Beginner Full Ironman Plan Group (Page 5)

klauser - 2010-12-22 8:18 AM I am planning on signing up for IMKY right after Xmas. It will be my first IM. I had planned on doing an HIM this year and had a set back do to injury but am sticking with the plan for IM in 2011. I have done sprints for 5years and a few oly. I have 2 half mary's under my belt and several adventure races. I am planning on a half mary in early May. Over the winter I will focus on building a strong base for the run and bike. I will start the plan 20 weeks our but want to hear from everyone along the way. Good luck everyone.

Aholloway - 2011-01-02 10:33 AM I joined this

TheCuse - 2011-01-02 6:15 PM Hello Everyone. Fairly new to triathlons, did my 1st sprint 18mo ago...got hooked like all of you! Did a 1/2 last summer and loved it-I'm slow as molasses but love the challenge of keep on moving.  I'm doing 2 1/2's this summer and have signed up to volunteer at Lake Placid this July so that I can get in for 2012. Not sure if I should be doing the full iron plan or working more on speed for the 1/2's but I can already swim 3 miles/run a marathon/and bike 100 miles...just got to put them altogether in one day . Open to any and all suggestions.  Good luck to you all with your training, I hope you all have a safe and healthy new year, and Ill see ya round the forum. Mike

Welcome to BT, Mike! Will you be using the BT half-iron plan this year to prepare for your HIMs? We have a forum for that plan as well. Hope you have a great season!

Detroit Dan - 2011-01-04 10:24 AM Hello... My name is Dan... and I'm a triathlete...
I started using this plan yesterday. It is a 20 week program. Ironman Lake Placid is 28 weeks away so I will de doing the first 8 weeks twice. (Good idea?)

Question. Day one has a 40 minute swim. Really? 2500 yards in 40 minutes. Really?
I'm an average swimmer but that's fast. Same question for day #3. 1650 yards in 30 minutes?
Is the short rest between sets included? Should I just complete the workout and forget the time?

Detroit Dan - 2011-01-04 12:24 PM Hello... My name is Dan... and I'm a triathlete...
I started using this plan yesterday. It is a 20 week program. Ironman Lake Placid is 28 weeks away so I will de doing the first 8 weeks twice. (Good idea?)

I'm 51 years old. Last season I did 2 HIM's, 7 hours each, and 1 marathon 4:19. I had no plan but this year I want to do a bit better.

Question. Day one has a 40 minute swim. Really? 2500 yards in 40 minutes. Really?
I'm an average swimmer but that's fast. Same question for day #3. 1650 yards in 30 minutes?
Is the short rest between sets included? Should I just complete the workout and forget the time?

Day #2 has a run and bike. in that order or is it a bike and run brick as shown HERE?
http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/training/trainingplans-first-week.asp?printer=1&planid=16


And what is this? are the colors wrong?
http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/training/trainingplans-avgtime.asp?printer=1&planid=33

Tri Take Me Away - 2011-01-04 3:50 PM

Already got some great answers, but I will chime in.
You are not alone and scratching your head over those swim times! The distance is what's important, so for now ignore the times and just get the yards in.

You can do those workouts in whatever order works best for you. If it is meant to be a brick, it will indicate that.

Hmm...that graph looks totally messed up! When I went to the programs page and clicked on the volume graph for this plan, I got something totally different. Here is the link.

dhopman - 2011-01-04 12:43 PM
Dan,

Jessica will probably answer these questions best...I started day 1 yesterday, 20 weeks to go until IMTX. If you do the first 8 weeks of the plan you'll go from 8 hours total volume up to 15, then back to 8 hours again in week 9, and risk burn-out if you go 18 weeks at high volume. Maybe a better idea is to do the first 4 week block twice, which would keep you under 10 hours per week.

Just my two cents, this is my first Ironman so maybe someone else with more experience can weigh in as well. It probably depends heavily on your fitness level, time availability, etc. The first 8 weeks of the plan looks like this:

Week	Swim Total	Bike Total	Run Total	Total Hrs
1	1.67	3.25	3.00	7.92
2	2.17	3.92	3.00	9.08
3	2.17	4.50	3.25	9.92
4	1.67	3.25	3.00	7.92
5	2.50	6.17	3.25	11.92
6	3.50	6.50	3.92	13.92
7	3.00	7.50	4.33	14.83
8	1.75	4.00	2.75	8.50

As for the swim distance vs. time, I'd view the time as a minimum (40 min.). I have a hard time only spending 40 minutes at the pool...but I'm a swimmer. 1 hour for 2000-2500 yards or meters should be pretty do-able for most people I think. The plan is a starting point...I think most people modify it to meet their needs.

jc9119 - 2011-01-08 11:33 AM

I have signed up for IMUK in July, I have done a few sprint and olympic distance triathlons but that is as far as I have gone before. I am hoping to use the 20 week programme as a base/start. For the next 4-6 weeks I was planning on doing the first couple of weeks a few times over to get used to the hours and work out how i'll fit everything in with work/familt etc. and was also considering doubling up on 1 or 2 of the long endurance weeks, Is this a good idea or not?

thecatch83 - 2011-01-09 3:06 AM Been here for a few months so I thought I would jump in.  Plan is to take on the Arizona IM in roughly 2-3 years......I'm stationed in Japan (Navy) and don't even have a bike yet.  I will be using the trainer at the gym and indoor pool.  Plan on getting a bike in about 9 months and ride on it for a solid year before the IM. I have already run two 4 hour and change marathons and my father did "the" IM in Hawaii when it was sponsored by Nautilus in 1981 so it's in my blood.  I don't want to walk the last 6 miles of the run or labor through an 8 hour bike ride.....I want to kill it, put in the time and I'm shooting for a sub 12 hour finish.  I will do a couple sprints back in San Diego before the Arizona race and I look forward to being inspired and inspiring others.  Currently, I'm using a couple different training books "Ironman Start To Finish" 24 week modified and reading the "Triathlete's Training Bible" by Joe Friel 3rd edition.  Thanks, and God Bless!

jc9119 - 2011-01-09 3:25 AM

I was going to try and extend the plan by repeating 1 of the longer weeks.

dhopman - 2011-01-13 11:32 AM Jessica - I'm starting to agree with others that the swim distance seems aggressive for the number of minutes in each workout. Is the plan assuming yards or meters? I use a 25 meter pool so the difference over a long workout does add up. For example, 3500 meters = over 3800 yards.

Maybe this is largely irrelevant...I don't have a problem doing 3500 meters vs. 3500 yards, it just might take me more than 65 minutes depending on the sets involved.

cbenwell - 2011-01-19 10:56 AM Jessica,

I'm considering this plan for my first IM in May '11 (Texas) but have been following Gale Bernhardt's plans for years or the shorter distances.  I notice this plan does not load the long workouts on the weekends.  It looks like the long run is during the week and long bike is on the weekend.  Any comments as to why this would be better than long run on Sat and long bike on Sun?  Is it a recovery thing?

Thx.