Putting "The Plan" together...

As i write this, the countdown ticker on my blog tells me I've got a little over 7 months until my first Ironman. Over the past few months I've been doing a lot of reading around training plans and I'm starting to hack together My Plan.

As much as i want to train with the tri-club, i think i have to be careful and train toward my needs and goals, not a program that suits the average Ironman - because I'm not the Average Ironman... ;)

As a start, I've kind of worked out which disciplines will fit into the week where.  Now it's about the details.

So, here's a brain dump of what I've learnt to date:

5 Training Intensities / Levels...

1. Rest : i.e. NOTHING!
2. Active Recovery : Light Training, HR < 130 bpm, no goals or expectations from session...
3. Foundation : Long Slow Distance, 130 bpm < HR < 150 bpm, main IM training zone.
4. Speed : High HR, low duration, tough, hard - the if you don't hate it you're not going hard enough sort of session!!
5. Strength : High load, high resistance training, the stuff that gets your muscles screaming!!

The key is apparently blending these sessions into your plan. Leaving enough time to recover between one Strength and/or Speed session and the next, and also recovery from the Foundation sessions.

Look at one key session per day, and if you want a second one make it compliment the first.

Other Random Things...

Go LONG on the bike - the bike uses similar muscles to the run, yet is far less impact. Cycling makes up about 50% of the day and you want to get of the bike feeling good!..GET BIKE STRONG!!

Short run, often - Ironman is about the ENTIRE race, trust your weekly (monthly...etc) cumulation of training.

OR

Run long, but not a lot - within reason, do your long run long as long as you want - but don't over do it (3 independent runs max)

Transition runs - every time you ride, get off the bike and immediately...RUN. Not long, just until your legs feel comfortable. 

So i think i'll be doing a hard (speed or strength) run each week, a 10-15k recovery run, and my long run - but also a short (up to 5k off the bike each ride).  This will probably change later a little as we get closer and i start to do a few long brick sessions...

Don't overdo Speed / Strength - you need to recover and go long..... 1 "hard" bike & run per week...

Swim - Technique = Speed... THAT IS ALL. Once you have technique, then worry about the rest. And that's OPEN WATER technique!! (Particularly in Melbourne - you want to learn, watch the surf ironmen swim!!)

Putting it together...

Training Blocks - 2 or 3 weeks hard, followed by 1 week easy, building slightly in the next block and repeat!

here's where the fun begins...looks like it's time to get stuck into an excel spreadsheet...

Your Thoughts...???

If anybody out there in reader-land has anything to add - feel free to let me know.

Cheers