Beginner 1/2 Ironman Plan Group

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Subject: RE: Beginner 1/2 Ironman Plan Group

I'm doing my first HIM at Racine on July 17th 2011. Im thinking of doing a Oly on June 26th. That's 3 weeks out of the HIM. Will that be ok?

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Extreme Veteran

529

Harbor City/Torrance/Carson

Subject: RE: Beginner 1/2 Ironman Plan Group

Astig ka ba talaga? Joke.

On a serious note, I think that is cutting it too close although the more experienced members might disagree with me.

Have you done an OLY distance before? If you have, you probably know how your body recovers and only you can answer if 3 weeks is enough for another build that will last 2 weeks (too short in my opinion) then taper for a week in preparation for a Sunday race.

I myself will be doing an OLY race 5 weeks before a HIM. I think 4 weeks or longer is ideal in my opinion.

astig - 2010-11-22 4:12 PM

I'm doing my first HIM at Racine on July 17th 2011. Im thinking of doing a Oly on June 26th. That's 3 weeks out of the HIM. Will that be ok?

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Veteran

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Subject: RE: Beginner 1/2 Ironman Plan Group

I've done 1 oly. recovered in about a week. Im following going to start the 8 week bike focused plan, then switch to the HIM plan.

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Subject: RE: Beginner 1/2 Ironman Plan Group

Hi, I'm a newbie in this forum and a newbie too in triathlon. Just finished a Sprint triathlon event last Friday. Planning to participate in my first HIM by the third quarter of 2011. Is there any program here that would help me out for my first HIM?

TIA

Pro

4360

Baton Rouge area

Subject: RE: Beginner 1/2 Ironman Plan Group

pistuo - 2010-11-22 1:29 PM JG- I'm shooting for Galveston on April 10. I haven't registered yet though. I'm supposed to be at a conference that night in Destin, Fl... So, I'm trying to decide if I can do both. Can anyone tell me about the recovery for a first HIM??? Will I be too wasted to go to a conference the next day (meaning I'll have to go catch a flight a few hours after I finish the race)...

You are going to do a HIM, pack up your gear (bike), etc and then get on a plane only a few hours after the race? The logistics alone (with the current state of air travel) would worry me. As for will you be too wasted it all depends upon your fitness and how your race goes. If you have a bad race day (everyone has bad races due to heat, cold, etc) then yes you will be too wasted. If things go well you should be fine. But I would give yourself some time to enjoy the post race, wind down, and enjoy the moment. My first HIM was NOLA this year and 2 hrs later I was driving myself home then off to my daughters softball game.

Good luck!

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4360

Baton Rouge area

Subject: RE: Beginner 1/2 Ironman Plan Group

astig - 2010-11-22 4:12 PM

I'm doing my first HIM at Racine on July 17th 2011. Im thinking of doing a Oly on June 26th. That's 3 weeks out of the HIM. Will that be ok?

Really depends upon what your level of fitness will be. May be consider turning this into an Aquabike if the race turns tough due to heat, cold, how you are feeling, etc.

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Expert

1384

Charlottesville, Virginia

Subject: RE: Beginner 1/2 Ironman Plan Group

Tri Take Me Away - 2010-11-22 12:08 PM

Go to "Settings" at the top of this page. Then click on "Training Log Settings", then Log Defaults". There is an option there to change what day of the week your training week starts on!

Thanks, Jessica... I've wanted that for a long time, but never thought that it might be an option... duh!

Also, a big fan of mixing in backstroke both in practice and in the race. In practice I'll use it to help me keep count in a long swim (e.g. on a 1000, do backstroke every 4th lap). I'm a little faster if I do all freestyle, but not much.

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Subject: RE: Beginner 1/2 Ironman Plan Group

I am also signed up for Boise 2011! I have done a HIM 1995! Yes, I am that old! I can relate to jumpin gin feet first. I did my first marathon less than 1 week after my A race of a 15K which I completed in 55:54. My legs were still sore from teh 15k, but hey I had done a 20 miler. I not only finished but I won the women's race, and placed 10th out of the men. You sound like kindred spirit. I have not finalized my plan. I have a crazy work and personal life, and need to insure that whatever I choose gives me the flexibility to do 2-3 s/b/r wo each week. Have you been following one of the programs?

Edited by triing2bhealthy 2010-11-23 10:37 PM

Elite

3223

Hendersonville

Subject: RE: Beginner 1/2 Ironman Plan Group

astig - 2010-11-22 4:12 PM

I'm doing my first HIM at Racine on July 17th 2011. Im thinking of doing a Oly on June 26th. That's 3 weeks out of the HIM. Will that be ok?

