# Using Your Ironman Off-Season Wisely | Ep 508

An episode of [Oxygenaddict Triathlon Podcast](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/951501034), 25 Sep 2024, 19 min.

Audio: https://anchor.fm/s/ea99f7d8/podcast/play/92099829/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2024-8-23%2F386912039-44100-2-2d128dca6f868.mp3

In this episode, Coach Rob focuses on navigating the transition period between the end of the race season and the onset of winter training in preparation for the next year. Including the importance of taking a break post-race season, particularly after major events like the Ironman World Championships and Ironman Wales, to reflect and recover. Key tips include defining a clear off-season period, engaging in varied cross-training activities, beginning strength training, setting goals for the upcoming season, and gradually reintroducing structured training schedules. The most important goal - mental and physical refreshment to prevent burnout and ensure readiness for the winter training block. * * * * * * * * SPONSORS * * * * * * * * Like what you heard in this episode? Join hundreds of other age group triathletes making the most of their limited training time, training with Team Oxygenaddict - The most comprehensive triathlon coaching program for busy age groupers. Read more about becoming a Team Oxygenaddict athlete: https://team.oxygenaddict.com/ Join us by the end of September 2024 and receive a £200 discount on our annual membership! Book an application call to see if you'd be a good fit for Team Oxygenaddict for the coming 12 months, and if successful redeem your £200 discount - valid until the end of September 2024. https://team.oxygenaddict.com/consultation-call/ * * * * * * * * * * * * precisionfuelandhydration.com Precision Fuel & Hydration help athletes personalise their hydration and fuelling strategies for training and racing. Use the free Fuel & Hydration Planner to get a personalised race nutrition plan for your next event. And then book a free 20-minute video consultation with a member of the PF&H Athlete Support Team to refine your strategy. Listeners get 15% off their first order of fuel and electrolytes with Precision Fuel & Hydration. Simply use this link and the discount will be auto-applied at the checkout. * * * * * * * * * * * * Watch on youtube Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple Podcasts

## Transcript

[0:04] Hello, and welcome to the Oxygen Addict podcast.
[0:06] We're brought to you every week by our sponsors, Precision Fuel
[0:09] and hydration.com. You can personalise your fueling
[0:12] and hydration strategy so you perform at your best with 15%
[0:16] off your first order of electrolytes and carbohydrate
[0:18] fuel with the code Oxygen 24 at precisionfuelandhydration.com.
[0:24] Welcome to the show, everybody. I'm your host, coach Rob Willby,
[0:27] and every week I bring you an episode of this podcast to help
[0:30] motivate and inspire you. Before we get started, there's a
[0:33] couple of things you can do for us.
[0:34] Please #1 if you like and enjoy this episode, please consider
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[0:44] more than you can possibly imagine.
[0:46] And secondly, if you're looking for help and advice with your
[0:48] triathlon training, we've got a special offer running through to
[0:51] the end of September 2024. We've got £200 off the cost of
[0:56] an annual coaching package with Team Oxygen Addict.
[0:59] I think we've got the most comprehensive triathlon coaching
[1:02] programme for busy age groupers. And it's a £200 off offer
[1:06] running all the way to the end of September 2024, taking the
[1:09] price from 17197 lbs down to 15197 lbs.
[1:15] And remember, you get to lock in that price for as long as you're
[1:18] a continuous member of Team Oxygen Addicts.
[1:20] So the price won't go up on you in the future.
[1:23] So if you're looking for that £200 discount, you can find the
[1:27] details in the show notes. Please go through and book a
[1:29] call with me or one of our team and we'll have a chat with you
[1:32] and find out whether you'd be a good fit for coaching with Team
[1:35] Oxygen Addicts. You can grab one of those 200 LB
[1:38] special offers and hopefully that's a a nice very tasty
[1:41] saving to help you out as you go into 2025.
[1:44] That's actually those rolling the price back two years.
[1:47] So cost of living crisis and all of that.
[1:49] Hopefully it'll help you guys out.
[1:52] In this episode of the show, we're going to be talking about
[1:55] the transition period between your race season and the the
[2:00] build block that we're going to go into in winter in preparation
[2:03] for next season. So first up, I'm aware that this
[2:07] episode comes if you're listening to it in the week it's
[2:10] released or you're watching on YouTube in the week it's
[2:12] released. This comes hot on the heels of
[2:15] both the Iron Man World Championships out in Nice for
[2:18] the ladies and Iron Man Wales. So it's the culmination of and,
[2:23] and also think I'm in Italy this weekend.
