The Weekly Audio Report

This is the Ironman training report. Episode seven, recorded Monday, October 5th, 2026.

Week nine was the pool's week. Two thousand meters against seventeen hundred, over two sessions, after correcting eight turns the watch missed. Thursday's eleven hundred fifty meters was the longest swim of the program, twenty-one percent past the previous best of nine fifty. Stroke count was fourteen point seven per length, and SWOLF was fifty-seven, the same as the nine fifty session, held over two hundred more meters. The fastest hundred ran three oh three, tying the best on record. Monday added eight hundred fifty meters. The longest unbroken swim in both sessions was a hundred.

The bike: zero of fifteen. No ride was recorded. Wednesday became two short runs instead.

Running: five point six miles of ten. Wednesday was two and a half miles in two pieces, fifteen minutes apart, just before noon, at sixty-six to seventy-two degrees and humid. The first mile ran at sixteen sixteen with a heart rate of one thirty-nine. The last mile and a half ran slower, near seventeen oh five, with heart rate rising to one fifty to one fifty-four. Friday's three miles did not happen. Saturday in Dayton, at nine thirty in the morning and fifty degrees: three point one miles at fourteen fifty-five per mile on total time, average heart rate one forty-four, under the cap. Between the stops, the pace sat around fourteen to fourteen thirty. The other recent easy runs, in sixty-six to seventy-two degrees, Wednesday's included, ran sixteen to seventeen per mile at heart rates up to one fifty-five. Cooler air explains part of that gap, so this is moderate confidence at most that fitness moved. The foot was fine. One detail: the last three minutes ran near twelve forty-five a mile, the fastest of the run, with heart rate up to one fifty-nine.

Resting heart rate ran sixty-two to sixty-six all week, against fifty-seven to sixty-four the week before, and read sixty-five or sixty-six on four of the last five mornings. Saturday's sixty-six put the morning in the amber band, which cuts the run by a third: five miles became three point one, exactly as the rule says. The cause of the higher readings is not visible in the data. Travel, sleep in a hotel, and the prior week's load are all candidates.

The food log covered Monday through Wednesday. Monday reached one fifty-three grams of protein, over the one thirty-five target. Tuesday and Wednesday logged under nine hundred calories each, which reads as an incomplete log. Thursday through Sunday: nothing. Stretching: none logged.

Garmin's half-marathon prediction slipped from two thirty-six thirty-one to two thirty-eight thirty-seven, and the five-K from twenty-eight fifty-one to twenty-nine oh five. Readiness held at forty-one percent.

Week ten is Tokyo. The flight lands tonight at nine thirty, Tokyo time. Four short morning runs, eleven point three miles in all: two miles Tuesday, extended to a five-K only if heart rate is under one forty at mile two; then a five-K Wednesday, a five-K with four twenty-second strides Thursday, and a five-K Friday. No pool and no bike. The morning thresholds rise four beats for the week: sixty-six or under is a green light, sixty-seven to seventy means two easy miles, and seventy-one or above is a walk. Saturday is the flight home; Sunday is a late-afternoon walk outside, and the Columbus race-week plan gets set. Thirteen days to Columbus.

That's the report. Two hundred thirty days. The rule this week: run outside, in daylight, on Tokyo time.

This is the Ironman training report. Episode six, recorded Sunday, September 27th, 2026.

Week eight opened with a planned rest day and then lost two more to the right heel. Wednesday's run was skipped when the pain arrived, three days after the twenty-mile Sunday. That was the right call. Friday's ride did not happen either.

The pool was the one sport that hit its number: fifteen hundred meters against fourteen hundred, over two sessions, after correcting three turns the watch missed. Neither session reached the continuous distance it asked for. Tuesday planned a hundred fifty unbroken; the longest was fifty. Thursday planned two hundred; the longest was seventy-five. The week's purpose was efficiency, not distance, and one number moved: fourteen point two strokes per length on Thursday, against sixteen and a half a week earlier. Drill lengths soften that comparison, so it is a signal, not a result. The video from Tuesday gave the reason the legs sink. The head is high, and the legs follow it. One cue now: eyes on the bottom.

The bike: ten miles of twenty-two, on the trainer Saturday at an average heart rate of one thirty-three. The run off that ride was not done. The brick is now zero for four.

Running: eight point two miles of sixteen, all on Sunday, in new shoes, starting just after one in the afternoon at sixty-nine degrees. The first mile ran at sixteen forty-seven per mile and a heart rate of one thirty-seven. The fourth mile ran at almost the same pace at one fifty-nine. From about the ninety-fifth minute the pace dropped to around fourteen minutes per mile, and heart rate climbed as high as one seventy-five. The average finished at one fifty-five. Adjusted for weather, it was the least efficient run in a month, eleven percent below the recent easy baseline, in the mildest conditions. Possible causes: a waking resting heart rate of sixty-four that morning, the week's high; accumulated fatigue; new shoes; and food. One run cannot separate them. For the second Sunday in a row, a plan that said no fast finish ended in one.