Depends. It's not ideal, but it's not the end of the world, either. If your HIM is the more important race, the Oly should be more than 3 weeks away to allow you time to recover and get in your most difficult weeks of training before your taper.

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Elite

3223

Hendersonville

Subject: RE: Beginner 1/2 Ironman Plan Group

haroldeg4 - 2010-11-23 1:54 AM Hi, I'm a newbie in this forum and a newbie too in triathlon. Just finished a Sprint triathlon event last Friday. Planning to participate in my first HIM by the third quarter of 2011. Is there any program here that would help me out for my first HIM?

TIA

Welcome to BT! This thread is for people using the free Beginner 1/2 Ironman Plan. You can find the plan in the first post on page one of this thread. When you are 20 weeks away from your first HIM, you can use this plan to prepare you for your race. Until then, you can prepare for shorter races with some of the other free plans here on BT, or become a paying member of BT and use a winter maintenance plan.
Let me know how I can help as you get to know everything that BT has to offer.

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Elite

3223

Hendersonville

Subject: RE: Beginner 1/2 Ironman Plan Group

triing2bhealthy - 2010-11-23 10:36 PM I am also signed up for Boise 2011! I have done a HIM 1995! Yes, I am that old! I can relate to jumpin gin feet first. I did my first marathon less than 1 week after my A race of a 15K which I completed in 55:54. My legs were still sore from teh 15k, but hey I had done a 20 miler. I not only finished but I won the women's race, and placed 10th out of the men. You sound like kindred spirit. I have not finalized my plan. I have a crazy work and personal life, and need to insure that whatever I choose gives me the flexibility to do 2-3 s/b/r wo each week. Have you been following one of the programs?

Welcome to BT! Everyone in this thread is using the free Beginner 1/2 Ironman plan here on BT. You can find the plan on the first page of this thread (page 1).
Some people modify the plan to suit their needs better, which you could also do. For example, some people make the runs and bikes longer, some juggle the days of the week, etc.

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Elite

3515

Romeoville, Il

Subject: RE: Beginner 1/2 Ironman Plan Group

I took a week off from running and my calf feels fine. I ran monday, and had computrainer class on tuesday. I'm stiff and sore and have a race tomarrow so I'm going to do a short / light recovery run tonight to try and get some of the lactic acid out of the legs. This isn't an A race anyhow. I just want to have fun and beat a friend. He better not have gotten that fast yet!! LOL

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Expert

732

Subject: RE: Beginner 1/2 Ironman Plan Group

This thanksgiving is really killing me. I'm at my family's beach home in Hilton Head, so although I have a great beach to run on, I am missing my lap pool and my road bike. There's a 25yd pool like 10 mins from me but closed today and tomorrow. Will definitely go Friday but I can't swim in the ocean because it's freezing.

There's maybe a ten yard pool that is just so frustrating to swim in, and I hate being on a stationary bike. I'm going to try to put in some extra time running and taking recreational bike rides because I hate spending 60min on stationary. I will definitely have to give up some swimming this week and am going to have to swim friday and saturday (saturday to replace wednesday). Grr...family interruptions

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Extreme Veteran

872

Tx

Subject: RE: Beginner 1/2 Ironman Plan Group

yep, holiday interruptions are upon us. I played soccer today for 2 1/2 hours and am counting that as my run...

I think I just convinced my wife to let me ride tomorrow morning and be a little late to her family's house. That's a double bonus... lol. Jackpot!

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Expert

732

Subject: RE: Beginner 1/2 Ironman Plan Group

pistuo - 2010-11-24 9:32 PM yep, holiday interruptions are upon us. I played soccer today for 2 1/2 hours and am counting that as my run...

I think I just convinced my wife to let me ride tomorrow morning and be a little late to her family's house. That's a double bonus... lol. Jackpot!

lol...I ducked out on family to get to a yoga class which i'm counting as my swim, double bonus here too. 1.5 hours of advanced flow yoga when I'm like a tree trunk was way harder than my Wednesday swim. Excited for my 60min beach run tomorrow though

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Member

28

Foster City, CA

Subject: RE: Beginner 1/2 Ironman Plan Group

Hi all - Looking for advice in making a training plan decision. I recently finished my first year of Tris - three Olys (Wildflower, Metro San Jose, Santa Cruz Sentinel). I used a 1/2 Ironman training plan for Wildflower, finished better than I hoped, so decided to reuse it for the next two Olys with similar results.

