Ironman is all about the run...so you need to be ready to whip off a marathon off the bike...right ?
Most standard marathon programs build up to the 22-23 mile run, so conventional wisdom would dictate that if you are to do an Ironman marathon, you better run that far in training. Perhaps this is wrong.
For a genetically gifted few, running 23 miles/3 hours is reasonably easy to recover from. They have years of run base and good bone geometry, footstrike and biomechanics. Most of us don't
Guys like Lessing and Larsen have proven that Ironman can be done and won on much shorter runs. Larsen had never done more than 18 miles before winning Ironman LP in a 2:5x run split.
For most age groupers, including myself what we are doing on the Ironman course after 2 hours of running is only loosely resembles what we call running in training. I can almost guarantee that 95% of folks are going faster in every long training run than in the second half of their Ironman marathon. The other 5% are the sub 3:30 runners. They are actually running.
The goal is to get off the bike at T2 reasonably fresh and ready to run a marathon. The large majority come into T2 shelled with no hope of actually running the whole thing. What they will do is tough it out through around 2 hours and then walk-shuffle-run the remainder.
Running more than 2 hours in Ironman training has a huge impact on recovery. Most of us leading busy lives only have so many 'recovery units' in our bodies. When we run more than 2 hours in training and then pile on all the swim and bike mileage (and perhaps weights) that go with doing an Ironman, all we end up doing is drag ourselves out from week to week, never fully recovering and digging an every increasing deep hole.
If you have only so many "training units + recovery units" they need to be optimized for the maximum gain.
The more I think about it, you gain more by biking more and running less. No amount of run fitness will help the 2:20 marathon stud if he gets to T2 shelled.
This year, I did not have the opportunity to run more than 2 hours once I qualified for ironman LP. With 5 weeks to go, I ran out of time to build up to the "long run". I had tons of biking in the spring and I tried to keep up the riding in my leadup. In the 3 months leading up to LP, I only did 3 runs of 2 hours. The rest were 21 K or 90 min at most. My max run week was 40 miles. The other weeks averaged around 30 miles. At LP, while I did not have a top run split, I went 3:44, a PB for me on the course. I walk a some total of 5 steps at one aid station....the rest of the time, I ran/shuffled
The more I think about it, the approach was great. I never once felt totally fried in training despite some big 20-27 hour weeks (mainly biking), and I was 'recovered' for each of my key workouts. Most importantly, it minimized risk of injury which increases the chance of getting to the start line "healthy".
So unless you are a sub 3:30 Ironman run stud, I bet you would actually feel better overall in your training and pull off a faster Ironman times by focusing on the bike and holding back on long runs.
Realistically, I don't think most of us are designed for running more than 2 hours any more than a few times a year. My recommendation would be to pile on run miles in the winter and lay a solid run base and leverage that into the summer during the tri season when you ramp your bike miles and reduce running. It has worked every time for me and a few others who I have mentored in their Ironman prep.
Most standard marathon programs build up to the 22-23 mile run, so conventional wisdom would dictate that if you are to do an Ironman marathon, you better run that far in training. Perhaps this is wrong.
For a genetically gifted few, running 23 miles/3 hours is reasonably easy to recover from. They have years of run base and good bone geometry, footstrike and biomechanics. Most of us don't
Guys like Lessing and Larsen have proven that Ironman can be done and won on much shorter runs. Larsen had never done more than 18 miles before winning Ironman LP in a 2:5x run split.
For most age groupers, including myself what we are doing on the Ironman course after 2 hours of running is only loosely resembles what we call running in training. I can almost guarantee that 95% of folks are going faster in every long training run than in the second half of their Ironman marathon. The other 5% are the sub 3:30 runners. They are actually running.
The goal is to get off the bike at T2 reasonably fresh and ready to run a marathon. The large majority come into T2 shelled with no hope of actually running the whole thing. What they will do is tough it out through around 2 hours and then walk-shuffle-run the remainder.
Running more than 2 hours in Ironman training has a huge impact on recovery. Most of us leading busy lives only have so many 'recovery units' in our bodies. When we run more than 2 hours in training and then pile on all the swim and bike mileage (and perhaps weights) that go with doing an Ironman, all we end up doing is drag ourselves out from week to week, never fully recovering and digging an every increasing deep hole.
If you have only so many "training units + recovery units" they need to be optimized for the maximum gain.
The more I think about it, you gain more by biking more and running less. No amount of run fitness will help the 2:20 marathon stud if he gets to T2 shelled.
This year, I did not have the opportunity to run more than 2 hours once I qualified for ironman LP. With 5 weeks to go, I ran out of time to build up to the "long run". I had tons of biking in the spring and I tried to keep up the riding in my leadup. In the 3 months leading up to LP, I only did 3 runs of 2 hours. The rest were 21 K or 90 min at most. My max run week was 40 miles. The other weeks averaged around 30 miles. At LP, while I did not have a top run split, I went 3:44, a PB for me on the course. I walk a some total of 5 steps at one aid station....the rest of the time, I ran/shuffled
The more I think about it, the approach was great. I never once felt totally fried in training despite some big 20-27 hour weeks (mainly biking), and I was 'recovered' for each of my key workouts. Most importantly, it minimized risk of injury which increases the chance of getting to the start line "healthy".
So unless you are a sub 3:30 Ironman run stud, I bet you would actually feel better overall in your training and pull off a faster Ironman times by focusing on the bike and holding back on long runs.
Realistically, I don't think most of us are designed for running more than 2 hours any more than a few times a year. My recommendation would be to pile on run miles in the winter and lay a solid run base and leverage that into the summer during the tri season when you ramp your bike miles and reduce running. It has worked every time for me and a few others who I have mentored in their Ironman prep.
Last edited by:
devashish paul: Aug 15, 05 19:27