Beginner 1/2 Ironman Plan Group (Page 144)

i've done olympic and sprint tri's, this will be my first 1/2, was wondering if anyone wants to buddy up for open water swims once it gets warmer ..

making plans for my first half iron.  I will be 56 this year and jan will be spent in europe so I'm hoping that I'll be ready by June 1 for the Honu half iron.  I've paid for it and have reservations for the hotel for the day before and after the event.  working out the trainging schedule now. 

Lots of choices to be made.  this will be the first time I've trained without someone telling me what to do each day.  I've done olympic for the last three years with the AIDS foundation and they deliver the schedule so I'd just do what was on the calendar.  doing it myself is a bit daunting...as is the race itself.

any advice on shipping bikes?

Started the Beginner HIM plan this week with a buddy. Going well so far and will debut at the Honu race in June!

Not exactly sure what we got ourselves into, but have a couple of sprints to warm up.

Good luck everyone

Justin

Pools can be either meters or yards, ask someone at the pool so you'll know which one you are working with. Most plans are geared for whichever you have so that you aren't doing the conversion math. You'll need to know which one you have so you can measure your time accurately though.

I'm a slow swimmer too. Don't get discouraged, just keep at it.

My background is strength training, and Ive done a couple Sprint's. Signed up for a 5150 in May and my goal is to complete the HIM in September. I've been doing conditioning. Workouts are about 8-10 hours a week. This weeks goals are to swim 3-4 miles, and cycle 100 miles. From someone who has used this plan, where in the HIM plan should I start? The beginning seems like going backwards.

I think there a couple of ways to look at this.  I would not look at the plan and see where in the plan it gets to a specific number of hours and go in at that point.  You should keep the overall plan at about 20-weeks as there are specific phases that are explained in the BT HIM summary page.  Instead, I'd either modify the plan to increase the workload to some degree or look for another plan that is more in line with your current fitness level.

I'll be starting in on the plan in a couple of weeks as that will be 20 weeks from my HIM.  This will be my fifth time through the plan and it has worked very well for me.  Each year though, I load the plan into an Excel spreadsheet word for word.  Then I start tweaking it here and there to meet my weekly schedule.  I try to accomplish all the workouts for the week but I might mix them up a little.  Each year I also evaluate my strengths and weaknesses going into the plan and will modify some of the workouts to add some focus if I feel I need it.  Likewise, if I'm feeling a little sore or tired I might back off on a specific workout.  The overall workload for each week serves as a minimum for me and I'll add if I feel the workload is a little light for where I am at and for other races along the way.  Last year I ran two marathons during the plan so I needed to compensate for that through a few longer runs and then the recovery afterwards.

Again, I think that the summary page of the plan has some great information that should serve as an overall strategy for an HIM prep and from there the individual workouts can be modified or tailored to your own situation while staying true to the concepts of the plan.

An Oly plan with some longer runs and rides would put you in a pretty good position going into your HIM prep.  Good luck with training and races.  If your Oly is in May and the HIM is in September you'll be more like a 16 week plan but with your Oly over training you wouldn't have any problem jumping in at that point.  I kind of misunderstood your situation initially. 

Today is day one of my 20-week plan.  Signed up for Boise 70.3.

The pool is closed for the holiday so I'm switching tomorrow's 60 min. ride/30 min. run with today's swim/run.  I'm really looking forward to the journey. 

Pops, is there a reason why you haven't used one of the more intermediate HIM plans?  Or you just find the beginner works well with some tweaking?  Just curious.

I prefer to keep things simple.

The volumes in the plan are about right for me.  I tweak the plan a little to add a little more run volume because that is my weakness and I also like to do a few HM's and marathons while training.  I also scale the swimming back a little because I swim during my lunch hour and only have limited time.  I also hate to do drills so I don't.

The theory behind the plan as summarized by the phases is applicable to a first timer or a repeat HIM'er.  It has worked well for me and I enjoy the progression of the workouts as well as the milestone workouts like the 1000 yard time trial swim.  Actually, I hate that workout but it is great challenge.

Lastly, I really enjoy sharing the camaraderie with people that are going through the same thing as I am.  Nobody else in the world can relate to what one goes through devoting so much over four and a half months to one day.  This is a great place for support and to support others. 

Looks like you have some great races planned this summer.  Hope all goes well with your training.

Congrats on your first day of training. Wishing you 20 weeks of perfect build, injury free :=)

The BT Beginner plan has a long run of two hours and a long ride of three hours which I believe are meant to approximate the race distances (though I think the alloted time is a little on the fast side, at least for me).  I do not think that it is critical to go beyond those distances.  I think it is good to go up to those distances for the confidence and to have the opportunity to practice your nutrition and hydration which are critical for an HIM.

One very important thing to keep in mind though is that you are rarely running or riding on fresh legs.  It takes a week or two to fully rebuild and recover from the daily workouts so throughout the course of training you are accumulating fatigue.  The recovery weeks are important to give you some rebuilding and rest but it takes a full taper to fully realize the benefits of your training.

Also, if you go much beyond the full distances you start to impact your subsequent workouts if your recovery time from these mega-workouts is significant.   

Today is day 3 of my 20 week plan to get me ready for Kansas 70.3.  I feel pretty good so far, because I built a 7 week plan that started in December to get me in better shape for this program.  Kansas 70.3 is my first HIM distance tri, I have done one at olympic distance.  

Anyone around the KC area know of a good group to ride with occasionally?

-Nick

Hey all! I'm an Atlanta-based athlete attempting to gear myself up for my first HIM (St. George, May 4).

I am currently using BT's free 20-week HIM program (in week 15). Positive results so far: feel stronger than ever in the swim (hoping for 0:38 or better on race day), building strength on the bike (hoping for 2:45 or better), and being consistent with runs (hoping for 1:32-ish).

While my best discipline is running, I know I need to build leg strength on the bike in order to be able to sustain my desired pace on the run. In my mind, my goal of finishing as close to 5 hours as possible hinges on getting stronger on the bike.

I would appreciate suggestions on adaptations to make to the basic BT HIM plan based on these goals.

Nutrition-wise, I've experimented with GU Roctane gels, GU Chomps, Gatorade Chews, and Muscle Milk. Up to this point my longest distance tri is olympic distance, for which gels and chews were fine. Suggestions on nutrition across this 5-hour race would be welcomed. I've had friends who used Hammer Nutrition's Perpetuem with success.

I am also interested in identifying a book that addresses the above topics, pre-race logistics, and race-day planning.

Thank you kindly,

Eric