The food log covered Monday through Friday, and nothing on the weekend, for the third week running. Protein never reached one thirty-five grams; the best day was ninety-one. The logged days ran from about five hundred to nineteen hundred calories. Either the log is incomplete or the eating is. Stretching: six minutes, once. Tuesday's body scan put weight at one eighty-six point nine and body fat at twenty-one point four percent, and the race weight target moved to one seventy-five.

Garmin's half-marathon prediction barely moved: two thirty-six thirty-one. Readiness fell from forty-four to forty-one percent.

Week nine is a travel week: a hotel Thursday through Sunday, then a flight to Tokyo. Targets are fourteen miles running, fifteen on the bike, seventeen hundred meters swimming. Monday is a swim. Tuesday is four easy miles. Wednesday is the brick: fifteen miles, then two running, inside five minutes. Thursday is the last swim before the trip. Friday and Saturday are three and five miles at the hotel. Sunday is the flight. There is no long run. The planned ten or eleven miler does not fit before a thirteen-hour flight, and eight miles is enough for a controlled Columbus race. Twenty-one days to Columbus.

That's the report. Two hundred thirty-eight days. The rule this week: no run ends faster than it started.

This is the Ironman training report. Episode five, recorded Monday, September 21st, 2026.

Week seven asked for a seventy-five meter swim, attempted first, while fresh. The seventy-five never happened, because it was skipped over. Tuesday at the home pool: warm up, then a hundred meters unbroken in three forty-four, then three more hundreds. Friday went further: a hundred fifty unbroken, a lesson, then two hundred meters without stopping in six thirty-nine, and a closing hundred in three oh three, the fastest of the week. Fifteen hundred meters for the week against twelve hundred, the highest swim volume of the program. Three weeks ago the fifty was a ceiling. The longest continuous swim is now two hundred, half the four hundred the readiness model treats as the gating skill, and readiness moved from thirty-eight to forty-four percent on that alone.

The bike hit its number exactly: twenty-six miles of twenty-six. Sixteen on the trainer Thursday at an average heart rate of one thirty-three, ten more on Sunday morning at the same average, both under the cap. Every ride of the last two weeks has been indoors.

Running: fifteen point one miles of fourteen, the most of the program. Wednesday: five miles at an average of one forty-five, exactly the cap, though the first mile at one thirty-three carried it. The strides were exactly four, each about twenty seconds. First time that prescription has been followed as written. Sunday was the problem. The brick finally happened: ten miles on the trainer, then two miles running at an average of one forty. But the transition was thirty-four minutes, not five. Then at two fourteen in the afternoon, the long run. The plan said seven miles, average under one forty-five, no fast finish, because that is the Columbus race plan and this was the rehearsal. The watch recorded eight miles at an average of one fifty-six. Heart rate passed one fifty before the second mile and rarely came back under it. After a stop near mile six, the final mile and two-thirds ran at twelve to thirteen minutes per mile with heart rate climbing to one eighty-one. The one run of the week with no fast running in it ended with the fastest running of the week, as the third session of a Sunday triple, because Saturday was empty.

The food log: five of seven days, both misses on the weekend, at home, for the second week running. Protein reached one thirty-five grams once, Monday. Weight one eighty-five point two, flat for three weeks. Stretching: zero minutes.

Resting heart rate ran fifty-seven to sixty-three all week; no reading yet this morning. The predicted five-K moved to twenty-eight forty-seven from twenty-nine fifteen, and the half marathon to two thirty-five fifty-eight from two thirty-nine forty-three. Both moved after Sunday's fast finish. Garmin rewards fast running. That does not make the fast finish a good idea.

Week eight has no written plan as of this recording, so the standing targets carry: fourteen miles running, twenty-six on the bike, twelve hundred meters swimming. The Columbus ramp calls for the long run to step to eight and a half or nine miles. After Sunday's eight, that is a small step in distance and a large one in discipline: the number that matters is the average heart rate, not the mileage. In the pool, the two hundred is the new floor; the next attempt is three hundred, first in the session. Twenty-seven days to Columbus. And one change at the top: the race moved last Tuesday from Rockford on June 13th to Happy Valley, Pennsylvania, on May 23rd, three weeks earlier.

That's the report. Two hundred forty-four days. The two hundred is done; the three hundred goes first.

This is the Ironman training report. Episode four, recorded Monday, September 14th, 2026.

