I’m about to start training for my second Ironman (IMLP) in a couple of months and would like some suggestions for Ironman training plans (preferably books) that have detailed workouts.
I finished my first (IMWI) last year using the Trifuel plan http://www.trifuel.com/triathlon/ironman-workouts. I really liked the plan in that it told you exactly what you needed to do for each workout. However, I felt like there wasn’t enough volume as the workouts were all time based and designed for someone much faster than me.
I already have Joe Friel’s Triathlete’s Training Bible and Your Best Triathlon but those plans are too open ended for me. I become indecisive on what to do or how hard to go for the workout sessions and this causes me to slack off or skip workouts.
I’m about to start training for my second Ironman (IMLP) in a couple of months and would like some suggestions for Ironman training plans (preferably books) that have detailed workouts.
I finished my first (IMWI) last year using the Trifuel plan http://www.trifuel.com/...lon/ironman-workouts. I really liked the plan in that it told you exactly what you needed to do for each workout. However, I felt like there wasn’t enough volume as the workouts were all time based and designed for someone much faster than me.
I already have Joe Friel’s Triathlete’s Training Bible and Your Best Triathlon but those plans are too open ended for me. I become indecisive on what to do or how hard to go for the workout sessions and this causes me to slack off or skip workouts.
Alright man so there are 4 different types of workouts there’s the long one this is done at a low intensity below lt2 or like z1/2 for a couple hours. There’s the easy/recovery these should take up like 80% of your training at a very very easy intensity. The other 20% is made up of tempos and intervals. Tempos are efforts between lt2 and lt1 or like 1hr max pace/ftp for 20-40min. Then there are intervals these are above lt1 and are at like 105-120% ftp for or like 5k pace for a these are like a few min-15. Tempos and intervals take up 20% of you training. Do 2 days where you do t/I and 4 days where you do e. Every week switch the last day easy/long
Be Iron Fit by Don Fink
3 types of training plan
Just finish plan - 10hrs/week
intermediate plan - 15hrs/week
Competetive plan - 20hrs/week
Theyre all 30weeks long.
Ive used it and it worked really well. Im sure many will chime in with their experience.
Amazon has some great reviews. Enjoy
For generic stock plans, Don Fink is decent. And his advice on time management is great. Long runs are way too long and it’s not great always having them the day after the long bike but I realize that’s how most regular-workweek people get them in.
Be Iron Fit by Don Fink
3 types of training plan
Just finish plan - 10hrs/week
intermediate plan - 15hrs/week
Competetive plan - 20hrs/week
Theyre all 30weeks long.
Ive used it and it worked really well. Im sure many will chime in with their experience.
Amazon has some great reviews. Enjoy
For generic stock plans, Don Fink is decent. And his advice on time management is great. Long runs are way too long and it’s not great always having them the day after the long bike but I realize that’s how most regular-workweek people get them in.
Not used them but I’ve found that if you just swap the long run / long bike days. Meaning you do a long run on Sat and long Bike on Sun it works well. Also agree with you… long runs shouldn’t be way too long. My longest one was 14 miles when prepping for my IM this season.
I’ve been using the D3 24 Week Advanced by Power / Pace / HR / RPE. It’s been pretty solid, puts you through regular testing early to determine thresholds and then uses those for the endurance build.
I agree with others that a book will add little help and possibly cause more confusion. The use of a coach is really, really great advice. There are some good options offered online by various coaches and I have used some with excellent results. Check out my current coach’s page as it is really well done and changes based on your feedback…
I get what you’re saying, but coaching will be the best expenditure you’ll make. Far better than equipment, nutrition products, wasted efforts. Just my opinion, but doing a 10+ hour event without a fluid plan tailored to you is a waste of your entry fee and travel costs if you want the best you can do. Good luck.
don’t listen to them. You do not need a coach. Common sense, consistency, and hard work will get you 95% of the way there. If you read slowtwitch long enough, you can tailor your workouts to yourself far better than any coach.
Put in the time doing what you can do each week, learn from experience. I’m assuming from the original post that you’re not fighting for any podiums so have fun and do what you can. Swim, bike, run, fuel, recover…increase volume for 3 weeks then back it down for a week and keep at it. What works for you might not work for someone else considering life, work, events, etc.
I’ve read most of the books out there on triathlon and they all pretty much tell you the same information. Take what you did last year and increase the volume if you thought it was too light. It’s all consistency and volume and what you can repeat week after week.
don’t listen to them. You do not need a coach. Common sense, consistency, and hard work will get you 95% of the way there. If you read slowtwitch long enough, you can tailor your workouts to yourself far better than any coach.
^^^This^^^
And, I think you may have missed something on the plan; It’s time AND Intensity (HR).
Re-read the FAQ’s and don’t worry about maching the times exactly.
When Mike Llerandi ( the author) had an interactive site, I asked him about the long rides (5 hours). He said if I wantd to go 6 to get the miles in I should.
As you know there is a lot of great stuff in there; swim volume (Mike was a fish), bike sandwiches (less long runs) and track workouts… You won’t find those in most plans.
If you don’t have his Super Coach Manual and are interested drop me a pm.
don’t listen to them. You do not need a coach. Common sense, consistency, and hard work will get you 95% of the way there. If you read slowtwitch long enough, you can tailor your workouts to yourself far better than any coach.
Yes and no.
Why yes? Because it was like that for me. Coaches I hired caused only stagnation with me. I started to improve where I forgot what the coaches said and change things myself, indeed with information from triathlonsites like this.
Why no? Maybe I was unlucky with my coaches: one could as well be lucky.
Mind that everyone is different. So standard trainingplans have to be adapted. This is not something which every coach is able or willing to do. What’s sure is that a coach wants to earn money. He might not earn money if he just looks where your deficits are and tell you how to work on those. He might earn more money spending a lot of time with standard programs which you can get from the internet yourself for free.
I did the Dan Finck program and modified it for my background - college runner and know that I respond well to interval work, very weak swimmer. I thought it was great, particularly for my first IM. I’m signed up for my second this coming year and will follow the plan again, with slight modifications. I looked at lots of plans available online to help with some of the modifications. I might get a coach for swim technique, but that would be it. Slowtwitch is an amazing resource as questions come up.
Been using the HIM plan for years, to the point that now I have all the run and bike workouts I have programmed into Garmin Connect ready to go for each subsequent year. I used the full plan for my lone full attempt and will use it again when/if the itch strikes to go that long again.
I think my problem is while I can follow the overall format for plans and times, it’s the details in the individual workouts that give me the most trouble when planning my own. If you make your own plan, how do you decide that what you do in the workout is good enough or right?
For example, in Friel’s book, a workout might be run for 1:15 and work on Muscular Endurance. ME workouts are 5 min intervals but I always get lost trying to figure out how many I should do and what to do for the rest of the time. Then I start second guessing whatever I decided and end up talking myself into a shorter or easier workout because “maybe I set it too hard”.
Also, how are you sure a few months down the road that the plan you created is providing enough and isn’t too easy? I remember that one of the important aspects of IM training is to trust the plan but how do you trust the plan if you are just making it up yourself?