Road to Ironman 2027 - My First Week

I am looking to complete an Ironman in 2027 and this journey started this week.

Who Am I?

I am Jonas, I live in Germany and have been in an on/off relationship with triathlon since 2012 when I was 15 years old. That time my father did his first triathlon in Hamburg, Germany and from that day on I always wanted to do one too.

So after some first sprint triathlons with my everyday bike I purchased my first road bike soon after and finally a triathlon bike a couple of years later when I competed in my first Half Ironman (it was not really an Ironman event, but rather a local triathlon in Hamburg where I had also completed my first ever triathlon a couple of years before).

I was pretty happy with my times, although I knew that I could go faster. Sadly that year I tore my Außenband in the ankle and therefore I couldn't run or bike for a couple of months.

Struggles with Injuries

One of the things I have struggled the most with over the years was getting back into training after an injury or sickness. Mentally it was so hard for me to get back on the bike, in the pool or into the running shoes when I knew that my power or pace wouldn't be the same as before and it would not feel great. It was like starting from zero again (although I always knew that is not the case).

When I finally got into training again, I was so motivated that I injured my Achilles soon after restarting training. Some physiotherapy and lots of exercises from YouTube videos later, it got better quickly and I was able to restart my training.

This time with a structured training plan from one of my local coaches in Cologne, Germany where I lived at that time. (Sebastian Rösler’s plans on TrainingPeaks are very good!)

So I got back into training with the main goal of winning the sprint triathlon at the same event where I did my first ever triathlon a couple of years before. I knew that I had the potential of winning by looking at the result tables from the previous years but still knew that it would be a hard 6 months of training.

After a training camp on Mallorca in the spring of 22 I was ready. When race day came, I got stomach issues on the run and could only run about 20 seconds slower per kilometer than I would have otherwise and therefore only got second place with about 30 seconds behind the winner.

Losing and Finding Motivation Again

That was my last race where I really had a goal before, which helped me with training. After that I did some starts for my triathlon club in Cologne but after that year I felt I was done with triathlon.

But in that whole process I forgot what once was the goal of young me (or younger me) when I watched Jan Frodeno win the Ironman World Championship in 2015 and 2016. That goal was to complete an Ironman once in my life (and maybe the goal was very ambitious but I was dreaming of starting in Kona one day too).

Why I Am Writing This

So here we are now. Nearly exactly a year after I started this website (sport-calculator.com) as a fun side project to improve my coding skills as well as creating calculators that come from my passion: Sports.

So one year later I was thinking yesterday: Why don’t you document the journey to your first Ironman? So this is what I am starting with this post. I don’t quite know yet when the first Ironman will happen, probably in 2027, but for the next year there are still some goals that are needed as motivation and also preparation.

I want to document all the steps and ups and downs I will encounter. Take it as a notebook or journal I decided to just do publicly, because maybe someone out there is facing similar struggles or just finds motivation in reading someone else going through the same phases of training as them.

The Plan Going Forward

So this is why I am doing this here. The how is something I can't answer yet. I am looking to create weekly reports to reflect on my training, what went well, what didn’t and maybe also document changes in equipment and just general stuff that is on my mind at that time.

So as we are currently in the middle of the first week of getting back into training, there is not much to write about yet.

Summer Break Before Training Restart

I have spent the last 4 weeks road-tripping through Norway with my girlfriend and apart from a couple of (demanding) hikes, there hasn't been too much training.

The only two events this year were a sprint triathlon in June (more as an emotional support for my girlfriend in her first ever triathlon) and the 24h race Rad am Ring where I started with my father and my uncle and aunt, which was a great experience.

So I will bring some decent form into training but my self-test in 2 weeks will show exactly how my fitness is on the bike. Right now I estimate my FTP at about 240 watts, but haven’t really tested it in 3 years.

I will also rely on testing at home as I had good results with it in the past. Probably as it gets closer to starting in the Ironman, I will get lab test results too. But for now, suffering on Zwift and doing a test protocol at home must be sufficient.

This Week

So this week started with a 15-minute jog on the treadmill before doing a full body workout and then on Wednesday I rode on Zwift for 30 minutes at an avg. of 155 watts.

I always try to do 2 weeks of just doing what I feel like to just get back into the rhythm and letting my body know that we are back training so it can adjust too and isn’t too shocked :D

Left this week will be a run for 20-30 minutes, another strength session and a longer bike ride outside on Saturday, as the nearing autumn is bringing what could be the last beautiful day of the year that I want to experience outside on the bike.