For those of you that have followed this www.Triathletemag.com program… did you follow it to the letter?
The program starts with really low volumes. Did you follow this or did you do your own workouts and wait for the volumes to catch up to you?
I am doing my 1st IM at Vineman and I think this program makes sense.
Advise?
I started with more than that and finished with less. I somehow got it in my head that I needed a 3-week taper (because I read Mark Allen did that). So, I basically quit training 3 weeks out. Mike Plumb was coaching me and emailing me workouts. I thought, “What does he know?” and I would just delete the emails and go look in the fridge.
I thought “taper” meant sit on the couch and eat chips and guacamole. Smart, eh?
I went 13:14 and walked 2/3s of the run.
So, yeah, it’ll work for sure. But, you’ve actually gotta do the workouts. 
A buddy of mine did the 13 week program for IM NZ and he came in at 12:43. It was his first triathlon ever. When he told me what he was doing I thought he was crazy, but it obviously worked. He followed the program pretty much to the T.