I’d consider myself a decently experienced triathlete now. Have done several HIMs around 5, USAT score just under 90 (darn swimming killing my times!)
I train pretty happily and consistently year-round between 13-15hrs on average. I rarely go over 17 anymore, and rarely go under 11, just because I do enjoy the discpline and training.
I have no overwhelming need to do an Ironman, but I would like to do it sometime in the near future. Call it a bucket list whatever you want, but I think it would be fun. The caveat is that it’s really, really hard for me to do 3+ hr weekend bike rides. Between the wife who works a bunch of weekends, my toddler who’s mainly my responsibility on weekends, it’s pretty much impossible for me to ride longer than 3 hours on a regular basis. (I do almost all my B/R training between 3AM-6AM, yes that’s a 3:30AM bike trainer ride on Sat AM most weekends.)
I can still plan ahead and get out for 2-3 long training rides in the 1-2 months prior to race day if needed.
I really don’t want to commit to an IM unless I could RACE it to near my rough potential based on my 5hrish HIM finishes. I’d rather not do it at all if it’s just a survival-mode 15 hour finish.
Anyone who’s done such a training plan successfully please feel free to give input on such a plan.
Sounds to me that with your fitness (5hr HIM), you could go well under 15 hours; I’ve gone 12:36 at Wisconsin on about 12ish hours of training a week (although that did include a lot of 3+ hour rides). I think if you can ramp up the intensity of the trainer sessions and really crush them for 2 to 2.5 hours, and get a few 4-5 hour rides in the two months prior to your IM, you’ll do just fine. You’ll likely find the last hour or two of the bike a bit unpleasant comfort-wise (sore butt, neck, etc) as you won’t be used to spending that much time on the bike, but if you pace the bike smartly, you should still have a decent split.
I agree with Spot - I would definitely focus on intensity and nutrition with the limited time you have on the weekends. I just completed my first IM this year, and my training consisted of only a handful of workouts of 3+ hr workouts (three century rides, a couple long runs, a couple long bricks). I would say the lessons learned for me, as a first timer training with that kind of load, is how to dial-in nutrition. Sounds like you’re in well enough physical condition, but in my opinion, after a certain point it’s all mental and nutrition (barring any injuries, of course). Your body starts doing some funky things if it’s your first time training that long (at least it did for me), so taking those lessons and adjusting my nutrition accordingly helped significantly on race day.
(I do almost all my B/R training between 3AM-6AM, yes that’s a 3:30AM bike trainer ride on Sat AM most weekends.)
That’s brutal.
Could you take a few days off work to do some long rides during the week? If you get good at crushing 3 hour rides and maybe take a few days off work to throw in some long rides I think you could have a good race.
Yes I could def get like 4-5 weeks with an extra day off work to do a long ride at the appropriate time (we have a weekday nanny for when we’re both typically at work on weekdays, not on weekends.) It’s the lack of anything longer than 3 hrs at a time for the rest of the training cycle that’s concerning to me.
As an aside, while the 3:30AM wakeup time is never pleasant, even if you try and time adjust (still sucks), it’s really convenient to do that long ride indoors with Trainerroad on a regular basis. Makes the logistics of the long weekend ride much less painful - I pretty much know with certainty that I’ll get an optimal training load that day - no other riders to slow me down, no weird equipment hiccups or flats that shortchange the key workout, no weather issues. Just consistent TSS, weekly, without fail - it’s actually pretty awesome in terms of training logistics, although that 3:30AM is always painful even for a morning bird like me.
It’s not ideal, but it could work. You could also try taking a couple days off work and hammering out some big volume those days like back to back centuries and then focus more on intensity the rest of the time. You don’t need tons of long rides, but you will need a few.
I worked at UPS in college and had to get up at 3 am. I never adjusted.
If you’re consistently training 15 hours/week you’re going to be better prepared than the vast majority of the people there. Pace the bike smart and make sure you’re training has intensity and you’ll do just fine.
If you’re consistently training 15 hours/week you’re going to be better prepared than the vast majority of the people there. Pace the bike smart and make sure you’re training has intensity and you’ll do just fine.
I’ve read enough race reports on BT to know that I’d be better trained than the majority.
Still, my criteria for participating in the race is to be able to race it to near my capacity (like at least a A- minus possible performance.) If I I went in knowing I’d have only a realistic possibility of a B- finish compared to my HIM and Oly results, I’d rather pass on it.
I don’t see why you need to ride over 3 hours or 60 miles for a 70.3. Sure it’s nice to do longer efforts. But the goal for a time crunched athlete, is to reach the highest fitness level possible, then taper prior to 1 or 2 “A” Races. Consistently putting in the 15 hours (other than recovery weeks… if you take those) and having a good mix of quality and active recovery, will take you a long ways.
