Give it a TRI

[shaper]

One thing will add to the info.  Training for a full ironman is not only the hours you put in, but you also need to factor in the distinct possibility of a lack of a social life for a while as you leave dinner parties or braai's early, turn down invitations as you are likely, tired, irritable and know you have to get up at an ungodly hour in the morning to train or the invite affects your training.

 

With a half IM you can still train and have a fairly active social life, with full IM training, it becomes very difficult to maintain that social life. 

[EmJayZA]

With a half IM you can still train and have a fairly active social life, with full IM training, it becomes very difficult to maintain that social life. 

 

I noted that my non-athletic friends did not take kindly to my training at all. They took it as an affront that I was choosing to train over them 

[ScottCM]

I noted that my non-athletic friends did not take kindly to my training at all. They took it as an affront that I was choosing to train over them 

 

On Friday we went for dinner at a friends house. There were four couples, all four males were at IMSA in April. Anyway everyone arrived at 18H00 and by 21H00 goodbye's were said and we all had a lovely evening together. Moral of the story, get athletic friends  , just kidding, seriously though I feel you , all my nonathletic friends and family think I am anti social too. 

[Craai]

I noted that my non-athletic friends did not take kindly to my training at all. They took it as an affront that I was choosing to train over them 

 

Non-athletic friends are one thing, Ironman widows are another matter altogether.  . Really tough balancing family and training especially if you have little one as well. I can see why long-distance triathletes have such a high divorce rate (Google it, it's a real thing)

[IceCreamMan]

For those of you that did the full IM, how many hours did you spend training a week towards the end?

 

I'm considering trying to go for the African Tour Medal next year, but the running is my nemesis...

The real answer depends on your current fitness levels and what your goals are. Training hours are not always relevant as far as actual hours per week go. There are many variables here.

 

I am pretty sure that I could stop training all together and still finish ironman next year and I don’t mean that as bragging. Just a fact. And I ain’t athletic by any stretch of the imagination. The human body is an incredible thing, the human mind even more so. If you can swim a lil, cycle a lil and run a lil you can do IM.

 

FWIW, my training was anywhere between 12 and 18 hours from Jan through March except the 2 bouts of flu I had. I also had a solid base stretching back 3 and a half years or so.

 

Good luck ,

[IceCreamMan]

I noted that my non-athletic friends did not take kindly to my training at all. They took it as an affront that I was choosing to train over them 

Most of my mates are not triathletes or even athletic in any way. None of them were ever annoyed cos I had to leave or decline invitations. All of them have been very very complimentary when I finish Something cos they realize the effort I have put into it. It just becomes part of who you are I guess.

 

I made a mate or 2 that I ended up training with now and again, these guys been there through the ****, maaats for life too. Only othermparticipants understajd the sacrifices.

 

Whenever I see an IM bag on the tube or in public or wherever I always get a lil kick, a lil jolt of ****, I am an Ironman...haha...I am shallow that way

[HDW]

I do 9 to 11 workouts per week with 3 swims, 3 cycles, 3 or 4 runs and a strength workout. Most people build up to about 17-18  hours of training per week.

 

How many running km's a week are you looking at doing for the next say 12 weeks? And will you do any speed work for now?

[shaper]

How many running km's a week are you looking at doing for the next say 12 weeks? And will you do any speed work for now?

Am averaging 40-50kms per week currently

 

Tuesday - Recovery run

Wednesday - Tempo pace run

Friday - Speed work (I usually do intervals on a treadmill)

Sunday - Long Slow Distance Run

 

As you build for a full and at the peak training I will be over 80kms per week

Edited June 20, 2018 by shaper

[lurkerza]

Am averaging 40-50kms per week currently

 

Tuesday - Recovery run

Wednesday - Tempo pace run

Friday - Speed work (I usually do intervals on a treadmill)

Sunday - Long Slow Distance Run

 

As you build for a full and at the peak training I will be over 80kms per week

 

this is probably why my running sucks!!! I dont think I hit anything close to 50km in a training week before ironman, but then that is why it took me just over 12 hours to finish.  But I have never been much of a runner or played sports that involved long stints of running so my base from young days is lacking and I'm trying to make that up.  It is really an area that I need to spend a lot more time on before next year.  Luckily the running bug has bitten the wife hard so she will be encouraging me to get running more often, always helps to have a good support structure for this sport!

