Ironman Barcelona – Training Review

I’ve had a review of my training leading into IronmanBarcelona.  After a couple of weeks of rest and unstructured training after a disappointing Ironman UK, I started training properly with 8 weeks to go.

A couple of key areas to point out:

• Most weeks were less than 10 hours worth of training
• There was a stronger focus on higher intensity work
• I ran at least three times per week – sometimes four – and included interval work and a ‘faster’ long run
• Long run peaked at 2 hours
• Cycling was limited to twice per week – generally strength intervals and longer ride
• Long bike peaked at 4 hours
• Swim was squeezed in when possible, with limited structure
• I maintained a session in the gym on most weeks, focussing on core strength, stability and mobility
• I had a minimum of one rest day per week, sometimes two.
• There was consistency in the training
• Most days had just one session, ensuring I was ‘fresh’ to perform that session

	Mon	Tues	Wed	Thurs	Fri	Sat	Sun
Week 8 7 hours & 40 mins	Rest	Run (Tempo)	Gym Speed Swim Turbo Intervals (3x10’)	Run (Speed intervals)	Bike (Strength Intervals) Run (Brick)	Rest	Run (Long) 1hr40 inc. 2x20 @ 4.30min/k
Week 7 10 hours	Swim (Threshold) Bike (Strength Intervals)	Rest	Run (Intervals – 4x8’ @ 4.30min/k) Gym Short Swim	Bike (Strength Intervals) Sports Massage	Run (Long) 2hrs10 (inc 2x20’ @ 4.30min/k)	Rest	Run (Sprint Intervals)
Week 6 8 hours & 50 mins	Run (60’ Tempo)	Bike (70’ Tempo)	Bike (3hrs30 tempo)	Run (30’ easy)	Run (Long) 1hr40 (inc 2x20’ @ 4.30min/k)	Bike (Strength Intervals)	Rest
Week 5 10 hours & 15 mins	Bike (FTP Intervals)	Run (Intervals 4x8’ @ 4.20min/k)	Bike (Long) 4 hours	Run (Sprint intervals)	Swim (Threshold)	Rest	Run (Long) 2hrs (inc 3x20’ @ 4.25min/k)
Week 4 11 hours and 35 mins	Bike (Strength Intervals)	Run (Intervals 4x8’ @ 4.20min/k)	Bike (Long) 4hrs Run (30’ Brick)	Rest	Swim (Speed intervals) Gym	Swim (Speed intervals)	Run (Long) 1hr50 (inc 3x20’ @ 4.25min/k)
Week 3 8 hours and 45 mins	Swim (Speed intervals)	Run (Sprint intervals)	Bike (Long) 3hrs Run (50’ brick)	Run (Intervals 4x8’ @ 4.20min/k)	Swim (Threshold) Gym	Rest	Swim (Threshold)
Week 2 9 hours	Bike (Mixed inc FTP test) 1hr45 Run (50’ Brick)	Rest	Bike (IM Race Pace - 1hr30) Run (30’ Brick)	Run (50’ Tempo) Sports Massage	Gym Short Swim	Rest	Bike (IM Race Pace – 1hr) Run (20’ Brick)
Race Week	Run (Steady with 4x2’ efforts)	Run (Easy with 4 x 1.30 efforts) Sports Massage	Swim (Speed intervals) Run (Easy)	Bike (60’ tempo) Swim (Wetsuit) Run (Easy with 4 x 1’ efforts)	Bike (60’ steady with efforts) Short wetsuit swim	Rest	RACE DAY

2012 Training - A Season in Numbers

2012 brought another two Ironman finishes - bringing the total to six - including a new Personal Best time.  

I thought it might be quite interesting to look into the training that went into this and play around with the numbers.

The headline numbers: 

Swim 
From January to September, I clocked up 192.1 kilometres in the water spending 57 hours and 40 minutes over 74 sessions.  The average session was 46 minutes long, averaging 2.6k for each session.


