Where to get an ironman triathlon plan geared towards runners?

what happened to you training for 2:35 marathon? about triatlon i have no idea

I can write something for you. In general, a IM or 70.3 plan for someone with a run background will be focused on the swim/bike parts as you already have a solid foundation in the run.

Also, because the run comes last, it is a "pull the pin and hang on" mentality.

In general a week looks something like this:

Swim 3-4x (quality + time).

Bike 5x (quality + time).

Run 3x (all quality).

Some workouts will be combined in to brick sessions I.e.

4x12 minute T pace on bike followed by 5k tempo run off bike.

Swim Bike Run wrote:

I can write something for you. In general, a IM or 70.3 plan for someone with a run background will be focused on the swim/bike parts as you already have a solid foundation in the run.

Also, because the run comes last, it is a "pull the pin and hang on" mentality.

In general a week looks something like this:

Swim 3-4x (quality + time).

Bike 5x (quality + time).

Run 3x (all quality).

Some workouts will be combined in to brick sessions I.e.

4x12 minute T pace on bike followed by 5k tempo run off bike.

I was expecting a response from you! That would be amazing and i'd really appreciate it. Can you drop me an email and we can discuss it more?

My email is:

Thank you!

Kipchoge fan wrote:

what happened to you training for 2:35 marathon? about triatlon i have no idea

I'm glad you remembered about it haha it seems everyone on this site lost interest. No one is more devastated than i am. CIM has a very slim chance of happening this year and if it does it will have severe restrictions and that is no way to race honestly. I don't want to distract myself with all this sh*t and all the while running my first marathon. I intend on doing that marathon before my first ironman but the ironman was always a goal of mine as a one off. This is just me shuffling around the order of my goals to make the best use of my time to build my fitness with the world situation now. Come hell or high water i will do that 2:30 marathon. I haven't given up yet! Thanks for asking :)

Swim Bike Run wrote:

I can write something for you. In general, a IM or 70.3 plan for someone with a run background will be focused on the swim/bike parts as you already have a solid foundation in the run.

Also, because the run comes last, it is a "pull the pin and hang on" mentality.

In general a week looks something like this:

Swim 3-4x (quality + time).

Bike 5x (quality + time).

Run 3x (all quality).

Some workouts will be combined in to brick sessions I.e.

4x12 minute T pace on bike followed by 5k tempo run off bike.

Im actually kinda curious on your take about this for tri training. When you talk about quality runs are you saying only workouts like tempos or fartleks or intervals?

How do you find the balance between doing a quality run and a quality bike?

Specifically do you think its better to have it where you do a quality bike in the AM and then a quality run in the PM of same day and then the next day is only easy recovery stuff? or do you think its better to do a quality bike one day and quality run the next. maybe double up the bike day with a swim and then double up the run day with an easy ride?

The 7aji wrote:

I was expecting a response from you! That would be amazing and i'd really appreciate it. Can you drop me an email and we can discuss it more?

My email is:

wahabyo@hotmail.com

Thank you!

Sure, it will be later this afternoon. back to backs with clients all AM.

Swim Bike Run wrote:

Also, because the run comes last, it is a "pull the pin and hang on" mentality.

WTF? Why the heck would you pull the pin if you plan to hang on to the grenade and not throw it? This is the stupidest mentality I've ever heard of.

Swim a little

Bike a lot

Run some

Gotta be super fit on the bike to run well off the bike. You can really hammer bike intervals and will need to spend a fair amount of time in the saddle. I wouldn’t emphasize to many run workouts, just make them all moderate or easier sessions(except one a week)

Check out trainer road too, they have great overall triathlon plans and cycling specific.

After all, an Ironman is a bike race with a swim as the warm up and run as the cool down.

Serious note, if you have questions drop me a line, I used to do a lot of triathlon back in the day.

