General Discussion Triathlon Talk » Trying to decide on which Plan for Full Ironman Rss Feed  
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2013-12-14 8:39 AM

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Subject: Trying to decide on which Plan for Full Ironman
In 2012 I completed my first Triathlon, Laguna Phuket Thailand. 1.8km Swim, 55km Bike, 12km run in 3 Hours & 19 Mins.
In Nov 2013 I just completed the same race in 3 Hours & 10 Mins.
1 week later on 1st December 2013 I competed my first Half Iron Man also at Laguna, Phuket, Thailand in 5 Hours & 13 mins.
The plan for 2014 is a Full Distance Iron Man.
99% sure I will sign up for "Metaman" in Bintan-Indonesia which will be on 24th August 2014.

Q1:So what is the ideal time to allow for training for Full Ironman?

Q2: 20 weeks is Ok or a longer period is better?

Q3: I was planning an easy 2-3 months of lighter training/off season for December/January/March. How much training do you think I should do in this time to maintain a decent level of fitness?

Q4: How many weeks do I need to be training at 10 hours a week before starting an Ironman Program that starts with week 1 at 10 hours?

Q5: When preparing for the Half Iron Man I used the custom plan, I liked the way I can select how many of each work outs per week and for example select 1 day off a week with no training. When I look at the standard Intermediate Full Ironman (20 week) program, the number of swim/bike/run sessions is not the same each week. For example one week will have more bike sessions and less run sessions and then next week vice versa. How will that pan out if I do custom plan which requires me to decide how many of each sessions per week and then generates a plan with the same number of swims/bikes/runs week after week?


and lastly….I don't want a plan that gets me to the finishing line as the goal, I want an aggressive plan that will push me to swim, bike and run faster with the aim of racing the full distance to the best of my abilities.

Any advice, suggestions greatly appreciated.


2013-12-14 8:51 AM
in reply to: JHembrow

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Subject: RE: Trying to decide on which Plan for Full Ironman
Q1- This depends on each individual and your race goals

Q2- I started in January for a November race at IMAZ. Unstructured (mostly bike focused) for the first few months. Then started a formal 30 week plan in April using Don Fink's "Be Iron Fit" Competitive Plan.

Check out Fink's. I used it as a guide and added a little bit of my own flavor (including some longer rides in the Build phase). I finished feeling great and right around the time I was shooting for. Felt fully prepared.

2013-12-14 12:14 PM
in reply to: TriManGA

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Subject: RE: Trying to decide on which Plan for Full Ironman
I used Fink's competitive plan for Ironman Florida, I was well prepared, especially on the swim and bike. Practice your nutrition as best as you can.
I made the mistake of going into my race without a solid nutrition plan. I ended up paying for it on the run.
2013-12-15 7:22 PM
in reply to: #4913131

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Subject: RE: Trying to decide on which Plan for Full Ironman
I used Fink Competitive as well for Vineman Full Iron Distance. I added 3 weeks in for injuries and other races I wanted to do.
2013-12-17 8:20 AM
in reply to: TriManGA

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Subject: RE: Trying to decide on which Plan for Full Ironman
thanks for your reply.
Got a copy of Finks "Be Iron Fit" on my kindle. Will take a closer look at his program and see if that is the right one for me.
2013-12-17 8:23 AM
in reply to: JHembrow

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Subject: RE: Trying to decide on which Plan for Full Ironman
Interesting….all 3 replies on Beginner Triathlon are recommending "Finks Get Iron Fit program", no one recommending the plans from this website.


2013-12-17 9:55 AM
in reply to: JHembrow

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Subject: RE: Trying to decide on which Plan for Full Ironman
I am using Fink's Be Iron Fit plan starting 1/20/14 for my Ironman Mont Tremblant Training. I am going to do the comp plan. I really like the way to plan is layed out and I like the Z2 training aspect of it. From what I have heard from multiple sources, everyone said it got them to the starting line feeling fully prepared.
2013-12-17 10:17 AM
in reply to: JHembrow

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Subject: RE: Trying to decide on which Plan for Full Ironman
I used Don Fink's Competitive plan last year. I'm probably more of an intermediate (or less) person but there wasn't that much difference between the intermediate and competitive plans and I always thought if the Competitive became too much, I could fall back to the intermediate plan - I didn't end up needing to do that.

As others have posted on BT in other threads, and after using it, I felt the Fink plan was just a little too much swimming and not enough biking. The swims are structured the same way and repeat a pattern, which to me became boring and seemed like a chore after weeks and weeks. Probably better to replace one of the weekly swims (or two) with a masters class instead to get more variety.

30 weeks is a long time to follow a very structured, self-coached, plan. The next time I'm going to use a shorter 20(ish) week plan instead.
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