Full IM Training time

Most weekly normal sessions will tend to be in the 45 - 60 minute range for the swim, 45 - 90 minute range for the run and 60 - 120 range for the bike.  Long swims, bikes and runs are what you are talking about and are usually only once a week.

You can get by on anything from 8 - 20+ total hours a week depending on how your plan is and your goals.

it really depends on how you want to go about training for it.

i know plenty of people with some very very fast IM bikes/overall times that never ride over 4 hours, or only once or twice ever.

day in and day out training, and what you do with that time is going to matter a lot more than simply slogging through a 6 hour ride to say you did it.

being able to go out, and push hard for a weekly 3-4 hour ride, is goign to do a lot more for you IM biking wise than going out and lollygagging 5-7 hours. even more so if you are somewhat time restricted.

get out and get in a slightly harder than race pace ride, have it be longish, and be ready for the next workout. if you can do that often, you will be in a good place and better off than most poeple in IM.

and to add to that, the long bikes & runs for me weren't really until the last 12 weeks or so of training when it flips to specific training.

I think a great place for you to start is with The Triathlete's Training Bible. It will give you the basis to create your own plan and you'll be able to see how yearly hours break down into weekly hours into daily hours. It gave me a lot of confidence when it came to building my own plan and I highly recommend it.

lol....lollygagging....

That is pretty much what I was thinking when I posted the question.  If this was a requirement I would pretty much give up the thought of ever doing one.  I can put that kind of time in on the weekends and I could add in doing rides to and from work but that's only 21 miles each way.

Sounds like it will be feasible for 2011.  Thanks for the responses everyone. 

I'm following the BT IM intermediate sked, and my long runs and rides are scheduled for the weekend.  I do one long ride (4+ hours) and one long run (2+ hours)/ week.

not doing an IM but whats the problem with doing it on the weekend?

i have 3 hr / 1 hr run schedules and they are always on the weekend.

not doing an IM but whats the problem with doing it on the weekend?

i have 3 hr / 1 hr run schedules and they are always on the weekend.

Any 'reasonable' plan (or one that understands that most IMer are working people) will schedule the long bike and long run on the weekends.

The BT intermediate plan had the long bike every other weekend, and the long run the alternating weekends.  In the heavy weeks, it did call for 40 miles for 4 days in a row during the week.  That was a tough week and made for some long nights on the trainer (about 2 1/2  hours for me to get to 40 miles).

IMO, THAT plan, seemed to be the most 'doable' with a regular work schedule and home life.  It got me through my first IM and probably be the one I use for my next.

Edited by Aikidoman 2009-10-14 11:18 AM

Cool!  I didn't import the plan so I couldn't tell how frequently the max distances were required.  If they are on the weekends, that is great news.  It's around 75 miles to my mom's house so that would make for a great weekend ride (there and back) that the family won't complain about.  ;-)

40 miles is cool.. that is to and from work!  That will save on gas money too!  Ka-ching! 

Nothing at all, in fact, that is what I mentioned that I was hoping for.  I'm with you... that's the only time I could ever do a 6hr ride.

When I trained for mine last year, I did a century just to let myself know I could do it. I think that was 3-4 weeks out from the race. Saturdays were my long ride days. Most topped out in the 3-4 hour range, but I went longer once or twice. But, aside from the insane hills on the century, I probably "lollygagged" through it. I never pushed terribly hard on the bike. I just wanted to put in the time. It worked and I beat my time goal, but I know I can go much faster. I plan on doing another IM in the future, but I will do it with shorter, more intense sessions, especially on the bike.

Edited by TriathletePT 2009-10-14 12:05 PM