Week six was built around the swim, and the swim delivered the volume without the milestone. Thursday's session at the home pool: six hundred meters, containing seven unbroken fifties, timed between sixty-nine point seven and seventy-nine seconds. Two weeks ago, three fifties was the headline. Now seven is a Thursday. Sunday added five hundred seventy-five meters more, with two further fifties. Eleven hundred seventy-five meters for the week against twelve hundred, second only to week four. But the lap data shows no length longer than fifty meters in either session. The seventy-five meter attempt, the stated priority of the week, never happened. It sat after the consolidation work, and by then the session was spent. A sequencing error, not a fitness problem.

On the bike: twenty-eight point eight miles of thirty-four, all indoors. The hotel bike on Tuesday, then eighteen miles on the trainer Friday at an average heart rate of one thirty-three, well under the cap. The eighteen mile Sunday ride, deferred from week five, was deferred again.

Running: ten miles of nine. Wednesday's five miles in Chicago held the cap: an average of one thirty-nine, no mile above one forty-one, at roughly sixteen minutes per mile. Sunday's five miles in Dublin held it too, for three and a half miles: an average of one forty-two, with thirty-nine seconds above one fifty. Then came the strides session, moved from Saturday. The plan asked for four efforts of twenty seconds. The watch recorded ten: five of about thirty seconds, then five of about a minute, at ten to eleven minutes per mile, with heart rate reaching one seventy-three and never dropping below one forty-six between them. The easy running was disciplined. The strides grew into an interval session.

The food log: five of seven days, both misses on the weekend, at home, with no travel excuse. Protein reached one thirty-five grams on one logged day, Thursday, at one fifty-nine. Weight one eighty-five, flat for two weeks.

Resting heart rate ran fifty-four to sixty after Monday's sixty-four, then back into the low sixties this morning after Sunday's double. The predicted five-K sits at twenty-nine fifteen. The half marathon prediction slid to two thirty-nine forty-three, slower than either half actually raced. Six weeks of capped easy running and no race-pace work: that number describes the training, not the race.

Week seven reverses the order. Tuesday's swim: warm up, then attempt the seventy-five, fresh, before anything else. If it goes, attempt the hundred. Friday repeats whatever Tuesday produced. The run climbs to fourteen miles, three runs in a week for the first time, because the Columbus Half is thirty-four days out and the long run has to reach ten miles by early October. Sunday's seven miles is step one of that ramp, and the rule is no fast finish. The bike steps down to twenty-six to make room: sixteen on Thursday, outdoors if the weather allows, and ten on Saturday as the front half of a brick, then three miles straight off the bike. Three times planned, never executed; this one is deliberately small.

That's the report. Two hundred seventy-two days. Seven fifties are banked; the seventy-five goes first.

This is the Ironman training report. Episode three, recorded Tuesday, September 8th, 2026.

Week five was the deload week, and the headline arrived in the water. Wednesday's session at a borrowed lane called for five hundred fifty meters and an attempt at an unbroken hundred. The hundred didn't happen — something arguably better did. Three unbroken fifties, timed at sixty-six point six, sixty-six point seven, and sixty-six point nine seconds. A spread of three tenths of a second across three efforts. The fifty meter swim, a single hard-won ceiling two weeks ago, is now repeatable on demand. The unlock was mechanical, and it cost nothing: exhaling through the nose instead of the mouth.

The rest of the deload mostly held. Tuesday's outdoor ride: sixteen point two miles at an average heart rate of one thirty-four against a cap of one forty. Thursday through Saturday was travel, as planned. Sunday's brick — eighteen miles on the bike, then six and a half running — did not happen. In its place, an unplanned session: five point three miles with twelve sprints in the back half, forty-five seconds to a minute each, descending from nine fifty-six down to under eight minutes per mile, heart rate touching one eighty-six. Reps seven and nine were the fastest of the twelve. A far harder run than anything prescribed, on a day the plan asked for the easiest kind. The engine is willing; the governor still slips.

The food log tells the other story. Seven of seven days before the trip. Thursday through Sunday: dark. Three of seven for the week. The diary restarted Monday.

Resting heart rate: sixty-four after the travel day, then fifty-four this morning — the lowest reading of the entire training block, though four beats off the year's best of fifty. The predicted five-K sits at twenty-nine sixteen.

Week six is built around a one-night work trip to Chicago and the best pool access of the program: two guaranteed sessions at the home twenty-five meter pool, plus a hotel bonus. The first session is already banked: forty minutes on the hotel stationary bike this morning at an average of one thirty-one, nine beats under the cap — the discipline that failed in week four, holding on the road. Wednesday is five easy miles on the Lakefront Trail before work. Thursday: the seventy-five meter attempt, at home, in a real pool. Friday sixteen miles. Sunday eighteen — the longest ride of the program, deferred from week five, not a new ask. The rule of the week is simple: the swim is the week. Fifty continuous meters against the four hundred the race demands is the number holding readiness at thirty-six percent, and it is the only number this week is really about.

That's the report. Two hundred seventy-eight days. The fifties are banked; the seventy-five is next.