Bike
I spent 203 hours on the bike in the first 9 months of the year, clocking up 5976k.  I got on the bike 116 times, with an average session lasting 1 hour 48 minutes and completing 53.5k per session.

Run
On my feet and running for 96 hours, reaching 1181k.  The average run session was 59 minutes and 12.1k per session.

Weekly Averages

During the year I averaged 9 hours and 16 minutes of swim, bike and run each week.  The table below gives a good breakdown of activity.  
 

 Obvious things to note:

• Running volume was very low to begin with.  This was due to a calf injury.  Extra bike and swim sessions were scheduled instead.
• Bike volume dropped in April as my enthusiasm to pick up running again increased!
• Volume dropped in July following Roth, including a complete week off everything
• Swimming only resumed properly in September

Even the longest average week was 11 hours and 34 minutes - almost 1 hour 30 minutes less than my average week in 2011!

An average week contained 7.5 sessions, though this ranged from 9.5 sessions per week in February to 4.2 sessions in July. 

I was interested to understand how this year compared with previous years.  I know I spent less time outdoors on the bike this year, partly due to the weather and partly because I really like riding on the Computrainer, so I was interested to see if that had much of an impact on training time.

2012 (January - September) has seen an average training week of 9 hours 16 minutes.  This really surprised me.  You hear stories of how people train 15-18 hours per week to train for Ironman.  An average week of 9 hours - really?  This is in comparison to 12 hours and 58 minutes in 2011 (Jan-July) - roughly 3.5 hours more than 2012!  Even my 2010 season covered 9 hours 30 minutes.  In short, I trained less hours than each of the previous two years.

The big difference in training this year compared to last year is the time spent on the bike - almost 3.5 hours (63k) more per week in 2011 than 2012.  The average session on the bike was almost 24k less in 2012 than 2011. 

2012 also saw less running time per week (25 minutes) and volume per week (6k) - this is due to the injury in the first three months of 2012.  However, the average volume of each run session was almost 2k more in 2012.

My training changed pace during 2012 - particularly on the bike.  In 2011, the data tells me my training was slower on the bike than 2010 - dropping from 2:10 per kilometre to 2:25 per k.  This may have been the additional hill training and long rides in preparation for (and during) the LEJOG adventure.  Training in 2012 picked up and averaged just over 2 minutes per k (2:02) which is almost 30kph.  This will be explained by the breakdown of training.  More than 2500k was completed on the TT bike attached to the Computrainer, 2000k outdoors on the TT bike and less than 1500k on the road bike.

Running was the same sort of pace as 2011, whilst swimming was slightly slower this year.

Swimming pace includes any rest intervals during the session

So there we have it. 10 hours 58 minutes at Challenge Roth and then 10 hours 19 minutes at Challenge Barcelona achieved on an average of 9 hours and 16 minutes per week over 39 weeks.

2011 - A Breakthrough Year!!

OK.  Now is the time for reflection.  The 2010/11 season is officially over.  No more races planned until ... November!  How did 2010/11 season shape up?  Did it go to plan?  Did I learn anything?

Goals

I had set myself up to have a big season, with some big goals. 

-      To complete two Ironman races in one year

-      To go sub 11 hours for my 'A race', Ironman UK

-      8 day Lands End to John O’Groats cycle journey

-      To run a sub-1.30 half marathon

-      To finish the year by completing the Liverpool marathon

Race Schedule

Month	Race
October	Liverpool 10k
January	Helsby Half Marathon
February	Mersey Tri Duathlon
March	Liverpool Half Marathon
May	Mersey Tri Duathlon
June	Bala Middle Distance Triathlon
June	Liverpool Olympic Distance Triathlon
July	Ironman UK
August	Lakeland Olympic Distance
September	Ironman Wales
October	Liverpool Marathon

I raced 11 times this year compared to only 4 races last year.  Of the 11 races, I hit PB’s in 8 of them.

PB’s

During the year I improved my Personal Best times:

Let's celebrate those PB's!!

