O.K. you’re in your best shape of the year. You sacrificed the time to get those quality workouts in to get as fit and fast as possible, not to mention that your endurance is that of a camel! What could possibly go wrong on race day? Well… here are a couple of things to keep in mind, especially on events lasting longer than two hours.

#1 Keep an active eye on calorie consumption. Plan where, when, and how much you are going to take. Half the fun of racing is the whole night before that is spent planning out those little details so; why not add this to your list!? An individual’s size, fitness, speed, and intensity amounts will very but, 200 calories per hour is a good number to start with. That would simply equal one GU and a half a bottle of sports drink.

AHH !! No more Ironman training. It’s time to take a long break and then change it up a bit. As for my race, I ran out of steam and lost some time on the second half of the run.  Not sure how to avoid that one, but was a good day overall. I hope you all enjoyed reading my Ironman training plan that was primarily successful for me.
With this tremendous base built it’s time to rev up the engine to get some speed back in the legs and arms. For the next 6-8 weeks I will be actively looking to add intensity to a good amount of my workouts. The pool will be all out 100’s with ample rest so I can do more all out 100’s. The bike and run will consist of a few different speed sessions in an effort to promote that higher heart rate needed for shorter distance triathlons. Most of my spring training intensity was under 80% max, meaning about 6 on a perceived exertion scale measuring from 1-10 with 10 being extreme anaerobic or what I also call red lining it.

Now that all the hard training is done it’s time to do some mental preparation. Visualizing a successful day by going over each part of the race in your head will surely make race day easier.

Another strong mental tool to carry around on race day is a saying I like to repeat, “The Power of Control” so I don’t go out to fast when I am feeling great and again when I want to stop in the later parts of the race.  This helps me to keep those negative thoughts at bay. Well here’s to a physically and mentally prepared Ironman!!

VP

This month has been about extreme volume in the overtraining segment of my Ironman plan. In these last 4 weeks I have averaged over 19 hours of training with up to 14 separate workouts per week! It was not uncommon to do 4 workouts in one day! An example, ride to and from work, throw in a lunch time run, and then a swim before bed time.

This month I thought it would be fun to review my training log to share a few fun facts for the month. Excessive exercise means mega calories burned! I had to ride my bike to work just to free up gas money spent on my new carbohydrate habit! As a matter of fact, I only drove the car about 100 miles last month. According to my polar heart rate monitor, that tracks speed and distance, I biked 1,100 miles and ran another 140. Total calories burned while exercising was an astonishing 54,000!! I lost at least 5 pounds, meaning I failed to replace about 21,000 of those calories. Wow, all that eating and still losing! Looking ahead, the first 3 weeks of June will be about cutting the volume down and eating less in an attempt to repair and rebuild the tired body for the journeys end… Ironman Coeur d’Alene.

Other than tired legs, I have survived this journey quite well and most importantly injury free. It is amazing how the body slowly adapts to the increasing stress used to take you farther than you ever thought possible. In about 3 weeks we will see how fast is possible. There is live tracking at ironmanlive.com on race day if you are interested.

Until next time take care.
VP

Wow!! We are into the 5th month already. I guess time flies when you’re having fun. Ironman training should be about having fun because a lot of time is devoted to it. Training thus far has been in anticipation of this month’s overtraining segment. All of my training or should I say” homework” has been done to successfully complete this next phase. This will consist of 3 consecutive weeks of max training load ending about 3 weeks before race day. If done right, my motivation, recovery and performance should be in peak form come race day.

	I mentioned some months back that my goal was 24 hours per week.  Since then I have discovered that is too much and have had to cut it back to 20 hours. To keep the training fresh and Ironman orientated during this 3 week push, I have 5 key workouts to complete each week. Workout number 1 and 2 is a 100 mile ride on Saturday followed by 20 mile run on Sunday. These back to back workouts will help simulate race day fatigue experienced on the run.
Workouts 3 and 4 is a 56 mile bike ride on Tuesday, at faster than race pace, followed by a faster than pace 10 mile run on Friday. A two day separation should allow for some added quality to these efforts. As a triathlete, I can’t neglect workout number 5 being the brick session. This will be on Wednesday and consist of a race pace 1 hour ride followed by a 45 minute run of the same intensity. This brick should feel pretty easy to help with race day confidence.

The ultimate aim of these race specific workouts is to dial in race pace and fatigue so there are a few surprises on race day. All other training throughout the week will be recovery based and used to increase weekly volume up to that magic number of 20 hours. Hopefully my incremental training so far will allow for a successful final push before taper time in June. As for the swim, I will continue throwing one in here and there and will increase the volume to aid in recovery after the 3 week torture fest.

Until next month…happy training from the VP.

Wow, half way done with the 6 month plan! Up to this point it has been all about volume in the aerobic zone. With this great foundation of base laid, it’s time to explore more specific workouts to help with the further, farther, faster concept of Ironman racing. In an effort to bridge the long slow distance training with the race pace workouts, known as the key workouts explained next month, I will slowly be ramping up the intensity to ease this transition.
 
Three specific workouts this month should ease the pain and suffering associated with next month’s hammer time. Workout number one, called over distance training, is where each discipline goes up to or exceeds race distance. This builds the “I know I can confidence.” Workout number two, called the speed session or intervals, will make race pace feel easier and therefore maintainable. Workout number three, called the hill sessions for the bike, run and paddles for the swim, will build sport specific strength. This shorter workout mid week will hopefully do wonders for my speed and endurance.

