Question:
I'm looking to do an iron man sometime next midyear and thought my training should begin right now. it'll be my 1st iron man. Does anyone have training suggestions for the next 7-8 months?

Answer:
I was asked for this training program which I came up with in 1988. I started out with no experience in either of the 3 sports, race at a pseudo-Clyesdale 6'3" and 195 lbs and reside in the middle of the pack at 2:30 for Olympic, 5 hrs for half Ironman. I have PR's of 3:20 in the Marathon and 10:36 at Ironman distance. It works for me with busy 10-12 hr workdays, business trips, two kids, and active social life.

My goals are confined to passing people younger and smaller than me (42 now) and being in the beer tent instead of the medical tent at the finish. It's called The Reasonable Man's Approach to Triathlon:

Training program goals:
1. Maintain high endurance year round without burnout
2. Afford both exercise and time flexibility to fit a tight schedule or business trip
3. Not suffer for lack of a missed workout during the week due to other commitments
4. Minimize injury risk and ensure adequate rest
5. Workout over 45 mins to ensure fat burn
6. Train for half Ironman distance and allow for step up to marathon or Ironman with 3-4 more hrs of training per week

Swimming is a relative constant in this program. Masters swim 3 times a week for 2,000-3,000 yds at each session. I boost kicking with fins significantly in the winter when the weather keeps me off the bike. I can only spin train 30 mins twice a week and still keep my sanity.

The bike and run portions of the program are based in large part on Jeff Galloway's running regimen and emphasize the long, easy bike and run (50% or more of weekly mileage). My program also emphasizes the bike/run transition. The core of the program is what I call the "bricklet" -- a short bike followed immediately by a short run. When I can, I commute the 14 miles to work on the bike and knock out a quick 2 mile run when I get home. The B14/R2 bricklet and a stretch can be done in an hour or so, so it fits in just as well in the morning, at lunch, or after work.

I find that the bricklet is far less stressful than any type of speedwork, and the ability to get off the bike and GO makes me faster overall than I was doing speedwork. I have settled on the 2 mile run because you're probably as loose as you're going to get after 2 miles and the legs have made the transition from cycling to running.

One day a week I do hill intervals. I do hills because I'm big and track speedwork is too punishing. I jog slowly downhill. When I lived in the flatlands I ran intervals on bridges . Saturdays I do a long, easy bike - usually 60 miles. Every oter Sunday is the long, EASY run - usually 18 miles. Odd Sundays are mile interval runs (8-10 x 1 mile with 1 min walk between). From April to October I take one Saturday off a month and do a Superbrick on that Sunday (Bike 50-75/Run 13-18). Monday is ALWAYS off. So, here's what the monthly schedule looks like for half Ironman training with [training time]:

WEEK 1:
Mon Off
Tues B14/R2 [1:00]; S2500 [1:15]
Weds R5 hills [:45]
Thurs B14/R2 [1:00]; S2500 [1:15]
Fri B14/R2 [1:00]
Sat S3000 [1:30]; B60 [3:30]
Sun R15-18 [3:00]

WEEK 2:
Same except
Sun R8-10 x 1 mi intervals

WEEK 3:
Same as WEEK 1

WEEK 4:
Same except

Sat OFF
Sun B50/R13 Superbrick

Weekly averages:
Swim 8,000; Bike 100+; run 27-30; training time 12-14 hrs The 12-14 hrs of training drops 2 hrs if you want to race only int'l/Olympic distance (decrease in long bike and run). Depending upon your swimming prowess you may be able to drop to 2 sessions per week -- I'm a sea anchor and can't afford to. By the same token, if you're a natural runner you may be able to shorten the long runs a little. These long
bike/run distances work for me:

Olympic Bike 40 Sat; Run 10 Sun Half Ironman Bike 60 Sat; Run 15-18 Sun Ironman Bike 80+ Sat; Run 18+ Sun As with any training program a few caveats are in order:

1) Limit distance increases to 10 mi per long bike and 2 mi per long run
2) If the long bikes and runs seem daunting, and they did to me at first, I recommend Jeff Galloway's "Galloway's Book on Running" which offers a sensible work-up schedule all the way to marathon distance. My off season mileage is about 60% of what is on the chart.
3) In the winter I bike when weather allows it or cross country ski
4) At the end of the season I take one week off completely then 3-4 weeks real easy -- just swimming and jogging (great over holidays).
5) This is not a good program for sprint races as it lacks speedwork which you really do need for those races.
6) For weekend races there is no need to do a cosmic taper; just take the day before and the day after off (Mondays are off anyway) and press on.
7) You may find you want to swap the long bike and run days (Sat<-->Sun) for variety, weather forecast, or your physiology.
8) Stretch for at least 5 mins after any exercise.

I'm on the road a lot so I find I have to improvise when I can't take my bike. To substitute for the bike portion of the bricklet I do one of the following (listed in order of preference):

a. 40 min exercycle
b. 30 mins starirs (easy)
c. 30 min bicycle kick in pool (easy) -- I always take my fins
d. 30 mins rowning machine
e. Nautilus/weights with legs before running
f. 6 x 20 situps with feet anchored under bed using quads as much as possible

The bricklets can vary in pace and distance to suit your needs and how you feel. All of the weekday workouts are short enough that I don't worry or feel dprived if I miss one due to another commitment or some ugly weather. Most of my anaerobic threshold (AT) training comes in the pool where there is less chance of injury. I feel I can get legspeed from the bike (I always try to spin 100-110 for a few minutes on each bricklet). In the past I had not been hampered because I lacked legspeed or aerobic capacity off the bike -- it's always been a lack of flexibility to run really well
off the bike. That's what the bricklet trains your legs to do.

If you want to be a fast 10K racer than you need to do speedwork; but if you want
to run fast off the bike in duathlons or triathlons I recommend bricklets. I've seen a lot of speed demons trade off all their increased fitness for injury down time. Besides, at the end of the day, triathlon from the Olympic distance on up is an ENDURANCE event not a speed event, especially for those of us whose names never make the results page.

Another nice feature of the bricklet is it hones your transition skills. I leave a pair of runing shoes in the garage next to my bike rack. After a few bricklets you'll never fumble with a bike or running shoe in a race; it's like second nature changing shoes. And you'll be so good at it you'll always want to use cycling shoes for cycling instead of those platform clip doo-dads for running shoes.

This program isn't going to get you to the prize table many times especially if you have as little talent as I do. It will, however, give someone with limited training time the endurance and flexibility to comfortably race Olympic and long course triathlons, marathons, and provide a solid base to jump up to Ironman distance with just 3-4 more hours of training per week.

---

---