A little background info, in 2011 my wife and I decided we wanted to do a half ironman about 3 months out from race day. We had never done a tri before, we had never had any formal swim lessons or any real experience with swimming from point A to point B type stuff, just messing around at the lake while water skiing and stuff like that, and we had cyclocross bikes that we were going to use. We took some adult swim lessons, and signed up for a local sprint, a local olympic, and then it was the Michigan Titanium 70.3. The race started well but 3 flats all during the second half of the bike and almost 3 times the amount of elevation they called for kinda put a damper on my day. We never had any set training plan, we just kinda winged it and did whatever. After the race we signed up Ironman Louisville which was exactly 1 year after the 70.3 we did. We got some actual tri bikes (budget friendly couple year old but still brand new unsold Kestrel Talons on clearance) and we used the “Super Simple Ironman Training Plan” http://cdn.triathlete-europe.competitor.com/...an-Training-Plan.pdf
The training plan went well, it was 20 weeks and is mostly based on distance so it was easy follow, no heart rate zones or anything like that, just straight forward “super simple” to follow day by day workouts. It worked out pretty well. I finished middle of the pack (1:21 swim, 6:28 bike, and then a horrible 5:32 run after severe calf cramping but then again it was my first marathon. I finished in 13:46 feeling pretty good with the exception of the cramping leg).
So, fast forward to today… I said it would be one and done but then they announced Ironman Boulder, I ride sections of the bike route on a regular basis, the swim is across the street from my wife’s work, and the run route passes my work a couple times. So I signed up for one more. It’s about 34 weeks out from Ironman Boulder and I’m looking for a new training plan for this year. I’m never going to be fast or competitive for my age group so I’m not looking to spend a bunch of money on a training plan specifically catered to me. I’m just looking for something with a similar “Super Simple” to follow layout like I used last year but something closer to 30 weeks. Does anyone have any links to something that fits the bill for what I’m looking for? Should I just repeat a couple weeks of the same training plan as last year to extend it?
I joined Training Peaks in Dec. and I’ve been very impressed with the variety of workouts and the overall annual plan it’s put me on. You can then choose to be self coached or pick up a coach to help guide you decisions.
However, you probably need to read “the book” first. “The Triathletes Training Bible” by Joe Friel.
I was referred to by a Ironman Pro/coach that uses it as his foundation for training. I was looking into getting a coach, but perfer to remain self coached, but will probably use his experience as a consultant for race planning and strategy sicne he’s done most all of my A and B races multiple times with sucess. Actually I need to send him an e-mail thanking him for the tip.
just curious why there are no simple plans with distances only, miles for bike/run and yards (or meters) for swim.
any thoughts?
Because everyone’s pace is different. I might cover 21kms in 1 hour 30 and you might take 2.hours 15 minutes. So if we both have the same training plan for distance Ill be under-trained and you’ll be burnt out.
just curious why there are no simple plans with distances only, miles for bike/run and yards (or meters) for swim.
any thoughts?
Simple plans give simple results. Training for a triathlon isn’t about preparing to cover that distance. It’s abotu building fitness so that you cna cover that distance as fast as possible. The intensity ranges are well established for each race distance. So you build you fitness to make that intensity range as fast as possible for you.
To accomplish that, you need a have a lot of variety in your workouts to build fitness, while balancing rest and recovery. Without easy days, you will not see improvements from your hard days. If all your workouts are only moderate instensity, you will see minimal results other than form slow increases in volume.
The most useless thing you can do is to just log miles at a moderate intensity. Especailly swimming. Long continous swims are useful a few times a season, but otherwise have little value. Even during a base period, there are drills and short burst of higher intensity you should be doing to improve yoru technique and economy.
Your rationale makes sense for taking training to next level. As a newbie, these are the conversations & comments I need to read/hear. Thanks for sharing.
Your rationale makes sense for taking training to next level. As a newbie, these are the conversations & comments I need to read/hear. Thanks for sharing.
I’m not saying it has to be overly complicated either. But you best results, expecially with a limited amount of training time will come from being the most deliberate in duration and intensity.
The most complicated thing about my training plan is figuring out how to fit all my workouts in a given week while getting enouhg sleep and minimizing the impact on my family. You can’t just get home from work every day and knock out a 2 hour workout. That’s off limits if you want to have quality family time. You can’t take off at 9AM for 6 hour training ride and be gone all day. You have to get up at 4AM and be done before lunch so your available all day.
Your rationale makes sense for taking training to next level. As a newbie, these are the conversations & comments I need to read/hear. Thanks for sharing.
I’m not saying it has to be overly complicated either. But you best results, expecially with a limited amount of training time will come from being the most deliberate in duration and intensity.
The most complicated thing about my training plan is figuring out how to fit all my workouts in a given week while getting enouhg sleep and minimizing the impact on my family. You can’t just get home from work every day and knock out a 2 hour workout. That’s off limits if you want to have quality family time. You can’t take off at 9AM for 6 hour training ride and be gone all day. You have to get up at 4AM and be done before lunch so your available all day.
You’ve nailed it there motoguy. That is the real challenge