Now I'm stepping up to HIMs, having just signed up for Wildflower Long Course at the end of April and Vineman 70.3 in July. My (skewed?) sense of logic is telling me that if the HIM plan worked so well preparing for the Olys, shouldn't the Full Iron plan get into the same position for the HIMs? Being overly prepared for the Olys gave me a huge sense of confidence. I want to retain that confidence going into the HIMs but I also want to make the smart decision and not over-train. Should I train with this HIM plan or does it make sense to move up to the Full IM plan?

Side note: I spent the last two days reading this thread from start to finish and absolutely love the support you give each other and the ability to ask questions without fear of sounding stupid (like this one??). As you all know and have discussed, everyone hits those rough patches during training, so having this group to lean on for support and advice is an incredible thing.

Expert

732

Subject: RE: Beginner 1/2 Ironman Plan Group

lalexander - 2010-11-25 1:27 AM

Hi all - Looking for advice in making a training plan decision. I recently finished my first year of Tris - three Olys (Wildflower, Metro San Jose, Santa Cruz Sentinel). I used a 1/2 Ironman training plan for Wildflower, finished better than I hoped, so decided to reuse it for the next two Olys with similar results.

Now I'm stepping up to HIMs, having just signed up for Wildflower Long Course at the end of April and Vineman 70.3 in July. My (skewed?) sense of logic is telling me that if the HIM plan worked so well preparing for the Olys, shouldn't the Full Iron plan get into the same position for the HIMs? Being overly prepared for the Olys gave me a huge sense of confidence. I want to retain that confidence going into the HIMs but I also want to make the smart decision and not over-train. Should I train with this HIM plan or does it make sense to move up to the Full IM plan?

Side note: I spent the last two days reading this thread from start to finish and absolutely love the support you give each other and the ability to ask questions without fear of sounding stupid (like this one??). As you all know and have discussed, everyone hits those rough patches during training, so having this group to lean on for support and advice is an incredible thing.

I'd say like 75% of that support comes for my stupid questions. This is a great group--I have a bike group and a swim coach now, but started with none, and still have no real training partner. These guys are awesome, so welcome, but no I don't know the answer to your question. Sounds logical and intuitive to me, but probably some burnout risk.

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Extreme Veteran

5722

Subject: RE: Beginner 1/2 Ironman Plan Group

lalexander - 2010-11-25 1:27 AM

Now I'm stepping up to HIMs, having just signed up for Wildflower Long Course at the end of April and Vineman 70.3 in July. My (skewed?) sense of logic is telling me that if the HIM plan worked so well preparing for the Olys, shouldn't the Full Iron plan get into the same position for the HIMs? Being overly prepared for the Olys gave me a huge sense of confidence. I want to retain that confidence going into the HIMs but I also want to make the smart decision and not over-train. Should I train with this HIM plan or does it make sense to move up to the Full IM plan?

Personally I would go with the HIM plan. While I didn't use the BT plan, I did use a plan that had training at very specific race paces. For example long rides at 80-85% of FTP and runs at Marathon pace, which is pretty close to what one would race at in a HIM. Same could be done using HR.

I suspect that if I would have followed the same full IM plan, my runs and rides would be longer but less 'intense'. Completing the distance would have probably been "easier" but achieveing the best time would not. My body got very used to riding at that 80% and running at the Marathon pace.

I think the key to doing a good HIM is pacing. You need to have your body adapt to a given pace. For example after completing a HIM plan, I really struggled to get my Sprints optimal. It was hard getting use to running at a 5 or 10k pace.

If you adapt your body to 70%-75% of your power threshold (IM pace), or equivalent HR, you will suffer more doing the shorter distance at a faster pace.

Of course if time is not your primary objective, that you just want the confidence you can complete it, sure, go for the full IM.

I would follow the plan to the letter and if you have extra hours to throw in add an extra workout to your weakest sport.

If swim add a technique session, if bike add long ride session, if run maybe a few extra shorter/slow runs.

Race rehearsals will give you a lot of confidence in being able to complete the distance and figure out the right pace.

Edited by marcag 2010-11-25 9:58 AM

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1	Subject: RE: Beginner 1/2 Ironman Plan Group Hello, My name is Monique. I'm new to this and hoping to enter my first half this summer. Im trying to get started and a little lost lol here goes I guess.

Elite

3223

Hendersonville

Subject: RE: Beginner 1/2 Ironman Plan Group

lalexander - 2010-11-25 1:27 AM

Hi all - Looking for advice in making a training plan decision. I recently finished my first year of Tris - three Olys (Wildflower, Metro San Jose, Santa Cruz Sentinel). I used a 1/2 Ironman training plan for Wildflower, finished better than I hoped, so decided to reuse it for the next two Olys with similar results.

