IM Training Hours BS

My peak training weeks for IMLP last year were

Swim-12,000yds

Bike-150-180 miles (10 hours)

Run-4.5 hours (approx 30-34 miles)

This is precisely the reason I am retired from IM distance until my kid (soon to be kids) get older. 6 hours on a bike on Saturday mornings just don't appeal to me like they once did. Maybe I will do another one when I turn 40.

During the last 2-3 months of IMWI trng it was not uncommon to have a week or 2 that was at about:

Swimming:  3 hours/week

Biking: 15 hours/week

Running:  5 hours/week

But this was NOT consistent as my volume went up and down during each 4 week cycle.

I can tell you that the folks I know that qualify for Kona as well as other folks that are much more talented than I definately put in those "average AG" hours.

10,000 yards per week of swimming is pretty standard for IM athletes I train with, 200-250 miles/week is not a big deal either when you're knocking off almost half of that over the weekend.  The running volume seems a bit high, but I'm injury prone and would never run that much if I could help it.

One thing that I wouldn't agree with is that AGs keep up this pace for 7 months.  That would be physiologically detremental due to the lack of implementing phase training over the course of a season.

I think this is probabaly the AGs typical peak week during their last 2 months of trng.  The WTC really blows sh!t out of proportion a lot.  Hell they call their Ironman races the "World’s Toughest Endurance Event"...geez give me a break.  I can think of several races off the top of my head (not including the Tour de France) that are 10 times harder than the Ironman.  One of those races would be the Southern Traverse.

WTC is great and all...but sometimes they get a little carried away...

Edited by Steve- 2005-12-09 7:59 AM

haroldbuck - 2005-12-09 4:30 PM

The WTC really blows sh!t out of proportion a lot.  Hell they call their Ironman races the "World’s Toughest Endurance Event"...geez give me a break.  I can think of several races off the top of my head (not including the Tour de France) that are 10 times harder than the Ironman.  One of those races would be the Southern Traverse.

WTC is great and all...but sometimes they get a little carried away...

Yeah, I think just maybe it's possible that the Badwater UltraMarathon is tougher than an Ironman. Maybe. My peak week for my first IM was 12 hours of actual training. I didn't swim much, since my swimming is fine, and so I probably did a 1-hour swim, an 8-hour bike ride (I'm slow on the bike) and a few runs and another ride that week. I finishen IM Moo in 2003, which is more than a lot of people did that day. This year, I expect to train more, esp. on the bike, but I still doubt I'll get over 18 hours at a peak. You don't need that kind of mileage to complete the race and have fun doing it. I was really careful to get in 4 100-mile rides and a couple of 18-mile runs, plus a 2.5-mile swim. Not all in the same week, though.

yeah, you're right....you definately don't need that kind of time to finish and have fun.

I'm about to do IMAZ in 4 months and my training will so minute compared to my IMWI build-up that I may end up publishing my book after all.  Look for it in a bookstore near you in the spring.

"How to Finish and Ironman with less than 8 hours a week training"

ha ha ha ha ha

Steve- - 2005-12-09 9:42 PM

haroldbuck - 2005-12-09 4:30 PM

The WTC really blows sh!t out of proportion a lot.  Hell they call their Ironman races the "World’s Toughest Endurance Event"...geez give me a break.  I can think of several races off the top of my head (not including the Tour de France) that are 10 times harder than the Ironman.  One of those races would be the Southern Traverse.

WTC is great and all...but sometimes they get a little carried away...

Yeah, I think just maybe it's possible that the Badwater UltraMarathon is tougher than an Ironman. Maybe. My peak week for my first IM was 12 hours of actual training. I didn't swim much, since my swimming is fine, and so I probably did a 1-hour swim, an 8-hour bike ride (I'm slow on the bike) and a few runs and another ride that week. I finishen IM Moo in 2003, which is more than a lot of people did that day. This year, I expect to train more, esp. on the bike, but I still doubt I'll get over 18 hours at a peak. You don't need that kind of mileage to complete the race and have fun doing it. I was really careful to get in 4 100-mile rides and a couple of 18-mile runs, plus a 2.5-mile swim. Not all in the same week, though.

yeah, you're right....you definately don't need that kind of time to finish and have fun.

I'm about to do IMAZ in 4 months and my training will so minute compared to my IMWI build-up that I may end up publishing my book after all.  Look for it in a bookstore near you in the spring.

"How to Finish and Ironman with less than 8 hours a week training"

ha ha ha ha ha

I'll buy that book!

That can't be right.  9 to 10 hours a week in the pool for an AG'er?  Someone please say this isn't so.  My schedule is calling for an average of 3 hours a week with a high week of 6.5 hours.  If most agree AG'ers should be spending 9-10 hrs then I need to make some major changes in my training.

There is no way most AGers are putting in 9 hours a week in the pool. I imagine most are barely putting in 10 a week on their bikes. I think the most I did was 4.5 and that was on my own. My plan called for 1 hour swims.  I swam more than 1 hour because I wanted to do at least 5000 yards a swim near the end of my training but that was just me

word of advice.....don't base your training volume on others'

Don't base my training volume on others???  Don't we all use Training Plans devised from someone else in one way or another?  You aren't suggesting that a first-timer write his own training plan from scratch without the input from experienced athletes are you?  That would render all of BT's training plans useless for beginner triathletes.