Why I’m Doing My 70.3 Triathlon Solo + Weeks 23–24 Training Recap

I got thrown a last minute hiccup in my triathlon plan in that I now have to travel to New York for work on the day that was supposed to be the race up in Door County, WI. The pivot now means that I’ll be completing the 70.3 by myself in our local area. I thought about trying to find another race, but there wasn’t anything that worked in my schedule before the fall and I didn’t want to wait that long. So I’ve decided to map out a route around here and complete the distance by myself the weekend of August 9, which gives me just over a month to finish my training. I just completed weeks 23 and 24, let’s get into what I did.

Monday: Golf and body weight workout

I had golf league on Monday night so I got a quick body weight workout in before work in the morning before heading to the course at night.

Nutrition: Protein shake in the morning after my workout, eggs and toast for lunch and then some pan seared chicken and peppers for dinner.

Tuesday: Yoga

My wife tricked me into going to yoga with her, and then to take it a step further, it was a yoga “sculpt” class, which means I was dripping sweat and muscles were sore that I didn’t even know I had.

Nutrition: I had a turkey sandwich for lunch before we made hamburgers for dinner on the grill.

Wednesday: pickup basketball

Basketball is always a little hit or miss in the summer with all the things going on and trying to get enough guys together to play. It was my first time back in a few weeks so my game was a little rusty, but it felt good to get up and down the court.

Nutrition: I had chicken for lunch and then a shrimp salad for dinner. I also had a protein shake in the afternoon.

Thursday: Swim workout

I got up in the morning and swam before work for 40 minutes straight. I forgot my apple watch to count the laps, so I don’t know exactly how far it ended up being, but I’m getting more and more comfortable in the water.

Nutrition: I had Subway for lunch and then a protein shake for dinner. I also had a couple cookies that got brought in to the office.

Friday: Manual labor, no workout

Long story short, a tree fell on our garage and the roof needed to be replaced. A friend of ours is a contractor and did the work, but I was out there helping him (help is a strong word because I’m scared of heights) but I was on the ground handing him shingles and picking up debris. 

Nutrition: After he finished the roof, I took him out for pizza (don’t worry, he’s getting actually paid too).

Saturday: outdoor run

It was crazy hot and humid, but I got out and went for a 5.5 mile run at an 8:30 pace.

Nutrition: I had protein pancakes for an early lunch and then steak and veggies on the grill for dinner. I had a night time snack of popcorn as well.

Sunday: Walking & stretching

I felt some tightness in my legs so rather than pushing it, I opted for a long walk with some stretching.

Nutrition: We went to brunch at a new local place where I had eggs, bacon, potatoes and split a pancake. For dinner we had grilled chicken.

Monday: Golf

As usual in the summer, I had golf league on Monday, which is physical activity and a good way to tone it down from some of the harder workouts.

Nutrition: This was the first full day of an extended fast that we try to do once every few months.

Tuesday: Outdoor cycle

With the news of needing to find a route around here to ride the full distance I went out and started exploring some roads in the area. I ended up going 22 miles in an hour and a half.

Nutrition: I kept fasting until just before my ride, having some watermelon and eggs to break my fast and then some leftover chicken as a heavier meal. All in all I fasted for about 46 hours.

Wednesday: Swim

I got up in the morning and went for a swim in the pool and did just over ⅔ of the race distance in a little less than 40 minutes.

Nutrition: I had a protein shake for lunch before some brats and burgers for dinner at a cookout.

Thursday: Outdoor run

We were heading out of town for the 4th of July so I got up and ran 6.5 miles in the morning at a 7:39 pace.

Nutrition: I had some chicken tacos for lunch before having pizza and beer for dinner.

Friday: Off

I took the 4th of July off from working out and just enjoyed the sunshine!

Nutrition: we had fruit and donuts in the morning, burgers for lunch and then chicken tenders and ice cream for dinner.

Saturday: swimming

We spent July 5 at a friend’s place up north on a lake and before we went out water skiing, boating, and drinking I did a short bit of a swim in the lake near the dock to get a feel for some open water. The water was pretty choppy and it’s definitely different than the pool, but I think I’ll be okay.

Nutrition: we had eggs and toast before getting to the lake and then a burger before we went out on the boat. I was drinking seltzers and then we had barbecue chicken for dinner.

Sunday: Indoor cycle

It was a little rainy when I was wanting to workout so I did a quick sprint workout on the indoor bike.

Nutrition: I had a protein shake for lunch and then we had a take and bake pizza for dinner.