Espejo09 @ Gmail. Com

Yep. One of the best pieces of advice ever given to me was "ride your bike a lot, to the point you want to throw it in the bushes. Then pick it up and go ride some more."

You should spend a year focusing on technique (swimming), strength (cycling) and endurance.

During base phase you can do strength training for cycling. Don't do much speed training for running. Cycling will help a bit with that. Hill running will help your biking.

If you truly enjoy running you can run an hour and bike just after. I often do 1 hour running+1,5 hours cycling just after on easy days. Don't do it the other way around. You won't need a lot of running volume but you can keep some of it while increasing your cycling

Why are you looking for triathlon advice on a running site? Go to slowtwitch.com and read. Plus they have forums. Also you should figure out what your goals are. Complete? Compete? A half ironman and an ironman are considerably different races. You need to figure out what you want first.

I used to do triathlons, I think 5 IM overall and a sprinkling of shorter distances. However I am a runner, not bad, not great, PB of 2:43 for a marathon, but still hoping for faster, also didnt start until 30's.

My best IM was 10:13, which was roughly 1:10 swim, 5:30 bike, 3:20 run (officially measured distance) and then the transitions.

That was mainly based on running. I ran 2:57 at VLM about 6 weeks prior. All my swimming was a 20 minute tempoish set before work, but everyday. Nothing long. And most of the biking was commuting across London, 12miles each way when not running it. I did 1 1/2 IM before but I think that was about it. I would run 20 miles on Sunday and something on the Saturday.

There is no doubt I could have gone quicker if I focused more, on other disciplines but I am a runner and I find he rest all a bit dull. But I am trying to point out that you can post quite a decent time just using your run fitness...

tri guy 2 wrote:

Im actually kinda curious on your take about this for tri training. When you talk about quality runs are you saying only workouts like tempos or fartleks or intervals?

How do you find the balance between doing a quality run and a quality bike?

Specifically do you think its better to have it where you do a quality bike in the AM and then a quality run in the PM of same day and then the next day is only easy recovery stuff? or do you think its better to do a quality bike one day and quality run the next. maybe double up the bike day with a swim and then double up the run day with an easy ride?

Real fast example week:

M: Recovery Swim, 60 min easy + drills worked in during

Tu: AM Tempo Run + INT Bike. OR Brick + Lift

W: Int Swim + Cafe ride.

Th: AM INT Run + Thresh Bike. (can be a brick session)

F: Int Bike + Long Swim + Swim Drills (60 - 90 minute swim + 20-30 minutes of drills)

S: Long Run (90 - 120 min).

Su: Long Ride (3-6hr +).

Can combine certain days like Tuesday/Thursday to a brick session - an interval bike followed by a tempo run type work. To me, swims are semi recovery as it's non impact and doesn't affect legs all too much. Yes it has an impact on glycogen and C/V levels. However, there's a reason college swimmers swim twice a day for 2 hours a session even in season. It's so low impact and it's the only discipline where the legs get saved. Cycling and running smashes the quads and hams. Friday - Sunday are purposely long and low back to back to back to accumulate fatigue, While the pointy stuff happens Tuesday - Thursday

What IM did you do with an official run course? Just curious since there are very few left now but I'm guessing this was back when there were a couple such as Kona and I believe Louisville.

Swim Bike Run wrote:

[quote]tri guy 2 wrote:

Im actually kinda curious on your take about this for tri training. When you talk about quality runs are you saying only workouts like tempos or fartleks or intervals?

How do you find the balance between doing a quality run and a quality bike?

Specifically do you think its better to have it where you do a quality bike in the AM and then a quality run in the PM of same day and then the next day is only easy recovery stuff? or do you think its better to do a quality bike one day and quality run the next. maybe double up the bike day with a swim and then double up the run day with an easy ride?

Yes, only workouts for running being intervals, fartleks, tempos, or long runs. Reason is we get enough long and low or low recovery between bike and swimming. Biking is a non impact closed circuit sport and swimming is a non impact open circuit sport vs running is impact and open circuit.