[2:25] It's been the culmination of a very, very long racing season
[2:28] here over in Europe. Obviously the Iron Man World
[2:31] Championships in Nice is a culmination of years and years
[2:34] of hard work for a lot of women. I'm and Wales has been the
[2:37] combination of at least a year's worth of hard work for all the
[2:41] athletes we've been coaching through that.
[2:43] So it's got this real feeling of a kind of the end of a season
[2:47] and there being a bit of a break before we move into our winter
[2:51] training season. So first of all, I just want to
[2:53] recognise that it's really important, especially for our
[2:57] community who've been training for I'm and Wales and who've
[2:59] been training for I'm and Nice the World Championships.
[3:02] An awful lot has gone into building up into these events
[3:06] and I'm sure if you've raced them as well, you'll feel this.
[3:09] It has been a long, long path. A lot of these athletes have
[3:12] been with us since January and some cases from September the
[3:16] year before. In some cases it's been a
[3:18] three-year journey to get to the World Championships.
[3:20] So I think it's really important that if you're in the position,
[3:23] you've just raced one of these races, you really take the time
[3:26] to reflect on what you've done and you really sit back a little
[3:31] bit. I think there's a temptation to
[3:32] throw yourself back into trend into training right after an
[3:35] event like this, but it's really important to take a break.
[3:39] And I think regardless of whether you have just raced this
[3:42] weekend or whether the whole summer was the culmination of
[3:45] your racing season, long time listeners of the show or long
[3:49] time viewers of the show on YouTube will be aware.
[3:52] I'm a really big advocate of having a clearly defined block
[3:56] of time at the end of your season where you say to
[4:00] yourself, this is the end of my season, this is my transition
[4:04] block, this is my offseason, whatever you want to call it.
[4:07] And take the time to reflect firstly on what you've done this
[4:11] season, but also to acknowledge the fact this is a break before
[4:15] going into training for the next year.
[4:19] I don't know that a lot of people listening or watching
[4:21] this might be new concepts, the idea of training for next season
[4:25] starting in sort of October time, that that can sound really
[4:30] strange. But I think people who get into
[4:34] Iron Man and 70.3 for the long term recognise it's much more of
[4:37] a lifestyle thing. It's more of a continuous
[4:40] training cycle that we go through and the training cycle
[4:43] is the reward in itself, much more so than the race for a lot
[4:46] of people. So I think it's really important
[4:48] to to draw that line in the sand for yourself and say I'm having
[4:52] a block of time. It's going to draw a line in the
[4:54] sand between what was last season and what's going to be
[4:58] the beginning of the training. That's going to build me up for
[5:01] next season. And typically I'll really
[5:05] heavily push our athletes towards having October as that
[5:10] period of time when they define it as their their offseason,
[5:14] their down season, their transition season.
[5:17] Almost all of the races in Europe are done at this point.
[5:20] We've got Portugal and we've got Barcelona still out there.
[5:23] They're kind of the outliers. We've got Kona for the people
[5:27] who've qualified for Kona, but for the vast majority of age
[5:29] groups who who haven't done and are still dreaming of that, the
[5:33] four week or the two to four week block of transition is
[5:37] really, really important in setting yourself up for next
[5:40] year. I've seen this in the athletes
[5:43] we coach, but I've also felt it in myself.
[5:45] I know that I've got to the end of seasons where I raced really
[5:48] well and I was really keen to get into training again for next
[5:51] season and jumped right back into it straight away.
[5:54] Ended up burnt out halfway through the winter.
[5:56] I know I've had seasons where I didn't race well.
[5:58] I was really desperate to get back into training and commit to
[6:01] it to next year and again burnt myself out into January,
[6:05] February time. I had to take a big break then
[6:08] before getting back into training for the next season.
[6:11] I've seen in our athletes who are really highly motivated and,
[6:14] and who come to me and say, well, you know, I've, I've had a
[6:16] bit of a break. I, I did bit of travelling over
[6:19] the summer. I had my races in June, July,
[6:21] August time. I've had a bit of a break.