[HDW]

Am averaging 40-50kms per week currently

 

Tuesday - Recovery run

Wednesday - Tempo pace run

Friday - Speed work (I usually do intervals on a treadmill)

Sunday - Long Slow Distance Run

 

As you build for a full and at the peak training I will be over 80kms per week

 

Thanks! I'm not sure where to progress to next with my running. I've slowly built up my mileage over the past 5 or 6 months, and I'm doing between 60 and 70 km a week now. My whole idea was to build slowly, build a big base, and go on from there. Now, the target is IMSA next year, but I took your advice earlier in this thread to "become a runner" seriously, so that's where I'm heading.

 

Currently I do all my running in comfortable zone 2, at 6:00 to 6:20 min/km. As I say, the idea was to slowly build a big base, and then start working on pace. Longest run atm is about 15km, and sometimes I'll do another 5km later in the day to bring the daily total up to 20km. I feel fine after this, and can easily do another 10km first thing next morning. I do about 150 - 180m of climbing in a 10km run.

 

How, and more important when, would you suggest I start doing some speed work? I want to be doing 60 - 70km a week at about 5:00 to 5:15 min/km by the end of September this year - is this feasible? Or should I just keep going at zone 2 for another couple of months and then start doing weekly speed work?

[shaper]

Thanks! I'm not sure where to progress to next with my running. I've slowly built up my mileage over the past 5 or 6 months, and I'm doing between 60 and 70 km a week now. My whole idea was to build slowly, build a big base, and go on from there. Now, the target is IMSA next year, but I took your advice earlier in this thread to "become a runner" seriously, so that's where I'm heading.

 

Currently I do all my running in comfortable zone 2, at 6:00 to 6:20 min/km. As I say, the idea was to slowly build a big base, and then start working on pace. Longest run atm is about 15km, and sometimes I'll do another 5km later in the day to bring the daily total up to 20km. I feel fine after this, and can easily do another 10km first thing next morning. I do about 150 - 180m of climbing in a 10km run.

 

How, and more important when, would you suggest I start doing some speed work? I want to be doing 60 - 70km a week at about 5:00 to 5:15 min/km by the end of September this year - is this feasible? Or should I just keep going at zone 2 for another couple of months and then start doing weekly speed work?

5 to 6 months of base is plenty, start introducing speed work into your runs.  There are plenty of zone pace calculators either online or apps you can download that you can use to set the different pace zones.

 

If your Z2 is 6-6:20min/km you can use one of the calculators to see what you need to be running for a Tempo Z3 run, try to do one of your run in the week in that zone, pushing yourself.

 

Interval work, if not using a treadmill. use lamp posts or street furniture. i.e Run hard from one lamp post to the next, then run easy for the next 2 lamp posts then repeat again, do 8-10 in a run after a 10min warm up then cool down to finish.  If no street furniture, sprint 20s (counting in your head) then run easy for 60s (counting in your head).  I you have a smart watch like a garmin, you can create such workouts which will beep and tell you when to run fast and when to recover.

[HDW]

5 to 6 months of base is plenty, start introducing speed work into your runs.  There are plenty of zone pace calculators either online or apps you can download that you can use to set the different pace zones.

 

If your Z2 is 6-6:20min/km you can use one of the calculators to see what you need to be running for a Tempo Z3 run, try to do one of your run in the week in that zone, pushing yourself.

 

Interval work, if not using a treadmill. use lamp posts or street furniture. i.e Run hard from one lamp post to the next, then run easy for the next 2 lamp posts then repeat again, do 8-10 in a run after a 10min warm up then cool down to finish.  If no street furniture, sprint 20s (counting in your head) then run easy for 60s (counting in your head).  I you have a smart watch like a garmin, you can create such workouts which will beep and tell you when to run fast and when to recover.

