So entering the twilight of my IM racing (5, all under 12 hours) and 20+ years of doing tris. But is it plausible to train no more then 12 hours a week and enjoy IM CDA? I can swim, so not worried here. But my thought is to train no more then 3 hours as my longest bike ride and no more then 2 hours on my longest run and average no more then 12 total a week in the 4-5 months building into CDA.
Thoughts and experiences from others who have ‘under volumed’ but still showed up fit, how did it go?
IMCDA was my first full, and I think with the right focused training, you should be able to do fine with 12 hours a week training. I might have maxed around 15 hours per week occasionally, but I didn’t have the residual fitness from years of doing this that you likely have. Just my N=1. Might see you there this year; still on the fence of whether I want to make the commitment this year.
I believe Sami Inkinen has written numerous blog posts on the topic. Granted he has a huge engine, but the guy really made the most out of:
• Focus on recovery
• Emphasize high-quality work
• Don’t waste time
Here’s the link:
http://www.samiinkinen.com/post/11347268687/hawaii-ironman-secrets
~David
12 hours a week is about as much as I ever train. I have done well in long distance doing that amount of volume. Just be smart and you could actually have a killer race.
I’ve gone 12:36 at IM Wisconsin on no more than 12 hours a week. And that’s 10-15 lbs over optimum racing weight.
Spot
Thanks for all the input. Will see how the build goes and now with races staying open later I might have this option finally.
Just to add another data point for you, I did IM Chattanooga in 10:11 and my “peak week” was only 12:40. I only had one other week that was even in the double digits and most weeks were between 6 and 8 hours. This was my second IM (IMFL 2012, 11:23) and I just sort of trained when I felt like it as I got burned out being coached for XTERRA racing last year. I don’t have the history that you have since I basically came off the couch in 2010 (currently 36 years old) and got moving by starting out on an MTB which led to XC racing and it took off from there.
In short, yes! I enjoyed myself this year at IM Chattanooga with minimal training, especially by ST standards.
I’ve done 4 IMs between 2006 and 2008. My last tri was 2009 before this season. I developed bad patellar tendonitis so essentially took off completely for a few years. I ski’d and was active but didn’t do any regular training - no huge base to rely on…
My friends convinced me to sign up for IM Boulder for 2014. Here is my training:
6-12 months out: on and off tried to run and ride trainer just to get used to training. Never consistent. Had to take off 2-3 weeks here and there but got in some hours and dropped a few pounds.
3-6 months out: no swimming. Avg 1:40 on bike. Avg a bit under 20 miles per week running for about 4:45 hours per week total training.
0-3 months out: swim 1:35, bike 4:20, ran 21.2 mile per week for total training time of less than 9/week.
I had 3 swims over an hour, 5 bikes at or over 60 (60,80,70,60,60), and 7 runs over 10 miles. Did some intervals but didn’t regularly kill myself going super hard or anything.
I knew I wasn’t super fit so plan was to have fun, enjoy the race, back off if anything seemed remotely hard or off…
Result - most fun I ever had in an IM. Not one bad patch until I hit about mile 13 of the run - then it got a little hard bit I just slowed down. Had a great day as I had low expectations, paced appropriately , and focused on enjoying the race…
Splits: roughly 56-5:50-4:11. I did end up jogging the last 6 at an avg apace of 10:41 but felt ok.
Fastest IM was in AZ in 08 - 54-5:45-3:44 when much fitter so not super fast.
12 hours per week is a ton of time to train and enjoy an IM…
Dave
Short answer: if you are “fit” (in an olympic to HIM distance sense) but haven’t put in traditional volume, you can certainly enjoy the day. You just need to pace appropriately (lower power on the bike, run easier with smart run/ walk). I’ve done this myself before with good results (the key is a much more relaxed attitude and a focus on saving energy throughout the day).
Longer answer:
To enjoy the day, 10-12 hours / week of consistent training is plenty. If you really go at it on 10-12 hours per day with a smart buildup of solid sets, etc., I wouldn’t be surprised if you finish near your usual time. I’ve seen plenty of people finish under 11-12 hours on less than 12 hours / week of solid training. The key is CONSISTENCY-- if you have solid, consistent training almost every week between now and IMCDA, you’ll be fit. If you have some good weeks of 10-12 hours mixed in with plenty of 4 hour weeks or less, you won’t be as fit. The less fit you are, the more conservatively you need to pace. For December and January, you could probably get away with 1 hour per day of HARD training (fun!), Feb & March move up to 10 hours / week, April, May, June 10-12 hours.
This is an example of a schedule for a working person who has time for about an hour per day on weekdays and more time on the weekends. Depending on whether you have more time on weekdays, the weekend long run and swim could be moved (that would free more family time on weekends).
Monday: 1 hour bike intervals + 10 minute swim cords pulls
Tuesday: 1 hour run
Wed: 1 hour bike intervals + 10 minute swim cords pulls
Thurs: shorter hard run
Friday: hard swim
Sat: 2-3 hour long ride-- once you can comfortably do 3 hours at Ironman effort, start adding harder and harder sets to the back end of the ride + easy run off the bike
Sunday: longer run + longer swim
I’ll be racing IMCDA-- hope to see you there enjoying the day!
My first year of triathlon training was on average exactly 12h a week (including commutes and hockey season), did my IM in 9.50 and 70.3 in 4.34.
I dont know how many of you actually calculate your average but just as an example if you do a 8 weeks block and first 3 at 12h and then miss one week totally, in the next 4 you have to do 15h to get back to 12h average (trivial, I know, but I am convinced the 20h averages just can not be true but to the very top of AG athletes)
What’s “twilight?” I have done CDA 3 times all under 12 never training over 10 hrs/wk. Always loved the day!
Plenty of time.
Dont pay too much attention around here or you might start thinking that 25 hrs isnt enough!
I am convinced the 20h averages just can not be true but to the very top of AG athletes)
Same like wtf you have to be jacked out of your mind on gear to recover that much how are you gonna run like 20 miles a day like average or whatever. They have to include getting ready and commute etc like spend a lot of time cooling off or something.