[6:23] I'm ready to get back into training now.
[6:25] And and while that might be the case mentally, you might be
[6:27] thinking to yourself, I really want to get back into things
[6:31] now. Hey coach, give me the winter
[6:33] block early. It's a really common refrain
[6:35] from some of our athletes. I'm always really resistant to
[6:38] that. And the reason I am is that as
[6:41] well as forming a bookends to one end of the season, I think
[6:44] it's important to look forward and think if we're racing next
[6:48] summer, we're going to need there to be a reasonable period
[6:52] of training over the winter so that you get there ready to peak
[6:57] and ready to go. But not having done so much that
[6:59] March, April time comes around and you're completely done with
[7:02] training and you need a break, then it's a really big advocate
[7:05] of this October time being a break.
[7:07] So first up tip #1 is make sure you take this break during
[7:13] October. Regardless of whether you've had
[7:16] a fantastic year or races haven't gone the way you wanted
[7:19] them to. Make sure you take that mental
[7:21] downtime. Now that doesn't have to be a
[7:24] complete break from triathlon training, never thinking about
[7:27] it, never doing any running, swimming, or biking.
[7:30] I'm not suggesting that at all, but just having it flagged in
[7:34] your mind as this is a period where I am having a transitional
[7:39] block of offseason can just reframe that for you.
[7:43] And I'll go through some of the options that you've got.
[7:45] But first, I think that's really important.
[7:48] Define this time between two to four weeks as your mental and
[7:52] physical refresh block. Take it as an opportunity to do
[7:56] different sports or do different varieties of the sports that you
[8:00] that you really enjoy for triathlon and get yourself into
[8:05] a slightly different mindset for four weeks.
[8:07] Then when we move into the winter block, the start of
[8:10] Novemberish time, we're then in a place where we're really
[8:14] hungry for the turbo trainer, we're really hungry for the
[8:17] steady run block, we're really hungry for the swim drills.
[8:20] Taking that break and the change up now and enforcing it on
[8:23] yourself for up to four weeks can really mean that you're
[8:26] ready for that then. So it's almost like a like a pre
[8:29] emptive strike, getting yourself ready for it.
[8:31] I'm a really big believer in this.
[8:32] So make sure you have the break. Make sure you have the offseason
[8:35] block. Make sure you really view it as
[8:38] a chance for a mental and a physical refresh to do something
[8:41] different before you move into the winter block of training
[8:45] that really starts your build for the next season.
[8:48] Tip #2 Second tip, I would say, I've said here that you're going
[8:53] to have a break from your traditional triathlon training,
[8:55] but absolutely doesn't mean that you don't swim or you don't bike
[8:59] or you don't run or you don't strength train.
[9:01] It's just we're going to do it in a different way.
[9:03] So think about different things that you can do during this
[9:06] month other than your traditional turbo training on
[9:09] the bike, training in the TT position, training outside on
[9:13] the road bike. So my big push during this time
[9:16] of year is cross training outside in nature.
[9:19] Find a way to get out and be in nature as much as you possibly
[9:22] can. The days are getting shorter.
[9:24] We want to make as much use as we possibly can of the daylight
[9:27] that's there. So some examples for you here.
[9:29] Instead of going out on the road bike or instead of getting on
[9:31] the turbo trainer to do your interval sessions, I would
[9:34] suggest looking for opportunities to get out on a
[9:37] mountain bike or a gravel bike. Get yourself out riding cross
[9:41] country or around local parks. Or just change the roots up so
[9:45] that you're getting yourself outside and you're still riding,
[9:47] but it's not the same sort of riding that you would usually
[9:50] do. So again, it's that message
[9:52] going into your brain that you're taking a break with the
[9:55] running. I'd advise you to get yourself
[9:57] off road, get onto trails, get yourself out into the forest,
[10:01] get out and do some fell running, even get out and do
[10:04] some hiking into the mountains. Anytime you can spend in nature
[10:08] that's different to the usual run routes that you would do
[10:10] again is going to give you a bit of a programming that something
[10:14] different is happening during this month and we're preparing
[10:17] ourselves for a block that's upcoming.