 

Fantastic, thank you. Will def start doing that from tomorrow morning. How many speed work sessions should I do per week? Something like this, all the way up and until I start a program for IMSA?

 

- Tuesday: speed work session

- Wednesday: 30 min brick at race pace

- Thursday: 30 min zone 2

- Friday: speed work session

- Saturday: 30 min brick at race pace

- Sunday: 120 min LSD run, zone 2

[lurkerza]

This zone training doesn't work for me, I did what felt like a very easy 30min treadmill run at a 6:30 pace thinking I could keep it in Z2, never got out of breath or felt like I was pushing, chatting to my wife the whole time and I ended up with an Ave hr of 154bpm - I could probably go for a brisk walk and earn my vitality points for the day - they must hate me! My resting heart rate is 55/56 so that is not overly elevated.

 

I really think I need to get to one of those sport science centres to get my fitness properly analysed - has anyone here ever done that and what kind of tests do i want to be asking about?

[Disylizzy]

This zone training doesn't work for me, I did what felt like a very easy 30min treadmill run at a 6:30 pace thinking I could keep it in Z2, never got out of breath or felt like I was pushing, chatting to my wife the whole time and I ended up with an Ave hr of 154bpm - I could probably go for a brisk walk and earn my vitality points for the day - they must hate me! My resting heart rate is 55/56 so that is not overly elevated.

 

I really think I need to get to one of those sport science centres to get my fitness properly analysed - has anyone here ever done that and what kind of tests do i want to be asking about?

 

A VO2 Max test, it's very helpful.  It breaks out your zones.  Just important to note a VO2 max test for running is different than cycling.

[EmJayZA]

Fantastic, thank you. Will def start doing that from tomorrow morning. How many speed work sessions should I do per week? Something like this, all the way up and until I start a program for IMSA?

 

- Tuesday: speed work session

- Wednesday: 30 min brick at race pace

- Thursday: 30 min zone 2

- Friday: speed work session

- Saturday: 30 min brick at race pace

- Sunday: 120 min LSD run, zone 2

 

I would break up the two speed work sessions into a hills session, and then track. For the hills set, do something like a 15 minute warm up, 15 minute run at threshold pace and then into 200/400m climb, run back down to recover, go back up (3 or 4 times). This is good to build strength in your calves and glutes. 

 

Track, you can do repeats of anything from 200m to 800m. You will have to check your suggested paces in an online calculator. For this you will need to do a 5km time trial. I usually do a 5km TT every 6 to 8 weeks to check that I am training according to my current fitness and speeds. My coach has us doing up to 2km repeats at insane speeds. Throughout the first one, I always wonder how I am going to make it through the rest of the session, but by some miracle, I always do. Almost throw up on some sessions they are so rough. I must say these sessions are the hardest, but I think necessary to get faster. 

 

Also, you can introduce speed work into your long runs. So, do like 7 x 2/3 minute intervals at threshold in your long run. It's called Fartlek, or speed play. 

 

I think speed work should be in every program, every week. 

Edited June 20, 2018 by EmJayZA

[EmJayZA]

Non-athletic friends are one thing, Ironman widows are another matter altogether.  . Really tough balancing family and training especially if you have little one as well. I can see why long-distance triathletes have such a high divorce rate (Google it, it's a real thing)

 

We don't have kids, so I don't have the same time constraints as people with larger families do. But, I can imagine it being a real thing. Personally, if we had kids, I would not be doing this at all. There is no way I would be able to juggle everything, unless the kids are older, or I have a massive support system of parents / in laws / full time nanny, etc. Luckily, my hubby is so supportive, he lets me get away with almost anything time wise. I think it is however very important that we all have something in our lives that we love to do, and follow a passion. A lot of couples lose that individuality as well I think. 

 

As for my mates, yeah, lost our closest friends because my best female friend was super critical, would get very, very offended when I couldn't go out from exhaustion on a Friday night, and told me I was too ambitious. I even got told I was getting old because I would fade at 11pm. Human nature is very odd, and it's always the closest ones that hurt us the most. I wouldn't change my choices though. Just one of the many things that triathlon changes. Thankfully my family are so supportive and understanding.