I only hit 15 hour once and 14 hours a couple times last year and still did well. I didn’t reach my full potential, but I was able to race the whole distance without the wheels comming off.
I feel your pain about the working wife and toddler at home. I find myself doing runs and rides late at night (some people are early birds, some are night owls). This summer I did a few 10 & 12mi runs starting at midnight, and I’ve been doing a lot of my workouts after 10pm (5month old usually goes down for the night at 9:30 lately) running clear to 1-3am. Not sure the super late or super early workouts are actually good quality other than just getting the volume in, since the loss of sleep and/or disruption in sleep schedule is a problem in itself.
Like others have mentioned, taking a half day, or even a day off at work isn’t a bad option. I have a VERY liberal work schedule, to the degree of being able to comfortably say “I basically set my own hours,” but there’s still a volume of work to be done each week. I’ve been letting my group know when I’ll be taking the afternoon off (and I’m 100% honest about why). I’m pretty responsive if I’m on the treadmill, running outside, or on the trainer. Pretty hard to answer the phone efficiently on the bike on open roads though. If customers call out of the blue, I’ll pause my workout and try to get them off the phone in a functional time limit (mimicking that flat tire change), or if my team needs something, I let them know I’m running or riding, so they have to deal with my heavy breathing.
Then again, we have a few triathletes on the team, and the rest of the crew are more like offensive linemen, so nobody really takes shots at anyone’s workout time.
With that consistent volume I think you should do quite well with a bunch of harder 2.5-3 hr rides (overall intensity around 80% or higher) and 2-3 5+ hr rides you’d probably be in better shape than most who do an IM. For my first IM I only did one 100 mile training ride and still finished in under 10 hrs.
I do all my IM’s off half IM training which typically had a long ride for 3 hours and a long run of 1:20. On the day of the IM, I suck it up and cover the distance. It can be done. I estimate that my times are only 20-30 min slower than optimal IM training, but I need not mortgage my life with the super long stuff. I will take one weekend before an IM where I ride at least 5 hours in one shot, but ideally 6 hours. I will also have at least 1 week in the IM build where I run around 90K (~50 miles) just to make sure I can deal with the distance on race day and actually run the entire run. I don’t need to do long runs for that, just a higher mileage week or two is enough.
It can be done, but you have to set your expectations for a slightly slower time and dealing with a lot of mental pain on race day, because you’ll enter the race a bit under prepared, but I think that trade off is good because it allows you to keep your family and work life in a decent balance. I don’t think that “optimal IM training” can exist without taking time and energy from work and family.
You sure as hell can. I have about your same routine, with the wife, but I have two kids. The key is the quality of the training not the quantity. I did all my rides inside on a CT, and many of my bricks were on the treadmill right after while the rest of the family was asleep. The only time I rode outside or for longer that 2:30 last year was in the 2 IM races I did. I did Whistler well enough I got to do it all over again in Kona. Remember QUALITY not Quantity.
You sure as hell can. I have about your same routine, with the wife, but I have two kids. The key is the quality of the training not the quantity. I did all my rides inside on a CT, and many of my bricks were on the treadmill right after while the rest of the family was asleep. The only time I rode outside or for longer that 2:30 last year was in the 2 IM races I did. I did Whistler well enough I got to do it all over again in Kona. Remember QUALITY not Quantity.
That’s awesome.
Have a race report you’d like to share?
And also, how was your IM times compared to your “A” HIM times with this training regimen?
I have done many, many IMs over many years on 10 hr/wk training. I have trained for several with my only bike being my 70 mile Saturday staple (3.20ish). How do you do 17 hrs/wk with no long workouts?
I have done many, many IMs over many years on 10 hr/wk training. I have trained for several with my only bike being my 70 mile Saturday staple (3.20ish). How do you do 17 hrs/wk with no long workouts?
I do regular long 3 hrish workouts. Its just the 4+ hr ones that arent happening.
Pretty normal for me to ride 3:15 in early am then swim 1hr pm on sat. Sun is typically 1:30-2hr run * swim.
Easy to hit 17 hrs with rest of werk as a 90 min am workout and 30 min lunch swim or pm workout.
You could make sure that you simulate the same overall training stress of a 5 hour zone 2 ride at IM pace by doing a 3 hour ride at mostly a tempo pace with maybe some 30 minute intervals mixed in. You won’t be able to test nutrition strategies. but you’ll get the same overall fatigue and fitness gains.