This is the Ironman training report. Episode two, recorded Tuesday, September 1st, 2026.

First, a change of target. The race is now Ironman seventy point three Rockford, in Rockford, Illinois, on June 13th, 2027. That replaces the May 16th event named in episode one, and it moves race day back four weeks: two hundred eighty-five days remain, and the program grows from roughly forty weeks to forty-five. Four extra weeks of base, purchased for nothing.

Week four was the first week in which every target was hit. Swimming: three sessions totaling thirteen hundred fifty meters against a target of twelve hundred, all completed before the pool closed for the weekend. Cycling: twenty-two miles of twenty-two. Running: thirteen miles of thirteen, with a six mile long run to close the week. Four weeks into the program, that is the first clean sweep.

The discipline held almost everywhere. The three runs averaged heart rates of one forty, one thirty-nine, and one forty-six, all inside or within a beat of their caps, and remember this is an athlete whose monthly averages last year sat between one sixty and one seventy-eight. The one violation: Friday's fourteen mile ride, the longest yet at the time, averaged one forty-seven against a cap of one thirty-five. Resting heart rate told the story of a body absorbing the work anyway. It touched fifty-six midweek, matching the best readings of the past year.

Two quieter signals. Body weight this morning was one eighty-four point eight, down two pounds in ten days, the first sustained movement after a year parked within three pounds of one eighty-seven. And the predicted five-K dropped under thirty minutes for the first time, to twenty-nine nineteen.

Week five is a deload, and it arrives disguised as an inconvenience: the gym is closed, and Thursday through Saturday is travel. After four consecutive build weeks, the calendar is prescribing exactly what the program would have prescribed anyway. The rule of the week is to let it.

The deload still contains firsts. Today was the program's first outdoor ride: sixteen point two miles, the longest ride yet, at an average heart rate of one thirty-four against a cap of one forty. A year of history says that ride gets hammered. It wasn't. Tomorrow brings a borrowed pool lane and an attempt at the first unbroken one hundred meter swim. And Sunday is the program's first brick: eighteen miles on the bike, a fifteen minute transition, then six and a half miles of running. Longest ride and longest run, back to back. That is what race day is made of.

The persistent gap is unchanged: protein. Yesterday logged seventy-nine grams against a target of one thirty-five. The training is compliant; the kitchen is not.

That's the report. Two hundred eighty-five days. The first clean week is banked, and the second one is supposed to look easier.

This is the Ironman training report. Episode one, second edition, recorded Monday, August 24th, 2026. Two hundred sixty-five days remain until race day: an Ironman seventy point three, scheduled for May 16th, 2027.

First, a correction. The original edition of this episode described August as a restart after a training gap. A full audit of the prior year's data, cross-checked against a hand-kept training spreadsheet, shows that framing was wrong, and along the way the audit caught the watch lying twice. A twenty-one mile run in late July was actually a multi-sport challenge: five miles of running, fifteen on the bike, and five hundred combined pushups and squats, recorded as a single running activity. A seven mile June run at twelve miles per hour was a bike ride logged in the wrong mode. Both are now excluded from the record.

The corrected picture: this athlete has been running all year. About twenty-seven miles per month on average in twenty twenty-six, peaking near forty in May, with a real winter break in November and December. Two half marathons were raced: October of last year in two twenty-six, and April of this year in two thirty-three. Both were run at average heart rates above one seventy-four, and that is the defining pattern of the whole year: monthly average heart rates between one sixty and one seventy-eight. Everything at threshold. Nothing easy. Durable, but one-dimensional. And the database still contains no swimming before this month. Not one meter.

That is the athlete who began structured Ironman training on August 1st. The baseline: estimated VO2 max of thirty-nine, predicted five-K just over thirty minutes, body weight near one eighty-seven, where it has sat, within three pounds, for a year.

The first three weeks tested the old habits. Week two's ten point four mile long run went out at an average heart rate of one seventy-one, the year-long pattern in miniature, and cost three days of elevated resting heart rate. Week three was the counter-argument: every session easy, the first run on record with zero time above zone three, the first weekly target hit, twenty point one cycling miles against a target of twenty, and a resting heart rate that touched fifty-six, near the best month of the past year.

Swimming began from nothing on August 13th. Four sessions so far, and today's four hundred seventy-five meters, the longest yet, came in at an average heart rate thirteen beats lower than last week's shorter swim. Early days, but the direction is right.

The week ahead: swimming front-loaded Monday through Friday ahead of a pool closure, twenty-two bike miles, thirteen run miles, and on August 29th the acute-to-chronic workload guardrail goes live on the dashboard. The open question is unchanged: whether a runner who spent a year doing everything hard can spend nine months doing most things easy.

That's the report. Two hundred sixty-five days. The data is now audited, which is how it should have started.