2 weeks to train for a sprint tri any ideas?

You are over worrying how much speed you have actually lost. Relax, it might not be the best sprint you have done, but it won't be as bad as you expect.

I was in a similar situation a few years ago but not with medical issues, just a family vacation that precluded any kind of race-focused training. We had been in Europe for about four and a half weeks--about half of that was on two bike tours, but they were with Mom (in her 70's) at her pace... I tried to get in some training by carrying all the gear and sometimes doing a couple of repeats up the hills while she struggled up once. I think I only got in three or four runs/swims each, and no speedwork. We returned about ten days before the race.

What helped for me was just putting in short pickups at race effort/pace (you may need to modify that if there are still medical issues affecting performance) during steady training sessions in all three sports. For example, throw in a set of 10-12 one minute-long tempo pickups with two minutes recovery in the course of a 45-60 minute run, or some 2-5-minute pickups in a 60-90 minute ride, or a set of 50's alternating easy, build, and hard effort in the pool. It will help you regain "feel" for race effort, while not wearing you out for the race or putting you at risk of injury.. In my case, I had a very solid base of training coming into the vacation (I had done an Oly PB about a month before leaving) and I ended up doing my fastest sprint at the time and winning my AG.

If you are competing with low hemoglobin.....expect it to be more difficult. It will feel like doing a race at altitude. I have struggled with low/borderline levels several times (to some extent as a normal response to living/training in the tropics--one becomes "functionally anemic" due to increased blood volume), and it makes everything more difficult. Modify pacing to reflect how you are feeling--probably to use effort and/or heart rate rather than pace or power.

Edited by Hot Runner 2016-06-27 7:29 PM