Designing a Full Ironman Bike Plan on 5-8hrs/week

Aug 1, 14 8:06

Post #1 of 16 (3318 views)

Just based on time available, I would be more "minimal" than some of you. Not looking to crush the bike or anything, just enjoy a first Full Ironman and be in control of my race.

Looking at 3 rides per week, with the occasional 4th. Mostly all on the trainer, and willing to work some good intervals. How would you design a 5 hour week? Occasionally, I could expand the long-ride to fit a 7-8 hr/week occasionally.

My plan
1: 75-90m Mainly constant sweetspot with a few above-threshold bursts: TSS: 100-130
2: 75-90m Sweetspot with more Threshold work: TSS: 100-130
3: 2-3 hour lots of Tempo & Sweetspot intervals, with some other variety as well. TSS: 150-200 (a couple times a month I could make this a 4ish hour ride)

I assume this is light on weekly TSS? Or, are many Ironman 12-13 hour finishers probably completing that on 400-450 TSS per week?

Anyone else do a similar plan on TrainerRoad or on your trainer to prepare for Ironman distance? Should I be focusing on different things during the mid-week 75-90m rides? Would adding a 4th weekly ride, at 60m help dramatically? Or, even, would I be better off allotting the same time into 4 rides (like 60, 60, 60, 180) giving me more time to get a 30 minute run in after each of those 60 rides. Essentially, bringing up my run frequency/volume.

Re: Designing a Full Ironman Bike Plan on 5-8hrs/week [ontheuptick] [ In reply to ]

Aug 1, 14 8:09

Post #2 of 16 (3306 views)

5-5.5 hour at .60-.70 with 3x30 at .75 IF - stay in aero the whole time and practice calories, salt (if you need it) and hydration.

1 hour - 3x8-10min at 1.05 IF (ish) (or W'/3 + CP for those 10min segments)

1 hour easy enjoying the bike

36 kona qualifiers 2006-'23 - 3 Kona Podiums - 4 OA IM AG wins - 5 IM AG wins - 18 70.3 AG wins
I ka nana no a 'ike -- by observing, one learns | Kulia i ka nu'u -- strive for excellence
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Re: Designing a Full Ironman Bike Plan on 5-8hrs/week [ontheuptick] [ In reply to ]

Aug 1, 14 8:10

Post #3 of 16 (3300 views)

FWIW. i haven't looked at TSS in 5 years and have had no issues with 9 hour to 16 hour folks nailing their bike splits and more importantly nailing the run.

36 kona qualifiers 2006-'23 - 3 Kona Podiums - 4 OA IM AG wins - 5 IM AG wins - 18 70.3 AG wins
I ka nana no a 'ike -- by observing, one learns | Kulia i ka nu'u -- strive for excellence
Garmin Glycogen Use App | Garmin Fat Use App

Re: Designing a Full Ironman Bike Plan on 5-8hrs/week [MarkyV] [ In reply to ]

Aug 1, 14 8:22

Post #4 of 16 (3274 views)

MarkyV wrote:

FWIW. i haven't looked at TSS in 5 years and have had no issues with 9 hour to 16 hour folks nailing their bike splits and more importantly nailing the run.

You're saying 9 to 16 hours in total training time, I assume? Which would mean they are probably spending about what I said on the bike, 5-7 hours in a normal week?

Last edited by: ontheuptick: Aug 1, 14 8:23

Re: Designing a Full Ironman Bike Plan on 5-8hrs/week [ontheuptick] [ In reply to ]

Aug 1, 14 8:22

Post #5 of 16 (3272 views)

Couldn't agree more with MarkyV. Well said.

With limited time like that, your best bet is Threshold and slight above around 8-10 intervals. Get out for a few 100 milers in the last 6 weeks before Ironman and you are golden. Do you have access to a power meter? Worry less about TSS and really target hitting those 8-10 intervals. Spread it out with your running.

Drop the tempo on the trainer and hit it outdoors!

#hammertime

Re: Designing a Full Ironman Bike Plan on 5-8hrs/week [ontheuptick] [ In reply to ]

Aug 1, 14 8:26

Post #6 of 16 (3262 views)

I made the assumption with this thread that the hours being discussed were "hours on the bike", not total training time.

the 9 and 16 hour figures there are relating to the various athletes i've had finishing times.

36 kona qualifiers 2006-'23 - 3 Kona Podiums - 4 OA IM AG wins - 5 IM AG wins - 18 70.3 AG wins
I ka nana no a 'ike -- by observing, one learns | Kulia i ka nu'u -- strive for excellence
Garmin Glycogen Use App | Garmin Fat Use App

Re: Designing a Full Ironman Bike Plan on 5-8hrs/week [MarkyV] [ In reply to ]

Aug 1, 14 8:29

Post #7 of 16 (3257 views)

MarkyV wrote:

I made the assumption with this thread that the hours being discussed were "hours on the bike", not total training time.

the 9 and 16 hour figures there are relating to the various athletes i've had finishing times.

