparison with what a pro triathlete does. He pushes back on that comparison hard. A working age-group athlete is not living a professional training life, and should not act like it. He brings the discussion back to the reality of jobs, family, and the need to recover and relax. He treats recovery as the place where gains are actually made. He even leans on the familiar idea that a nap can be performance enhancing. The practical test he keeps returning to is whether an added session can be absorbed without hurting the training that already matters. If it cannot, it is probably the wrong addition. The episode closes by circling back to sponsor and coaching information, with an invitation for listeners who want help with Ironman or 70.3 preparation.

As heard by us

Winter gains come from restraint, recovery, and a plan that fits real life.

Rob Wilby keeps winter Ironman training grounded in judgment, not just effort. He answers questions about swimming, biking, running, and season planning, then keeps circling back to the same point: most athletes probably need more recovery, not another round of extra work.

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Why you'd press play

If you keep wondering whether more winter volume is helping, press play.

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