Pretty much every Ironman training plan or philosophy I read sticks to the assumption that people have more time to train on Saturday and Sunday.
What if I have equal time for all 7 days of the week? Does the long bike saturday and long run sunday still hold true? It seems to me that schedule is just to fit in to a work schedule and not actually the ideal training schedule.
So what do you all think? What does the ideal training plan look like? Is it even a 7 day rotation? Why not 10 or 12 days?
Anybody have any great success with a plan far different from the status quo?
To successfully complete an IM, you must be able to adapt and have a plan B, so you can react to the challenges of the day.
Learn this in training. Adapt to your needs, injuries, hours available on a given day, family commitments, etc.
If a traditional Saturday/Sunday load isn’t to your liking, implement your plan B.
There is no magic formula, just dedication and hard work, whether 7 day rotation, or 10 or 12. I don’t believe in absolutes, so there isn’t an “ideal” plan for everyone.
Your ideal plan is the one that fits you and your schedule.
Just do it. It’s not rocket science.
My plan has me doing long runs on Wednesday, which is nice to have more time on Sunday to actually see my family.
Adapt, adopt, and improve. You know your schedule best. I enjoy spending time with my family on the weekend so I ride and run long during the week. Luckily my schedule allows me to do this.
As for rotation, I enjoy a 7-day because I know what I have to do training-wise on any given day of the week. I don’t have to look at my calendar to tell you that I have a long ride next Monday. This is the way it has been since I started training for IM.
Be creative and find what works best for you. As long as you put your time in, there is no right or wrong answer. You are fortunate to have a flexible schedule, so work it to your advantage.
Well most people work mon to friday so that is why plans are based on that idea of a free weekend. In my long training camps, I build the plan around the length of the camp irrespective of the 7 day week, and it can work. Some people need a weekly rhythm regardless of their jobs, so unless the calendar changes a 7 day training week is most useful to most people.
First off, I don’t think the long bike Saturday long run Sunday holds true, whatever that means, in any case. Endurance Nation, for one, encouraged long runs during the week to spend more time riding on the weekends. And any training plan that relegates a long ride to the weekend is quite obviously written for the Mon-Fri working crowd. I think the good question is “What’s the ideal plan for me?” If you really have all day, every day, available for training…then you have no excuse for not experimenting, given all that “free” time you have 
haha, I dont have all day every day BUT I do have a 3-5 hours M-F and 4-6 hours S-S (so I guess thats almost all day everyday
My hypothesis is that the 7 day training plan may be limiting some major gains. I was thinking about a 10 day schedule with two long rides, runs, swims (plus the other workouts fit around these long efforts). I have no experience beyond the Half Iron distance so it is again just a hypothesis but to me while I understand the need for a 7 day schedule for most people I think others with some flexibility may be able to get even bigger gains with something different.
I have used a 10 day cycle for a HIM.
On a 7 day cycle, put your long run midweek and long bike(s) on the weekend.