I will doing my first 70.3 in July, and started the Don Fink 30 week competitive plan in the Be Iron Fit book. I do understand that this plan is for a full Ironman, but figured it wouldn’t hurt to train this way as I will be moving to a full in 2015. I know that getting a coach would be the best solution, but truth be told, that’s a no for the budget. Has anyone used this plan, and if so, did you find it useful as a training plan? If not, do you have any other suggestions?
Thanks!
I followed a modified version of the “Competitive” plan in the book to prepare for 2012 and 2013 IMLP. I’m a fan and recently picked up his new HIM book/training plans. All in all, I don’t think he stresses speed work enough but that is a marginal complaint. The key value was clarity and consistency. (I say modified because I do all my own swim workouts having come from a swimming background.)
I read the book and looked at the plans but haven’t done them.
I was surprised at how much volume he puts into the Sat/Sun workout. 4-5+ hrs, as I recall, on a regular basis. Seemed like a lot of volume crammed into sat/sun - I prefer a more balanced load with more load on weekedays and up to 3-4 on weekends for HIM. Although if you’re doing those 5+hr workouts for HIM, should be pretty easy to go up to IM training.
I have used the plan as a starting point when I first started doing Ironman in 2010. It has some really valuable insights for the Iron-newbie, aka you. I like it and it is written in such a way that is easy to understand, regardless if you are a tri-nerd or not. Like anything, it all comes down to how much you put into it, both mentally and physically.
With that said, I’ve been using it as a base-plan, but adding in my own adjustments/tweaks as my training and ability has developed over the years. KQ for 2014 as a result 
I’ve used the competive plan for both HIM and IM. It really makes it simple and easy to follow. I don’t train with power, while HRT rate is not perfect it has worked for me just fine.
The swim workouts I just use the suggested time/ yardage and make up my own.
My first IM had a plan with so much more swimming than I needed. For me, its a better payoff with more frequent runs.
Best luck.
I was surprised at how much volume he puts into the Sat/Sun workout. 4-5+ hrs, as I recall, on a regular basis. Seemed like a lot of volume crammed into sat/sun - I prefer a more balanced load with more load on weekedays and up to 3-4 on weekends for HIM. Although if you’re doing those 5+hr workouts for HIM, should be pretty easy to go up to IM training.
That’s kind of the point. His plans are designed for the time crunched athlete for whom weekends provide the main/only available source for a decent amount of time to train.
I used the plan for IMLP 2012.
I followed the competetive plan bike and run cause I was in a masters club.
Though it was my first Ironman Ive never been so fit. I could not replicate my endurance in 2012 but I never had any speed. I guess it didnt matter I wasnt very fast anyway.
I had a half iron 4weeks before IMLP, I used it as a practice run and I could not believe I just went through 70.3 like it was a 10k race. I was never tired and could have run forever. 6 weeks after placid I did muskoka half ironman and that too was an easier race than last year. I PBed by 1:45hrs!
Running with heart rate monitor is tricky in the beginning. Your already slow and your HR is already beyond the prescribed zone. So you have to slow it down some more. Control it for a couple of weeks (I tried controling mine for 6-8weeks) and stay under zone 2.
The bike is even worse! Cause you know you can pedal harder but your HR is already pass zone 2 so you have to slow down again (I was averaging 26kph but could have pulled 28-29kph easy). It gets boring most of the time staying in zone 2(think 3hrs indoor ride all zone2!) for the most of the time but it really paid off for me at the end.
I train with power now but I still follow his running plan.
Good luck!
I’ve used the intermediate plan last year for IMWI and was very happy about it.
THis year I will be using it twice, first for American Triple T and second for IMWi this year (competitive plan this year).
The plan includes a HIM race at week 22, so what I am doing is line the plan up so week 22 falls on Triple T week. That gives bike rides of max 4h and runs around 2h, which seem perfect for Triple T. I will do the bike training at higher intensity, basically almost all z2 is replaced by z3 (HIM power). For the run, I’ll continue with the HR based training as prescribed because I feel it makes me run fast enough already. After TTT I’l take a few weeks off from structured training, to then again do weeks 18-30 in preparation for IMWI.
I’m actually a few months into it as my plan for my 2nd IMCDA. So far, so good. I’ve incorporated a bit more speedwork during the week and am keeping my swim frequency at 2x per week (at this stage he suggests doing 3x per week though I’m using that extra spot for an additional bike/run brick). I guess at this point you could say I’m using it as more of a base plan but I do really like it.
As others have said - straight forward and easy to understand.
For my first IM (IMWI 2012 - 11:46), I followed the competitive plan to a T. Yes, the weekends are a bit on the heavy side (I’ve since moved my long run to Tues/Wednesday), but it did get me from a noob to a solid finish without walking any of the run. I highly recommend Don Fink’s book.
I used his plan also for a 70.3…In the end, I didnt hit his volumes, but I feel I did very well for my first one. With a little better nutrition plan, and more focus on the run instead of the bike, I think I could of been near breaking 5hr
He has a HIM specific book as well that came out in Jan. of this year. Same set up with the bulk of the workouts on the weekend, but tailored more for the speed of a HIM.
I’ve used it for the last few years with good success in 70.3’s. I think it lays the ground work for a good race. Last year I saw a big improvement as I did do more higher intensity stuff than what he called for. I sort of mixed in Chris Carmichael heart rate zone stuff from the Time Crunched Triathlete, instead of strictly following his HR zones. My problem is I’ve always had a long stretch of work that interferes with the training at some point. This year will be the test as I’m following it closley for IM Canada. So far so good with steady improvements in fitness to date.
Im using it now. I just have added more track work work
Fyi, he has a half iron book and plan. And its available as a good book right now
So you just swapped Tuesday/Wed workout with Sunday long run every week? Or just certain weeks? Can you elaborate. I like the idea as back to back days of long bike and long run seem to be over the top.
Early in the season, I would just do the long run/ride on the weekends since they’re not THAT taxing (you should be going slow). Later during the build, I would swap the sunday long run with a tuesday/wednesday workout (you might find that moving the swapped run to saturday and then moving the long ride to Sunday is a good option.) I think the plan used to have a brick on tuesday. That might be a good one to swap. Bike heavy weekends are how I train now. A lot more balanced recovery. That 3hr Sunday run usually becomes a death march after a 6hr Saturday ride.
Switching from miles to time is definitely a change for me. How long did it take you to mentally make the adjustment?
Switching from miles to time is definitely a change for me. How long did it take you to mentally make the adjustment?Not sure what you mean, since the book has swim training sessions that have a certain distance in mind.
Only the swimming has defined distances. Biking and running are based on time/heart rate zones.