I realize this has been asked before. I searched and waded through the results and couldn’t find the answer.
Just finished IMMOO. Next up is IM St. George on May 1st. That’s just a bit over 7 months away.
What advice do you people have on managing the recovery from IMMOO, transition, base prep and then build to IM St. George? What fitness can I realistically preserve or carry over to IMSG?
Thanks in advance.
I’ll jump on this one with a quasi-hijack. Would it be easier to do IMmoo and then follow it up 2 months later with IMAZ with a “maintained” level of fitness?
I usually do 2 or 3 IM per year. This year I did Lanzarote (end of May), Roth (mid July) and I’m going to Barcelona (early October). I do a large base period early in the season, that’s the foundation, then classic build and peak periods. I recover about 2-3 weeks after an IM distance, and taper 2-3 weeks before. Roth was my best result (time and execution) 8 weeks after Lanzarote. 7 month is plenty time to fully recover, which does not mean doing nothing, then regroup and be ready again (physically and mentally, don’t forget the latter) to train to race. With 7 month I would probably recover 4 weeks, then do a period of focus on my weakest points. Most IM training programmes are about maximum 20 weeks long, so count backwards and see when you need to restart training. During the transition period I would pay particular attention to my body & mind: if I don’t feel like training it probably means that I’m not ready to train yet. Check for instance Gordo & Friel ‘going long’ book for some training plans.
out of curiosity, what kind of times are you putting down when you do 3-4 IMs a year?
Do you mean training or racing? 10:29 last race AG45-50. Taining about 10-15h per week with ‘peaks’ at 20h/w.
thats really good, ok I was just wondering. I know a guy who does 3-5 a year and always goes 13-15 hours at races.
I’ve done 2 in a year 4 or five times. 6 weeks apart works quite well b/c there is not time to de-train. 12 - 14 weeks is tough for me b/c not enough time to rest then reload. 24 + weeks works well. Do a full recovery then a full re-load.
Best wishes,
Ask Joe Bonness…
Recover for 2-3 weeks and repeat your last 4-5 weeks of your previous schedule if within 6-10 weeks, OTW you have plenty of time to recover and build fitness for Utah. Just don’t get fat and sassy over the holidays…maintain 12-15 hours base training until you build for Utah 10-12 weeks out. Good luck< ihear it is hilly like IM Moo? Mike
Ask Joe Bonness…
He will tell you “its all smoke and mirrors”. I will tell you he has an identical twin brother.
Seriously, He trains year around, no real time off. He uses a peak and build similar to Fix’s description above. He keeps moving immediately after each race. Light jog the next am, swims and bikes. Totally resting only makes recovery harder. In between close races (1 to 3 weeks apart) he does no heavy training, but still goes out and works every day. Between close races is similar to a taper.
Disposable income(it adds up), a supportive family( I love the scene), and owning your own business helps. He still works long hours, but he is more likely to take a few hours odd during the day and spend the whole evening working at home. Then, of course, that inability to feel pain that helps him out as well. 
He usually negative splits the back to back races and his times are almost always under 10 hours. He does 3 -5 races a year with 3 within one month or less. Spreading them out is actually harder to maintain your peak.
This is my first year doing Ironman and I did Louisville and I am starting to build again for Florida. It’s not easy, especially when all your friends just did Wisconsin and are done for the season. Get’s pretty lonely even though I train alone I see alot of people while I train but today I didnt see much for 5 hours.
Definitly need to try to recover some after the first so don’t put your races a week or 2 apart. My races are 10 weeks apart so I have 3 recovery weeks of where they go 8 hrs, 12 hrs, 15 hrs, and then next week I’ll get back to 18-22hrs depending on what week I’m in for the next 4 weeks and then taper back down to 15 hrs, 12hrs, and then race week . I still work a full time 40-60 hour/week job and I am married. But my wife works midnights and my job is very flexible. I am an IT consultant that works from home mostly. My day starts at 4am and ends around 930 and I juggle wife, work, and training during that time period. Somehow everyone is happy. Luckily I am ADD so my mind is all over the place already, I might as well put my body there too.