I'm not a "training bible" person, but I do follow the general principals and have gleened some things from Gordo's site. First, both agree that rest is important. Depending on your age and ability to recover you do a 2-3 week increase with the next week a recovery. The recovery will drop you back quite a bit. The key there is to try to keep the same frequency but reduce the volume of the workouts. i.e. still swim 3x, bike 4x and run 4x but for much shorter times. Another suggestion is to run on time and not distance. If you are injury free you may go a little longer, but Gordo suggests not going over 2.5 hr as the time to recover is not worth the extra time and can lead to injury. Going Long will also give you a lot of ideas.

I have done almost all of my work this year in zone 1 and 2 for bike and run. NO speed work! My times have consistently gone down for run and bike. My 3 sprints for this season have been my speed work and I am a LOT faster than previously and have not been plagued by injuries. My limiter as most age groupers (MOP/BOPers) in endurance and that is what the zone 1/2 builds.The real test is IMMOO in Sep with an intermediate test this weekend at Racine for a half. Seems to be working for me, but others may not have same results.

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Larry

Don't be afraid to ride too long or too hard. That's what cell phones are for. Rich Strauss

Well I'm bummed to find out I will be set back by the rest week, but I have been busting my ass, seeing improvement, and am ready for bit of a break from the hours. I am doing run intervals twice a week in Z4-5a (5X6 min repeats, 2 min recovery), and time trial workouts from the Spinerval tapes twice a week, 1.5 hours each, also in Z4-5a. Friday is a either a 10M run with the last 8M in Z3 or 14 in Z2, adding a mile each week. Sunday is a either a Spinerval 3HR IM workout or 4-5 hours in Z2, growing into a brick. Swimming sucks, but we do two workouts a week plus a long ocean swim. Distances will be growing, but how does all that sound? I guess I was surprised to hear that your sprint times are getting better staying in Z1 and Z2, i.e. no speed work. Doesn't that help your form and economy? I must have missed the "not going over 2.5 hour" thing. That will shut down part of the long Z2 run.

I learned a lot from my 1/2. I got the Training Bible afterwards, and think I found some of the mistakes I made. The worst mistake was racing much harder on the bike than I had trained on the bike. I have concluded that I used up my muscular endurance. I had plenty of spare heart rate, but nothing in the legs.

Let me know how your 1/2 goes. My E-mail is gcpicken@aol.com

You will not be "set back" by a rest week. If you plan accordingly you will be faster on race day because of the rest week. IMO, if you are not in desperate need of a rest week at the end of week 3, then you are doing something wrong.

Why are you doing Z4 & 5 work for an IM? How much time in the race do you plan on being in Z5? Try going to trainingbible.com and get a short subscription. Let their program (Virtual Coach) help you plan your periods. Lots of LSD (Long Slow Distance) is key to long races. It sometimes seems counter-intuitive but I can also testify to the effectiveness of building a strong aerobic base.

Check out Gordo's site and read his 4 pillars series of articles. Read the book Going Long by Friel and Gordo.

I agree somewhat with tom.

First, it appears from your description that you're doing a lot of high HR work, considering that you're training for an Ironman. Perhaps that has really worked for you, I don't know. My schedule has been more like this:

Base (12/29/2004 - 6/27/04): Everything was in Zone 1-2, building long runs to 2.5 hours and long rides to 6 hours. 3x swimming per week, with one longer session dedicated specifically to endurance. All weekday runs and rides were dedicated to endurance and set at Z1-2 effort pacing. Swim sessions were geared to form work.

Build (6/28/2004 - 8/22/04): Long workouts are still mostly in Z1-2, but build to Z3, and possibly into Z4 to simulate race day efforts.

Weekday cycling switches to ME and Force focus to be ready for the hilly terrain. One ME session is scheduled as a BT workout, and is typically 1-1.5 hours in length, and includes ME intervals (e.g., tempo intervals, cruise intervals) or straight tempo work. The other is a Force workout, that includes lots of climbing at lower cadence to build leg strength; HR stays in Z2-4 if possible, but sometimes reaches Z5 on tougher hills. Long ride is about 6 hours, although, in the Build period I have switched long rides to long bricks, with rides between 5-6 hours and runs at .5-1.5 hours.

The same thing is done with running. Focus is on ME and Force workouts during the shorter, weekday workouts, with a tempo run or interval run and some hillwork at Z1-3. Long run stays at 2.5 hours. I always try to include a set of strides somewhere in the week.

Swims include on Endurance swim that is pretty much a straight 3000-4000 meter swim. The other two workouts are focused on form and speed to help maintain body position and arm turnover.

Hope this helps.

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Steve Perkins