What's a good base training ?

Check out some of the 70.3 training programs on the site- theyll give you a good indication of the time required to put in for a good buildup to those races. Theres also an awesome thread about LT field testing which Im sure you can search for- that'll help determine intensities of your base training sessions.

 Good Luck!

If I were you, I would find the program you plan to follow for the IM and then see how the HIM's fit into that program.  As there is a fairly long time between your first race and the IM, there will only be a few programs that will cover the entire period so you will probably have to follow a blend of training programs.

You also need to determine which races are your A races and structure your training around those.  Further, as you have a long time between your first race and the IM, you may want to include a week or two of unstructured training after Vineman before hitting your IM plan.

In the meantime, I would try to focus on completing the following workouts once a week or once every couple of weeks (after having some unstructured time if you have just finished racing):

1. Swim - one swim of at least 3000m (not continuous) where you are in the pool for at least an hour
2. Bike - ride of three hours
3. Run - run of an hour and a half

If you can consistently complete these workouts, you will be able to step into any HIM or IM plan with little difficulty.

Shane

You need to think about what it is you want to peak for (I'd guess it would be for IMAZ).  Then figure out approximately what plan you want to do for that.  Most plans are anywhere from 16 - 24 weeks.  If you figure out when that start daye is, it will give you a sense of whether or not it is possible to have a realistic second peak in the year and figure on a plan for that one.

As someone else mentioned, you could work on a plan for either of the 70.3 races (not both) and give yourself adequate recovery time before ramping it up for AZ.

And as mbmoran2 mentioned, it is always a good idea to focus on your limiters in your "off" season.

Otherwise it is lots of miles/yards at a comfortable pace to build up your aerobic capacity normally as a "base" period.  I personally think of "base" work as the first portion of a sctrucutred plan and not just aimless wanderings.

Nov 17th is the start date for the 20 week HIM program for Oceanside 70.3.   That's my current starting target and then I'll decided after that how to approach IMAZ in Nov 09.