Got it. I wasn't connecting that you mean finishing times with the 9-16 hours. Yes, I was meaning 5-8 hours on the bike per week.

Re: Designing a Full Ironman Bike Plan on 5-8hrs/week [ontheuptick] [ In reply to ]

Aug 1, 14 12:01

Post #8 of 16 (3073 views)

Could you possibly get up stupid-early one day/week, and extend the one L ride out to maybe 4-5 hours, at least 2-3x a month?
That would help a lot, then you can do the other rides in the 1-2 hour range, and done.

You'd only need to do this during the last 2-3 months before the race, not year-round. For non-build training, 2-3+ hours for the "L" ride is plenty, assuming her also getting in another shorter, harder ride or 2 each week.

Otherwise, what Marky V said.

float , hammer , and jog

Re: Designing a Full Ironman Bike Plan on 5-8hrs/week [ontheuptick] [ In reply to ]

Aug 1, 14 12:31

Post #9 of 16 (2988 views)

Sweet spot and Tempo are going to fine for the early part of your training. Once you have developed more of a base than move to threshold and just above threshold work. 3-4 rides a week is plenty and being able to ride a 3 hour ride weekly with the occasional 4+ hour ride will suffice. Once you have some tempo work built in I would look at something similar to this:

Monday: Rest
Tuesday: 90' of 3x10' @ 100-105% FTP or 1 hour @ 80-90% FTP
Wednesday: 1 hour Active recovery
Thursday:
Friday: 90' of 5-6x5' @ 103-108% FTP
Saturday:
Sunday: 3-4 hour ride w/ 2-3x 20' @ 88-93% FTP w/ 5' Rest and then follow up with 45' @ 76-80% FTP

That puts you at 7 hours on the bike. You could take away the active recovery ride depending on your schedule and trying to fit in swimming and running, but make sure you are getting the rest in somewhere. The biggest thing I see is athletes doing too much and not doing the proper recovery. You won't improve if you dont let your body recovery and go into your intervals fresh or close to it.

____________________________________________________
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Re: Designing a Full Ironman Bike Plan on 5-8hrs/week [swimmer04] [ In reply to ]

Aug 1, 14 12:43

Post #10 of 16 (2969 views)

why dont you just up the intensity and focus on olympic distance races with the amount of time you have, instead of attempting an average joe time?

Re: Designing a Full Ironman Bike Plan on 5-8hrs/week [Murphy'sLaw] [ In reply to ]

Aug 1, 14 12:51

Post #11 of 16 (2946 views)

Murphy'sLaw wrote:

Could you possibly get up stupid-early one day/week, and extend the one L ride out to maybe 4-5 hours, at least 2-3x a month?
That would help a lot, then you can do the other rides in the 1-2 hour range, and done.

Yep, this is exactly what I planned to do when I said I could fit in a 4+ hour ride a couple times a month. I would be getting that ride in from like 3:30 - 8:00am, and then off to family activities. That's why the 2.5-3.5 hour rides work a little better on Saturday - I'd get to sleep in until 4:30 :)

Re: Designing a Full Ironman Bike Plan on 5-8hrs/week [synthetic] [ In reply to ]

Aug 1, 14 12:54

Post #12 of 16 (2937 views)

synthetic wrote:

why dont you just up the intensity and focus on olympic distance races with the amount of time you have, instead of attempting an average joe time?

Really? I guess we aren't all as good as you.

Re: Designing a Full Ironman Bike Plan on 5-8hrs/week [synthetic] [ In reply to ]

Aug 1, 14 13:09

Post #13 of 16 (2908 views)

synthetic wrote:

why dont you just up the intensity and focus on olympic distance races with the amount of time you have, instead of attempting an average joe time?

Olympic distance training doesn't necessarily mean less hours. Honestly, my Olympic training hours and IM training hours are nearly the same.

Re: Designing a Full Ironman Bike Plan on 5-8hrs/week [ontheuptick] [ In reply to ]

Aug 1, 14 13:20

Post #14 of 16 (2890 views)

You dont need to train, most average joes can wake up and complete an IM as long as you can make the swim cutoff

Re: Designing a Full Ironman Bike Plan on 5-8hrs/week [ontheuptick] [ In reply to ]

Aug 1, 14 13:35

Post #15 of 16 (2849 views)

The plan that you are describing is basically the same type of thing I did (all on the trainer) to get to a 4:43 split at IMTX this year. You can go fast on that type of training, but you need the years of experience to back it up.

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Re: Designing a Full Ironman Bike Plan on 5-8hrs/week [ontheuptick] [ In reply to ]

Aug 1, 14 14:46

Post #16 of 16 (2759 views)

You could also look at various trainerroad.com plans to mix things up over the winter.

I plan to do a tweaked version of the 40k time trial high volume plan (combining weekend workouts into a single big sunday ride, though)

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