RECOMMENDATION

Hold intensity today — Z2 only. Your TSB is already negative and two consecutive moderate days is the typical ceiling before HRV dips in your data. Banking Z2 volume here is not a wasted day; it's when aerobic base adaptation happens.

RECOMMENDATION

Sleep architecture is your strongest recovery asset. SWS 2h+ is rare — most trained athletes average 1.0–1.5h. Protect it: consistent wake time ±30 min daily, room 18–20°C, no training within 3h of bed. Current architecture supports continued CTL build.

RECOMMENDATION

The single highest-leverage action right now: add 1 easy run/week immediately to stop the economy decay, then scale to 3/week by September. Close the running (+30% gap from target) and swimming (+8% gap from target) volume gap by Oct — not before, or it disrupts the cycling priority block. Swimming: 1 technique session/week now (not fitness — technique). At 70.3 Ironman pace, swim is ~30 min — economy matters far more than fitness here. Cycling: maintain current priority through Aug, then shift to multi-sport balance in the Sept build. Finish-strong target: hold 2.0 W/kg across the 90 km bike. You currently sustain 1.67 W/kg on 30 km+ rides — close the remaining 0.33 W/kg with sustained tempo work.

RECOMMENDATION

CTL target: 65–80 by Jan 2027. At current pace (0.7 pts/wk), you hit 65 around Mar 2027. Sustainable path: 3–4 pts/wk gain through Oct, then a 3-week de-load before the build phase begins. Protect easy days — the aerobic base built in Z2 now is what race-pace tolerance is built on.

THIS WEEK

This week: 4 easy runs of 20–40 min at Z2 (~7:00/km, HR <137), with one slightly longer building toward 16 km. No intervals yet — frequency and time-on-feet are the adaptation that protects the legs. Grow weekly volume ≤10%/wk. Add a short bike-to-run brick once you're running 3+×/wk — that's the missing race-specific session.

RECOMMENDATION

Close the 0.33 W/kg gap with structure inside the weekly long ride: 2×15–20 min at ~175 W (2.0 W/kg), progressing to 3×20 min by August — this trains time-at-target, not just distance. Hold the long ride steadier (target VI < 1.15): smoother power is more economical and protects the run. EF slipping under high volume usually signals accumulated fatigue, not lost fitness — check TSB before adding intensity. Skip FTP testing this block — EF and sustained long-ride NP/kg are your truer signals.

THIS WEEK

This week: swim 3×. One is a CSS test — warm up, then 400 m time-trial, rest 5 min, 200 m time-trial; CSS pace = 200 ÷ (T400 − T200). One technique/drill session (frequency builds feel for the water). One aerobic 1.5–2 km continuous. And book your first open-water session this month — it's the single biggest unpracticed race variable.