If separating the workouts make sure you have 4+ hours to recover between sessions and get carbs to replace glycogen. Warm up for the PM session might take an extra 5 minutes. AM vs PM doesn't really matter all too much, I generally run in the AM and ride in PM as runs are shorter and I don't have to wake up at stupid o'clock, just annoying o'clock.

Generally I pair quality runs and bikes on the same day, reason being is to treat the next day as a pseudo recovery day in the pool. You'll notice the pointy stuff does not happen back to back.

We'll start the training week on Monday with a recovery swim as the long ride/run back to back combo will leave the legs feeling some type of way. This swim is an easy 60 minutes, everyone should cover at least 2000 meters in this time, even with doing drills every 600m. Drills like catch up, one side paddle, six beat kicks, two beat kicks, catch work etc. RPE should be a 2-3/10.

Tuesday kicks off with a tempo run. I prefer the classic 20 minute tempo run with a 10 minute warm up, 20 minutes at pace, 10 minute cool down. Bike will be intervals, something in the VO2 realm of things I.e. 3x(4x40/20s) with 4:00 rest between, 6x3 minutes at 115% FTP.

Wednesday starts with an interval swim - something to help clear lactate in the legs and get them moving. Alternates between speed work and thresh work per week I.e. 10x100 one week vs 4x400 the next. Cafe ride at the end of the day just to get time in the seat. We need to be strong off the bike to have a chance in the run. This is an easy spin, maybe 30 minutes to an hour, stop at a coffee shop etc. Chain should stay in the small ring.

Thursday is like Tuesday but reversed, some 1k repeats, 400s, etc on the run followed by 2x20 minute, 4x12 minute etc on the bike.

Friday is another threshold bike day, but this one I prefer to just be a ride vs structured. It's similar to a fartlek run, I.e. 20 miles and pushed pace, push the hills, rest the descents, push the flats, rather than being glued to a power meter and timer or on the trainer. Friday afternoon is the first of the longs. This is built up to a 90 minute continuous swim. Boring? yes. But the mind is the first thing to fail. If you have a chance to do this in open water, do it.

Saturday: Long run - easy low and slow. Do this in the morning. Sunday will thank you. Get off your feet the rest of the day and relax, recover, and refuel.

Sunday: Long Ride: We need to be strong off the bike. Get strong, get used to tired legs and go. 3 - 6 hours on the bike.

I like this schedule as it gives low impact days on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday with the swim being the primary thing or swim and ride. Both are non impact. Running is an impact sport so we only leave it certain days.

thank you for these ideas. I have been trying to do more tri training but always wasn't sure how to fit in quality running and cycling in the same week with optimal recovery but this looks pretty ideal for me. May throw in some easy 30-40 minute runs while I wait for pools to be more open near me but the rest of it looks really good

Doesn't matter if it's Ironman or another personal best you are looking for. JS seem to be the ultimate answer!

Swim Bike Run - have a couple of questions - how would your advice / scheduling here differ for someone looking to focus on 70.3 distance ? I'm a former OK athlete on the running side (14:35 5k 7 years ago) that went through some major health challenges / surgeries in the last 3 years but slowly am getting more and more into cycling. At the moment doing 3-4 short runs per week and 3-5 cycling sessions but sort of just making it up as I go. At some point I hope to explore the swimming side of things but currently have zero ability/experience there which is a bit intimidating. Hopefully when stuff starts opening up this fall/winter I can try to get into a gym and give swimming a shot...

I guess my other question is - how is a "base" period different with triathlon as opposed to running? My thought was this fall/winter I would try to get up to 4 runs per week including one long run (and perhaps one other light tempo/hill workout) but how does one structure a base training period for cycling? Is is the same thing - lots of easy riding and spending tons of time in the saddle with the occasional moderate effort? Or is it more structured than that, with higher level efforts?

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