Ironman 70.3 workout programs

You’re best bet is to pickup a good book on 70.3 training. The Triathlete’s Training Bible is a good place to start. IronFit Secrets and Fast-Tracked Triathlete are good as well.

Or if you can afford it, look into a coach.

 

I have a 30+ year background in competitive running.   The first 15 years I was coached through multiple USATF and multiple school teams from Junior High up to College (only ran my freshman year in college as walk-on).  I had about 8-9 coaches over 15 years.  After college when I made the commitment to be life long runner I found that for the first time in my life I was one my own with no coach to tell me what to do.  I started by looking back through my training logs from my four different high school coaches and my college coach.  I found some patterns in what each coach had us do.  The things that I saw common to all of the training logs I called my core works outs.  The things that were unique to just one or two coach I called variations.  I made sure I got the core work outs in every week and then for different training blocks (i.e. 8 weeks, or a plan for one race) I would try different variations and see which ones I liked the best and which ones I raced best with.  

I think your friend is correct that 90% of the trainers out there will have the same types of "core training" that will cover 50% if what you do.  I think you will find that the other 50% will vary from what one trainer prescribes you to do from another.  Those variation may make a big difference if they address a specific area that you need work in, but at the end of the day if you are doing the core training you are going to gain the conditioning you need to successful finish a 70.3 race.  How you finish it will depend on the variations. 

For my first 70.3 race (also first triathlon) I swam 1.2 miles in 35 minutes and ran 13.1 miles in 2 hours.  I was swimming 4-5 days a week because it was my biggest weakness and only running 2-3 days a week because it was my strength.  My last race (3-1/2 years later)  I was following a coach's plan and was swimming 2 days a week and running 5-6 days a week.  My swim time was 13 minutes slower and my run time was 28 minutes faster.  So the variations make a difference.  You can play around with training plans.  Some people have been doing that for 40 years and still come up with things they haven't tried before. 

Yes, get a training book or coach to get started.  You can't try all the variation while training for your first race.  It takes multiple races to change things around to see what works best for your.  A Coach has experience and will be be better able to prescribe variation to the core training and help you progress faster than you can on your own. You can find all the core training in training books as well as a lot of ideas for variations to the core plans.  Only experience (from you or a coach) will be able to guide you on what you need to do to be the most successful with the variations.

Edited by BlueBoy26 2019-01-02 2:04 PM

I think the number of hours per week and the amount of intensity might vary from coach to coach and program to program. That will depend partly on the athlete's background, strengths and weaknesses, etc. Different coaches also have different philosophies about volume vs. intensity of work for each distance. But I'm guessing that the basic features would be the same--they will have you gradually build to race distance/time (or maybe slightly exceed it) for long runs/rides, build swim endurance (peak workouts should be at least 1.5X the race distance) and technique, and also include shorter, more intense efforts to build speed and strength and build total volume. All programs should also have some recovery days/weeks. Total time will vary--I generally average about 10-12 hours total per week for HIM, with peak weeks up to 15-16. But certainly some people do less, and some do more.

There are some solid book recommendations; the beginner and intermediate HIM programs on this site are also pretty good. I used them for my first three HIM with decent results (5:32 at age 46, entirely self-coached) before deciding to get a coach to pursue further goals. Definitely you should have some iron-distance background before trying the intermediate--I have a pretty big run and swim background, and found the intermediate program, except for the swim component, really a challenge!

Edited by Hot Runner 2019-01-02 5:50 PM

First problem is using a trainer and not a coach.

Hopefully you mean a coach.

And if 90% recommend the same plan, I wouldn't use those trainers.

Training plans for events need to be athlete and course specific. You can train for a flat 70.3 with a down river swim like you would for a hilly 70.3 with an ocean swim. Just not the same.

Hi Justin,

For me, the difference is in the long workouts which become much longer for the IM vs 70.3. The Mon - Fri workouts are pretty much the same as I mostly have 1 hr of cardio time available. The weekend volume difference for me has typically been 3-5 hrs for 70.3 split among Sat/Sun and 5-8 hrs for IM.

Volume wise I've done several IM's at 8-10 hrs a week, though those races were my slowest performances. My best performances came with 14-18 hrs a week. For 70.3 I've done as little as 6 hrs a week and up to about 12 hrs a week. Similarly, my better performances came when my volume is in the 10-12 hr range and the 6 hr range yielded my slower performances, not surprisingly.

Hope that helps!

Lance