Now I'm stepping up to HIMs, having just signed up for Wildflower Long Course at the end of April and Vineman 70.3 in July. My (skewed?) sense of logic is telling me that if the HIM plan worked so well preparing for the Olys, shouldn't the Full Iron plan get into the same position for the HIMs? Being overly prepared for the Olys gave me a huge sense of confidence. I want to retain that confidence going into the HIMs but I also want to make the smart decision and not over-train. Should I train with this HIM plan or does it make sense to move up to the Full IM plan?

Side note: I spent the last two days reading this thread from start to finish and absolutely love the support you give each other and the ability to ask questions without fear of sounding stupid (like this one??). As you all know and have discussed, everyone hits those rough patches during training, so having this group to lean on for support and advice is an incredible thing.

Good question! I would not recommend that you use an IM plan for anything other than an IM. It takes up WAY too much time. The hardest part of doing an IM is not the race, it's the training. It takes a lot of time, a lot of sacrifice, and a lot of dedication. The great thing about the HIM distance is that it DOESN'T require an overwhelming amount of time but is still a great challenge.
Since you have used a HIM plan before, I would recommend you use that same plan, or this thread's plan, but just add onto the bike distance. More miles on the bike will not be as taxing physically as more mileage on the run, and most HIM plans already include swimming the full HIM distance plenty of times.

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Elite

3223

Hendersonville

Subject: RE: Beginner 1/2 Ironman Plan Group

blondy27 - 2010-11-25 12:22 PM Hello,

My name is Monique. I'm new to this and hoping to enter my first half this summer. Im trying to get started and a little lost lol here goes I guess.

Hi Monique! Welcome to BT and thanks for participating in this thread! Most new users of BT are overwhelmed at first, so I encourage you to spend a few days just reading the forums, especially Tri Talk. You will learn a lot and start to get a feel for BT. Are you training now? Is this going to be your first half ironman?

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Member

193

Subject: RE: Beginner 1/2 Ironman Plan Group

Greetings

Just checking in, hows everybody's training? I got a little side tracked by a cold but I'll be back on track tomorrow.

New user

4

Central Coast

Subject: RE: Beginner 1/2 Ironman Plan Group

lalexander - 2010-11-24 11:27 PM

Hi all - Looking for advice in making a training plan decision. I recently finished my first year of Tris - three Olys (Wildflower, Metro San Jose, Santa Cruz Sentinel). I used a 1/2 Ironman training plan for Wildflower, finished better than I hoped, so decided to reuse it for the next two Olys with similar results.

Now I'm stepping up to HIMs, having just signed up for Wildflower Long Course at the end of April and Vineman 70.3 in July. My (skewed?) sense of logic is telling me that if the HIM plan worked so well preparing for the Olys, shouldn't the Full Iron plan get into the same position for the HIMs? Being overly prepared for the Olys gave me a huge sense of confidence. I want to retain that confidence going into the HIMs but I also want to make the smart decision and not over-train. Should I train with this HIM plan or does it make sense to move up to the Full IM plan?

Side note: I spent the last two days reading this thread from start to finish and absolutely love the support you give each other and the ability to ask questions without fear of sounding stupid (like this one??). As you all know and have discussed, everyone hits those rough patches during training, so having this group to lean on for support and advice is an incredible thing.

I am planning on doing the 70.3 Wildflower next spring too! A little nervous, as I am just coming back from a surgery on my foot. Went for my first post-op run yesterday and it hurt a bit, but not as bad as I was anticipating! I hope that I can take it slow and get back into the swing of things and still make it to Wildflower come May 1st. Eek!

Expert

732

Subject: RE: Beginner 1/2 Ironman Plan Group

Mellissa - 2010-11-26 9:25 PM Greetings

Just checking in, hows everybody's training? I got a little side tracked by a cold but I'll be back on track tomorrow.

Mine kinda sucks right now. I have a little gym in my vacation condo building and have a cruiser bike here, and no lap pool. I got a 60min beach run in for about 6mi, more like a trail run, and didn't get my swim or bike in this friday. Going to swap my saturday off day for friday, and hope to get my swim and bike in tomorrow hopefully...

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Member

28

Foster City, CA

Subject: RE: Beginner 1/2 Ironman Plan Group

Jessica - Thanks for the sanity check on the time commitment. I was so focused on execution that I didn't stop to think about the preparation. I'll stick with the HIM Plan (most likely this one as it has far more detail than the plan I was using).

Marc - Thanks for your detailed explanation - yet another angle I hadn't considered (makes sense!).

Thanks all for the warm welcome. I'm excited to train with such a great group!

Lloyd.

Beginner 1/2 Ironman Plan Group (Page 18)

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