I am trying to set up my ATP for the upcoming season…my first season at ironman distance. I was wondering where you place your longest run, bike, and swim sessions. I have two articles that Mark Allen wrote in back to back years in Inside Tri. One has the longest run 6 weeks out, bike 5 weeks out, and swim 4 weeks out. The other article has all of the longest workouts occuring in the same week…5 weeks out. Any thoughts??
Personally, I am not qualified to even hazard a guess, but since you mention Mark Allen’s two articles-I was in a camp with him a week ago and he recommend the 6,5,4 (could have been 5,4 3, but I think you are right) week method.
For IMF last month, my last long run (3 1/2 hrs) was 4 weeks out, last long swim (1 1/2 hrs open water) and 5 hr bike were 3 weeks before the race.
This worked well for me and gave me plenty time for taper during which I decreased duration and slowly increased intensity. Race week I basically goofed off and watched others train hard.
No magic formula, hope this helps. Good luck.
I have some thoughts on this:
First off, I think these parameters are highly individual. If a person is accustomed to high mileage workouts I would strongly suggest that backing off four to six weeks out from IM will leave them flat.
If the training for IM distance is a stretch and does impose substantial stress on the athlete then a longer taper seems appropriate.
Six weeks before Ironman without a long run and I would be flat as a pancake on race day.