So  to recap, this month will be spent adding a few increased heart rate training intervals in anticipation for next month’s key workouts that should closely mimic the race day experience. My whole plan is basically hinged on how well I can handle the 3 weeks of 100% training volume incorporating those key workouts in May before taper time. Next month I will explain these workouts in more detail but between know and than I need to define my race pace which should slowly come into view this month during these swims, bikes, and runs. Until next month, happy training from the V.P.

For those of you just joining in on this column, I am 2 months into a 6-month training plan for Ironman describing the Tri Guy’s journey to a competitive finish.

Now that most of the time constraints are worked out and ample time has been set aside for my new part time job of ironman training, it's time to get the most out of each minute. By the way, my time is extremely limited being the only income supporting a family of 5. I thought I would mention that so you know I am not some dude living with mom whose whole life is about training.

As volume has been increasing, sometimes up to 4 workouts in a 24-hour period, it's important to think about the next workout in terms of energy stores and intensity. Stale non-productive sessions can easily become the norm if we are constantly in the "junk zone" in terms of heart rate or not adequately refueling the body. So, with 2 months down of systematically increasing training volume at a relatively low heart rate, it's time to start increasing the intensity to get a feel for race pace. As I mentioned earlier, I like to stay away from the 80-85% junk zone because I feel it is too easy to effectively build speed and too hard for proper recovery therefore it's junky. If the work-out calls for going hard then I go hard knowing the next few sessions will be of another modality and likely recovery based.

Eventually, by the end of the month, I increase the volume and include 2 quality runs and bikes rides per week focusing on speed and hills. These will be considered some of my "key workouts" in the coming months and will be described in more detail next month. For this month I will be paying particular attention to where I place these workouts for proper recovery. This will hopefully keep the stale non-productive sessions at bay.

Looking ahead to next month I should have time slots figured out for these "key workouts" based on this months results on recovery. For my swim volume, I am currently swimming for 30 minutes and then another 30 minutes working on drills to perfect my stroke. Intensity will come later in the form of intervals. 

Till Next Month,
VP

With the Ironman 6 months away, this month's topic revolves around my January training.  Next month will be February's highlights and so on each month until race day at the end of June.

This time of year, with the race so far away, we need to systematically increase volume while preserving our motivational levels. Too much too soon will surely mean burnout before the real training begins later this spring. With that said, January has been a month of deciding maximum weekly volume and finding space throughout the week to put in these sessions.

For me, the most important part of the plan is finding balance with family, work, and training.  In other words, finding time for guilt free training.  Keep in mind that the length of each day's workout is going to dramatically increase the closer race day comes.  I like to keep a few holes in my schedule now for those added workouts later when the big mileage days begin. So, in order to avoid burnout and keep the fun factor high throughout the plan, I pay particular attention to where, when and how long each work out will be now and later this spring. Ok, now for my max volume...I have decided 24 hours in a week is all I want to handle. This works out to approximately 300 miles biking, 46 miles running, and 4 miles swimming.

So, to recap January, I have defined my max volume week and through trial and error figured out where all this time is going to fit in my schedule. Keep in mind that I am only doing about 10-12 hours per week right now in that oh so friendly conversational pace intensity to keep the motivation high this dark time of year. Looking ahead to February, I will be pyramiding volume each week by increasing for 3 weeks then backing off the 4th week for recovery. Next month's topic will touch more on this as well as some key workouts. So check back next month to see what the VP is up to.

Well, with all those conversational pace workouts what should a triathlete talk about? Besides building huge base miles, this time of year should be spent planning your Ironman build in terms of volume. So one conversation you need to have during your next several workouts should be about how much weekly volume your body can possibly handle today and than "brag" about how you are going to progressively increase it slowly to an astronomical number before taper time in early June to prepare for Ironman Coeur d’Alene. Keep in mind that this may turn into an argument due to your buddies disbelieves.  This is a good thing and will only add motivation to your journey into no mans land. So, with all due recognition, here is the VP's million dollar plan free to you for visiting this column!

With your maximum weekly volume in mind, let’s figure out how to get from the future from present. Over the next 24 weeks, starting January 3rd, let’s group the weeks into 4 stages. These stages will consist of a 10-week, an 8-week, and two 3-week stages.

Stage 1 will be spent working on technique, efficiency, and food absorption while ever so slightly increasing our volume systematically for 4 weeks than backing off the 5th week for recovery. Twice through this and it's on to Stage 2. Stage 2 will consist of 8 weeks with your ultimate max volume reached at week 7. Building volume is the goal of this stage and again is achieved through gradual incline for 3 weeks than backing off on the 4th week. We will finish stage 2 with a much needed rest week before tackling the most important stage of all…Stage 3. This is where max volume is reached 3 times in the following 3 weeks and is directly responsible for your Ironman performance. In order to successfully complete this stage you should have done your "homework" consisting of Stages 1 and 2. From here it's onto Stage 4 which is taper time! In terms of volume, this 3-week taper consists of the first week being approximately 60%, than back up to 80%, than down to 40% for race week.

Well that's all for now!  Join me on a conversational pace workout to learn "MY" max volume which actually might take more than one workout due to the Prez (PK) yakking about something totally different!

Ahh… the off season.  A time for a little relaxation.  No more slave to the workout….if we miss two or three here and there oh well! After ramping up the run intensity and volume for a couple fall 5 and 10k’s, it’s time to re-build the “engine” for the next season. This is done by tons of aerobic training. The key to aerobic training is the long, slow distance, to build the body’s ability to burn fat more efficiently. The more time spent in this training (known as Zone 2), the bigger your motor will be next spring when  we start tweaking the system with speed, tempo, and race pace workouts. Your speed next spring is directly related to the size of your motor. So, stay consistent, work at a conversational pace, invite all your training partners, and have a great swim, bike, and/or run.