i’m signed up to do my first IM later this year at Canada. i’ve already read a few books, including Going Long, TTB, and 13 Weeks…but they are too “techincal” for me. i’d rather just run for an hour than run in zone x for 20 minutes and zone Y for 10 minutes and zone Z for 20 minutes. it’s way too much to keep track of.
i’m in relatively good shape & all i want to do is FINISH the damn race. i’m running out of time to train during the week as my job is hectic and i’m a newlywed - so i don’t have the time or energy to put in 20+ hours a week training in addition to my 45-50 hour job. if i did train that much, i think i’d be single again come race day.
my question…the training schedule i outline below is what i currenly do every week and i’ve still got almost 20 weeks before my race (8/29). if i maintain this workout schedule for the remainder of the summer, will i be able to finish IMC and still be coherent? or do i really need to step it up a bit?
mon- swim 30 min AM; ride 1 hour 15 min PM
tues- ride 1 hour 15 min AM; run 1 hour PM
wed- long run 1.5 hours - 2 hours
thurs- ride (hills) 1 hour 15 min AM; run 1 hour PM
fri- off day…possibly swim 30 min
sat- long bike 5 hours
sun- run 1 hour- spend remainder w/ wife & dogs
weekly totals - swim 1:00-1:30; bike 10 hours; run 3.5-4 hours
That is a lot! You’ll be fine. I did IM CdA last year off of similar total hours/wk and expect to do better this year off the same training. You will need to bump your swim time up as you get closer to the race, 30 minutes or maybe 60 minutes a week won’t be enough to get you through 2.4 miles comfortably unless you’re a fish. One long ride per week, one long run per week, steady swimming and some other workouts to keep the fitness up makes a strong foundation to do and IM off of.
Here is an option to train with using key workouts with limited time… My thoughts anyway.
Pick 2 each key workouts in each sport to do each week…
2 swims 2 bikes 2 runs… 1 of them being a tempo, a tempo being at the top of your aerobic zone…about 80% of max, close to race pace for an Ironman race. And 1 overdistance in each sport. Keeping it areobic for the whole training with long warm up and cool down.
Some goal distances would be 5-6000 yds. for the swim. 6-7 hours for the bike and 3 hours for the run. This would be for the overdistance days. Now for the tempo days make it about 1/2 the distance of the over distance days. Now for any other workout added in if you like… do recovery workouts not going over 65% of max. The main thing is to train for recovery and key workouts… meaning that you always try and go into each key workout rested and recovered form other key workouts. Listening to your body as to what it can handle for your build up. Tuning into your body is Key…Do only what it can effectivly recover from.
Here is an example schedule that may work for you.
mon- Tempo run build to 1.5 hours
tues- Long swim 1-1.5 hrs. 5000 yrds.
wed- Tempo bike build to 2-3 hours
thurs- long run build two 3 hours
fri- off day…
sat- long bike build to 6-7 hours run brick 20 min.
sun- Swim Tempo 3-4000yds 1- 1.5 hrs.-spend remainder w/ wife & dogs
Weekly totals - Swim 2-3 hours; bike 8-10 hrs.; run 4.5 hours
Total max hours = 14.5 - 17.5
This would be your max hours in your base… the rest is shorter as you build up to these distances…
I’ve got even greater work place time demands. As a result, I’m also a huge fan of minimalist training.
That said, get up 30 minutes earlier on swim days so you can get a full hour. 3 days a week at an hour a clip is my plan. I may thrown in some longer ones on the weekend when it gets closer to IM.
And I presume you’ll mix in some longer “long runs.” I’ll have several 3 hour runs down the stretch. You’re going to do better than me though on the shorter run volume.
Similarly, I’ll do two (or maybe three) century rides just for confidence. You’ll have one more bike ride a week than me, though.
Oh yeah, FWIW its my first IM, so take my post w/ a grain of salt. Just know that you aren’t alone in your minimalist plans. Crazy maybe, but not alone.
That said, I did my first marathon (and second road race) in Feb. on 3 days of running per week - - two 30 minute runs and one long run per week - - and finished in 4 hours. Nothing impressive, but I just started running less than two years ago and I do absolutely no speed work.
My friends refer to me as a “gamer.” Hope it holds up. Anything over 12.5 hour IM would be a small disappointment. And if I roll over 13 hours, I’m going to be seriously disappointed.
I wish I had more time to give to the sport, but its just not there. I rarely get 6 hours of sleep as it is.
I think your schedule is solid, perhaps just a bit light on swimming. As someone said, squeeze in a longer swim each week, even if it means cutting your bike time down 30-60 minutes. I did my first IM last year in 11:53 on an average of 11 hours per week on a 12 week plan. My biggest week was 14 hours (twice). Danco’s schedule is really solid, but anything over 14 hours, to me, is a heavy schedule. A basic work week for me is 55. During trial calendars I hit 80. I can’t squeeze out any more training time, and for my goals - fun and staying fit - that is enough. I do not believe you have to bury yourself to complete, or even do well, in an IM.
One thing you should strongly consider for your plan is a weekly brick or two. Why not run 30 minutes off your long Saturday bike. Why not do a long broken brick that day - say 3 x 30 bike/3 run? I did long broken bricks on alternating weeks, and found I gained considerable run strength. Not fast, but strong. When I got off the bike at my IM, and I rode at a quick clip, my legs were okay. I attribute that to doing many bricks.
You would be able to finish, if that’s your goal. I’d step up the long ride to 6-7 hours and long run to 2 - 2.5 hours a couple of months out if you want to finish a bit more comfortably.
You already got enough advise, but I’ll add that I’m even less technically inclined than you. I do use a HRM as a rough guidline, but I really enjoy running by feel–If I feel like I’m running easy. . . then I slow down just a bit more(for base building LSD workouts)
Now what everyone seems to forget is your background. (I just browsed the posts, sorry if I didn’t see it).
If you where doing Triathlons since 10 years regularly, are 30y/o and have a xcountry background in College, then you could compete for the age-group win at IMC with the schedule you outline!
If you playd lots of Golf the last 20 years, are 50y/o, started endurance sports last month, you’re in trouble with the schedule you outline!