Ironman Training Plan for Busy Family Man

check 'become ironfit' by don fink he's got a 'just finish plan' it's pretty bare bones but does has some run/swim days in it. but i really liked his stuff on time management. definitely a good book (full disclosure: I'm an ironvirgin juggling family, work , and training for my first iron distance using his plan)

It's actually "Be Iron Fit". It is open on my desk right now.

Disclaimer:  I am a coach

This type of situation screams for a coach.  Any general plan will most likely not work for you fi you want to be competitive.  If you just want to finish, have at it.

Just my 2 cents.

I loosely followed the Be Iron Fit intermediate plan during the week due to my work schedule, but tried my best to follow it closely on the weekends and was happy with my 1st and 2nd IM. I typed it up in Excel if you'd like a copy.

You could consider checking out Endurance Nation.  Their plans are geared towards 'time constrained' AGers.  Focus on intensity, and long riding only on the weekends.  Here is what the outline of my IM training looks like for a typical week, which grew from my experience using some EN (and EN-type) plans in the past:

Mon - am swim, pm optional short run
Tues - am 60-90min interval bike on trainer, brick run (option of doing the run in the pm)
Wed - am swim, pm run
Thurs - am long run (not ever much more than 2hrs)
Fri - am swim
Sat - long bike, brick run
Sun - med-long bike, optional brick run

Both weekend bike rides contain a lot of riding at HIM effort (plus a few harder intervals).  In that way, the time for those rides is in the 3-4hr range on Sat and ~2hr on Sun for much of my training.  Only when I get withing the last couple months of training do I start trying to find longer vlocks of time to do longer IM-intensity riding.

I like the simple structure of Johnny's plan; I used something similar to get through my first HIM last year, except since I'm not a morning person and I have a flexible job, I did a lot of work mid-day during my lunch time or instead of sitting around at my kids' practices in the evenings. The other important point I see is that consistency through the year in terms of maintaining a good base level of fitness; that makes it much easier when it comes time to ramp up for race time.

Hi Folks,

Thanks for the feedback and offers of programmes and outlines. I have just ordered the beironfit book and will look at some of the websites suggested. I think with these thinks I will be able to sort out a plan.

Cheers again for your help.

Dave
NZ

x2 on the Endurance Nation plans.  I think their team is full but you can still buy thier plans.

It's ultimately a method I didn't go with, but for the time-constrained athelete they seek to capitalize on the following equation.

Time + Intensity = work.

You need to do a lot of work to race long course tri.  They get you there through intensity, whereas many of us are more able to adjust our schedules to put in the time (which I think is more conservative and less risky from an injury perspective).

Just Another suggestion...

Triathlon Magazines "Essential week by week traithlon training guide" - Matt  Fitzgerald, has 10-12 different IM plans.  Some of the lower level IM plans have pretty low volumes...  They are design to just get you accross the finish line...


BTW, I'm NOT a coach, but I would PERSONALLY suggest getting the "shorter duration - higher intensity" notion out of your head.  Doing a lot of higher intensity workout just to reduce the overall volume seems dangerous to me...  Invitation to injury...

I think you still want to train at appropriate intensities, but just try to figure out how to minimize your overall volume and still meet your goals.  That's why getting a coach is probably a GOOD idea in this case.

Edited by Kido 2010-03-25 11:31 AM