Are we there yet? No but we’re half way there…!

As of today I have completed the 20th week of my 40 week training plan. I’ve created and am following my own training plan. I’ve read many books on the subject of Ironman training including, Going Long by Gordo Bryn, IronFit by Don Fink, The Triathlon Training Bible by Joel Friel. In addition I’ve read a huge amount of information available on the Internet, including excellent stuff from Rich Strauss at Crucible Fitness.

The first 20 weeks of my training has consisted of three weeks of increasing time spent in each sport followed by one week of reduced training. For the first three weeks I have increased the volume by five to ten percent in each sport and then backed off the volume by at least thirty percent during the rest week. Performance improvement happens during the rest period.

During each week I complete one long session in each sport and have worked my way up to a 4000 meter swim, 4 hour bike ride and a 2 hour run. In addition, I do at least two ‘brick’ workouts a week (a run immediately after a bike workout). I try to get in at least three swims, three bikes and three runs in the week. In addition I lift weights two or three times per week. This week consisted of 12:00 hours of training, plus 2 hours of weight training.

As of today I have trained for a total of 140:30 hours consisting of 19:12 of swimming, 69:00 hours of cycling and 52:23 hours of running. That breaks down to time spent as approximately 14% swimming, 49% biking and 52% running. I’m happy with that, as we get closer, I’ll increase the bike time to prepare for the Ironman. I will continue on this schedule and work up. I’ll continue on this schedule, gradually increasing in weekly volume until I reach a peak of 18 to 20 hours per week in late July/early August and then start a 3 week taper to race day.

So far, I’ve managed to stay injury free. Knock on wood! And don’t seem to have anything on the radar for now. Without a doubt, through this process I have changed by body composition; I have reduced my body fat significantly (3% to 4%) and gained muscle mass in its place. So far, so good.