Half Ironman training plans, here we go again!
It’s time to start training! I’m signed up for my first big race of 2017 and it’s 14 weeks away, eek. I’ll be racing in Ironman 70.3 Santa Rosa on May 13th. I’ve trained for a lot of races. And even more than that, I’ve done a bunch of races that I didn’t properly train for. What I’ve learned from training in the past, the key is to make it a realistic training plan. I’ve definitely gotten in over my head with potential training plans that weren’t possible for my life or my desire level when it came to training (like the one that had me working out for 3 hours on a Tuesday while working a
What I’ve learned from training in the past, the key is to make it a realistic training plan. I’ve definitely gotten in over my head with potential training plans that weren’t possible for my life or my desire level when it came to training (like the one that had me working out for 3 hours on a Tuesday while working a full-time job…uh no). While I love prepping and doing races, I don’t want the training to totally take over my life. That’s important to keep in mind when figuring out your own training plan. Some people love to go 100% in when it comes to training, and to them I say–hellz yes, you are amazing. But for me, it’s not currently my priority so my training has to prepare me, without burning me out or making me hate the process.
How to Put Together a Training Plan
Some people join training/racing teams when prepping for a race and if you’re committed to being your best on race day, this is absolutely an amazing way to do it. However, training groups aren’t for everyone, whether it’s the timing, the convenience or the money, putting together your own training plan is the next best thing. If your new to races, I recommend joining some sort of group to learn the basics, but if you’re a regular, you can probably figure out training on your own.
Research: First, do your research. For free, there’s so much you can find online. Spend a little time googling the race distance you’re doing and you’ll find tons of options, most for free.
For half and full marathons, I like Hal Higdon plans which break it down between novice, intermediate and advance runners. Personally, I’ve used the Runner’s World Less is More marathon training plan and loved it.
Tri and half Ironman plans are a little trickier to navigate since the races are more complex with three disciplines. For these plans, I recommend looking at a variety of plans and customizing one that works best with your schedule. I based my current plan on Triathlete.com’s Super Simple Ironman 70.3 Training Plan, but edited it to fit my lifestyle. For example, this plan has 3 swims a week. For me, that’s just not going to happen. I don’t love swimming and know that I would never swim 3 times a week. Instead, my plan has one swim a week and then a bonus swim if I’m feeling aggressive.
Customize It: Once you’ve found the general guidelines to follow (like how many miles you should aim for each week), create a doc that outlines each week and when you’ll get the workouts done, I do mine in excel. Don’t forget to look ahead at your schedule to see potential bumps in the road, like vacations or work events, and adjust the upcoming weeks so you’ll still get your workouts done.
Post It: Keep your training plans handy to stay on track. I like to print my charts and keep them on my desk and highlight each workout once it’s done–nothing is more gratifying!
Adjust As Needed: If things come up, don’t be afraid to move things around. Remember why you’re doing the race in the first place and make adjustments based on that. Are you trying to get a PR? Well then you better find a time to fit that speed workout in. Are you doing the race to get to the finish line and have a good time? If you can’t get a workout done, accept it and move on. Whatever your goals are, remember to keep your safety in check, pushing too hard and getting injured certainly won’t get you to that start line feeling good.
Share It: If you’re struggling to stay motivated, share your plans with your friends and get some of them on board to join you for a few workouts, hopefully this will reignite your desire to keep moving forward.
My Half Ironman Training Plan
Based on past experiences, I’ve put together a plan for this race that I *hope* I’ll stick with and not only that, I think will get me sufficiently prepared for the race. I’ll give you a little peak:
- Monday: Bike 40 minutes with 8×30 second sprints, Swim 1,200 yards moderate
- Tuesday: Rest or yoga
- Wednesday: Run 4 miles, moderate pace, with 6×10-second hill sprints
- Thursday: Bike 40 minutes moderate + 8 minutes comfortable hard
- Friday: Cross-train
- Saturday: Bike 30 miles moderate
- Sunday: Run 7 Miles
This is the general layout of each week, a couple of bike rides (the lower milage will be in the cycling room, the longer mileage will hopefully be outside), a short run, a long run, yoga or rest and a swim.
Training Ain’t Easy
Now here’s my struggle. I’m teaching a lot of classes and they totally wear me out. Even the classes where I walk around and demo a few moves but don’t actually do the workout, I’m beat after class. My legs are tired from being on my feet for hours at a time and mentally I’m tired from being “on” for hours, talking endlessly through the classes. The more I teach, the better it’s getting and the better my body deals with it, but it’s still completely exhausting.
I’m curious to see how well I’ll be able to commit to training and focusing on those key workouts. Take Mondays for example. I teach cycling at Equinox at 6:30am then teach 3 evening cycling classes at Core40 starting at 5:30pm. My goal will be to swim or run right after my Monday class, but teaching 4 cycling classes through the day takes its toll.
Tuesdays are a whole different beast. I teach four Orangetheory classes back-to-back starting at 5am. That means I wake up at 4:15am, woof. So yes, I’m back home and relaxing on the couch by 10am which is pretty sweet. But I am so exhausted I can barely do anything, let alone go for a workout. Each day of the week is more-or-less some combination of classes and trying to get enough energy together to do my own workout.
This sounds like I’m complaining, and yes, I am a bit. I don’t want to make excuses though because people have to do a lot more than me and they get their training in. Fellow athletes work crazy hours and they get their workouts done. Others have long commutes and they still get their workouts in (hey Charlie, you are SUCH a motivation to me). Others have children to take care of and full time jobs and they get it done. So you know what? I can too. I need to get into a good groove, get proper sleep and nutrition and hopefully my energy levels will be on point to power me through.
Oh, one other problem? My tri bike is still on the east coast. I need to either get it shipped out asap or find something out here to use.
So all of this is to say, wish me luck people! I know this will be a challenge and I’m going to have to focus and stay motivated to train smart for this race. I’m hoping to join some sort of Ironman training group, I can tell I’m going to need some crowd motivation to be in this.
Speaking of, are any of my SF readers doing a half ironman this Spring? Or maybe a half marathon? I recently wrote about Finding Your Fitness Friends and I need to take my own advice and find some in SF, long runs and bike rides are extra hard solo. So who wants to join me? Shoot me a message at ShapinUpFitness@gmail.com or comment below, let’s get together.
And back to my training, I’ll give you updates along the way and let you know how it’s going as I prep for the race, stay tuned!
