Crunch Time

“You have to train, to train for Ironman.”

(Tim deBoom, Ironman World Champion, 2001 and 2002)

That’s not a stutter, or a misprint. What Tim is saying, is that you have to have done enough training to handle the training that Ironman requires. Pro triathletes like Tim typically train about 30+ hours per week, while for us age-groupers a 20-hour week is big, considering our day jobs and all. Currently I’m in the hardest three weeks of the Ironman build cycle, which typically stretches from six weeks until three weeks from race day. I just finished an 18-hour training week, and here’s a look at this week’s schedule:

Monday: Rest day (easy, huh?)

Tuesday morning: Swim 1 hour (3000m), technique and intervals.
Tuesday evening: Run 70 mins., including three 15 min. tempo intervals.

Wednesday morning: Computrainer ride, 60 mins., including three 8 min. Z4 intervals.
Wednesday evening: Weights, 1 hour.

Thursday morning: Swim 1 hour (3000m), technique and intervals.
Thursday evening: Run 60 mins., including 20 min. at tempo.

Friday morning: Swim 4000m, including 3000m at Ironman goal pace.
Friday evening: Computrainer ride, 40km.

Saturday morning: Bike 160km, immediately followed by 30 min. transition run.

Sunday morning: Swim 1 hour (3000m), technique and drills.
Sunday morning: Run 2:20 at aerobic pace, but sub-8 min/mile.
Sunday evening: Weights, 1 hour (optional).

Next week is the hardest, featuring a 180km bike and 2:45 run on the weekend. Then it gets easier, as the taper phase begins. The purpose of the taper is to let your body absorb the high volume of training, while gradually reducing the workload, during the last three weeks until race day.

In a future post, I will talk about training intensity, why it’s important, and how to measure it. (Hint: Heart Rate.)