• 10k by 3 minutes 
• Olympic Triathlon by 7 minutes 
• Half Marathon by 8 minutes 
• Marathon by 20 minutes 
• Ironman by 50 minutes

How?

• Between October and July I put in almost 500 hours of consistent training, compared to 360 the year before. 
• I managed to do a lot of cycling – 7,500k – compared to 5,000k the year before, including two fantastic cycle trips (Ireland in May and LEJOG in July). 
• I had limited training time in November & December so used it to develop some run speed to bring into 2011.  
• I swam in the mornings, allowing more evening time for running or cycling.
• I had no real injuries or illness during the year so was able to maintain consistent training.
• I have the most supportive wife ever!

What didn’t go as well as hoped?

• Looking through my training log and it’s clear that I did not do very many long runs (25-32k) during the year.  I need to keep a long run in the weekly schedule in 2012. 

• Not enough higher intensity work on the bike.  There were plenty of endurance miles but not many miles where I pushed the speed.  As the weather improved, turbo training became non-existent and so did all interval work. 
• As the season progressed, post March, I eased off higher intensity run work in favour of longer, slower runs (but not ‘long enough’ runs!).  I felt this impacted on run speed whilst not significantly improving my overall run endurance.  Perhaps too much non-specific run training? 
• Racing interrupted training too much!  A lot of time spent tapering and recovering impacted on training plans. 
• The back end of the season was good – but not great.  Fitness dipped due to a lot of time spent tapering and/or recovering from Bala Middle, LEJOG, IMUK and IMWales. 
• In two of my races (Lakeland Triathlon & Ironman Wales), when PB’s were beyond me, my motivation and ability to push myself dipped.

What did I learn?

• Training for Ironman isn’t just about long, slow training – it should be a mix of intensities and distances.
• I now know my VDOT score and my run pace zones – which I need to translate into my training plans for 2012.
• My swimming is good, my bike and run are average (but improving).  If I want to improve my overall race positions, my bike and run speed needs to improve.
• At last I feel like I can ride a bike and hold my own in group rides.
• Good bike training really helps with running the Ironman marathon.
• Although I like plotting out my training plans, effective training requires a lot more thought and preparation.  It also requires regular testing to see whether training is leading to improvements.  I didn’t do this enough.
• People who win age groups at races are a lot faster – but not necessarily any more talented or more ‘willing to put the hours in’ - than me.  More effective training, over a longer period of time - and a never say die attitude in racing - is probably the difference.
• I need a deeper goal than to get a PB.  If I can’t achieve a PB (e.g. bike mechanical, a long or a tough course) I need something that I can hang on to so I can dig deep when it starts to get tough.
• A standalone marathon, although not an Ironman, is still a considerable challenge and needs specific training to do it justice. Respect the distance!

Celebrations!

Highlights of the year

• Going under 10 hours 30 minutes in Ironman UK was the highlight – because that’s what all the training was focussed on.
• Doing a 50 and a 51 minute swim in IMUK & IMWales
• Pacing IMUK so I was able to run a 3.29 marathon
• Completely surprising myself in the Helsby Half Marathon and running a 1.27 – in January!
• The Lands End to John O’Groats trip was excellent fun.  Feeling strong enough on a number of days to lead the group and learning how to descend were two highlights of the trip!
  

Amazing!!

Of course, one of the real highlights of the year was seeing Lynn go from not being able to run for more than two minutes to completing a half marathon – in just 8 months! In that time she raced a 5k, a 10k, a sprint triathlon, a cycling holiday in Ireland, a half marathon and a cycle sportive!  Amazing!!

It was good fun on the social side of things too, meeting new people and making new friends.  During the year I got to know more and more Mersey Tri members too.  Our Ireland training trip in May was excellent and LEJOG was an unbelievable experience. 

Moving forward into 2012

It’s time to set some goals, pick out some more races (I’ve already entered Ironman Majorca 70.3 and Challenge Roth) and plan my training - but that’s for another time.

Let’s hope I can build on the breakthrough season that was 2011 and hit some new heights throughout 2012, whilst still having fun!