[10:19] I'm even a big fan of getting in the car, driving somewhere
[10:22] different and going for a run in a completely different place
[10:25] because you haven't got as much volume of training at this time
[10:28] of year. It's a really good opportunity
[10:30] to use that time and and drive out to the mountains or go for a
[10:33] run around the lake or go and visit an area that you've not
[10:36] been to before. OK swimming.
[10:38] Similarly, it's a great opportunity.
[10:40] The water still isn't really cold at this time of year.
[10:43] So take the opportunity to go somewhere different and do a
[10:46] wild swim. Stick here.
[10:48] A couple of mates of mine and I, we, we rode out the other day
[10:51] and our hack bikes rode out to the local lake.
[10:54] We had a couple of them had goggles and a hat in the
[10:56] backpack. I didn't even have that, just
[10:59] jumped into the lake for a wild swim, just for 5 or 10 minutes
[11:02] while we were out. And it's something completely
[11:04] different that we haven't done before.
[11:06] So riding to a lake, going for swimming and riding back again
[11:09] is really tremendous way to do something different during this
[11:13] month before it gets too cold. But who knows, maybe you haven't
[11:16] had the time to try this. Can you get your wet suit into a
[11:19] little backpack and ride to your local swimming lake?
[11:21] I don't know. It's a chance and an opportunity
[11:24] to go away and try and do something different.
[11:26] So still running, still cycling, still swimming, but find
[11:30] different ways of doing it that really make it feel as though
[11:33] things have changed up and you've got a bit of a refresh
[11:36] and and a transition between your traditional summer training
[11:39] and what's coming in the winter block.
[11:42] OK tip #3 start to get strong for the next season, especially
[11:48] if you're over 50. We know that muscular strength
[11:51] decreases as as we age. It's a really good opportunity.
[11:55] Again, we've got a reduced volume of training at the minute
[11:58] and often athletes that say to me like I really don't want to
[12:01] do weightlifting because I want to focus on my swim, my bike and
[12:04] my run and I don't end up too sore for doing those things.
[12:08] Now is the perfect time during the transition block to go into
[12:12] the gym and start to look at getting strong.
[12:15] So if you've got a history with gym training, you'll know what
[12:17] you're doing. If not, go and get APT and get
[12:19] them to show you what you're going to do.
[12:21] So there's no chance of injury and illness.
[12:24] But I'm a really big fan of starting to try and get strong.
[12:28] Now start on that strength training block so that you can
[12:32] carry that habit through the winter.
[12:34] And you've got the opportunity to train a little bit heavier
[12:36] now during this transition block because you haven't got either
[12:39] the volume or the intensity on top of you.
[12:41] And it's likely that some of you might have lost some of your
[12:44] muscular strength in the focus of the race season as we we have
[12:48] to tail off that strength training during the actual race
[12:51] focus season. It's a good time to refocus on
[12:54] that and start to get strong again.
[12:55] As well as getting yourself in the weights room, you can also
[12:58] look at doing extra core training.
[13:00] You can look at refocusing on your flexibility training or
[13:03] maybe taking a yoga or Pilates class if you've not had the
[13:06] chance to do that during the race season.
[13:08] Really start to focus in on the things that are going to support
[13:11] your training all through the winter and into next season.
[13:15] These are likely going to be the things that help you keep
[13:18] training injury free all the way through into the next year.
[13:22] So that's tip #3 focus on starting to get strong.
[13:26] Tip #4 is take some time to goal set for next year.
[13:30] You've got some extra time because you don't have as much
[13:33] training going on at the moment. So put yourself half an hour
[13:37] aside once a week. Sit yourself down somewhere
[13:39] quiet with a journal and a pen or a pencil and start to write
[13:43] down the things that you would like to achieve going into next
[13:46] year. Now it might be that that's
[13:48] entirely triathlon, swim, bike, run focused.
[13:52] It might be extends out beyond that and the goal setting goes
[13:56] into areas of your personal life or professional life, which I'm
[13:59] a big fan of doing as well actually.
[14:01] But sitting down with a pen and pencil, writing these things out
[14:05] has a really profound effect. Having the things written down
[14:09] means that you've got something to go back to and focus on a
[14:11] check in with and see if you are on track later on in the season.
[14:16] Now a lot of us often have good intentions of doing this during
[14:19] the season, but when we're really busy with training and
[14:22] when we're really fatigued with training, we often don't have
[14:25] the opportunity or even the inclination to do it during the
[14:28] season. So go back and revisit the goals
[14:31] that you had for last season. Did you achieve them?
[14:33] And if not, what can you do differently this year going
[14:36] forward? But I'm a big fan of sitting
[14:39] down and spending just a little bit of time during this
[14:41] offseason block planning out what you want to do and what you
[14:45] want to achieve over the coming season.
[14:48] And tip #5 is as we get to the end of this offseason block,
[14:54] we're going to return more towards a regular structure of
[14:58] training that looks more like the winter block is going to
[15:01] look when we get into it in the next month.
[15:04] So that means as we get to the third and 4th week of our four
[15:08] weeks of downtime, start to structure your week again in the
[15:12] same sort of way you'll structure it going into winter
[15:14] training. So start to think about having
[15:17] your bikes on the days you'll bike the runs on the days you'll
[15:20] run. You can still do these on a
[15:22] gravel bike or a mountain bike or outdoor cross country runs,
[15:26] but start to schedule them in the same way.
[15:29] So your body and your mind start to get into that same mindset of
[15:32] what you're going to need as we go into the winter block proper.
[15:36] So again, that 5th tip is as you return into regular training,
[15:40] get yourself into a regular routine.
[15:42] So you're ready to hit the first block of that winter training,
[15:46] really ready to go and really ready with, you know, clear
[15:49] routines of how you're going to go about the training for the
[15:51] winter block. So listen, that brings us to the
[15:54] end of this week's episode. Hope you enjoyed that.
[15:57] Hope there's some good tips there for you If you had a great
[16:00] race. I'm in Wales or at Nice at the
[16:02] World Championships. I'm really chuffed for you.
[16:05] I know from having read online and having heard stories.
[16:08] Wales in particular was extremely challenging this year.
[16:11] Really difficult conditions on the swim in pretty unpleasant
[16:15] weather conditions. There were lots of punctures out
[16:17] there and lots of DNFS. Lots of people didn't even make
[16:20] the start of the bike from what I've seen, so it has been
[16:23] incredibly challenging. I hope you're doing OK if that's
[16:26] you and take a little bit of time to rest and refresh during
[16:31] this block as we've just said, and then really give yourself
[16:34] that time to refocus on what you want to achieve to 2025.
[16:39] OK, that brings us to the end of this week's episode.
[16:42] Before we finish, here are some discount codes and deals for you
[16:46] if you're looking for coaching for the end of the season and
[16:49] into 2025 and beyond. Over at teamoxygenaddict.com I
[16:53] think we've got the most comprehensive triathlon coaching
[16:55] programme for busy age groupers and through the end of September
[16:59] 2024, we're running a special discount of £200 off an annual
[17:04] coaching package, taking the price from 1797 down to 1597 for
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[17:17] think that you're going to find a better solution for busy age
[17:19] groupers. If you're interested, there's a
[17:21] link in the show notes. You can book a membership call
[17:24] with me or a member of our team, we can have a good chat through
[17:27] whether you'd be a good fit for Team Oxygen Addict and our
[17:30] coaching and see how we can best help you out.
[17:33] And remember, that £200 discount only applies to annual
[17:36] memberships and it's limited to the end of September 2024, so
[17:41] please get in quickly. If you're listening to a
[17:43] historical episode then you'll have missed this discount
[17:47] unfortunately. But please feel free to get in
[17:49] touch anyway and we'll see what we can do to help you out.
[17:52] Also remember you can go over to precisionfuelandhydration.com
[17:55] and use the code Oxygen 24 for 15% off your first electrolyte
[18:00] order. You can use their free fuel and
[18:02] hydration planning tool to receive a personalised strategy
[18:05] for your next race. It'll help you understand your
[18:07] own carbohydrate, electrolyte and fluid needs so you can
[18:11] refine your strategy during training.
[18:13] And don't forget there's also the availability of a free 1 to
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[18:22] you perform at your best on race day.
[18:24] So remember, there's links in the show notes so you don't have
[18:28] to remember them. And if you're after £200 off
[18:31] your coaching, you can get a massive deal by booking in
[18:34] before the end of September 2024.
[18:37] Until next week, have a great safe training and racing week.
[18:40] I'm coach Rob Willby, and you've been listening to the Oxygen
[18:43] Edit podcast.

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