Primer For the Self Coached Ironman Athlete

By Rich Strauss

As I ready my team for next season, and begin to teach new Team Crucible athletes, I've been asked to explain my ideas on Ironman training. I'll share these ideas here, but first I need to set the stage.

Common Pitfalls for the Self-Coached IM Athlete
Athletes usually come to me after a period of self-coaching. I'm able to see the mistakes they have made. And as a self-coached athlete myself, I've made them all as well. Here are the critical pitfalls:

I. An underestimation of the mental skills and knowledge required for success on race day.
My first point has nothing to do with training. I've delivered pre-race talks at four IMNA races, to a total of 250-300 Ironman athletes. I've also coached Team in Training athletes. Surprisingly, I've found both groups often have a remarkably similar knowledge base and ask very similar questions.

We are adept at thinking of new and creative ways to beat our heads harder and faster into a wall every day. But most athletes spend only a fraction of that effort learning how to execute a successful race, how to make decisions and solve problems. They can tell you how much time their $800 race wheels will save them, but don't have a clue on how to pace the bike. They haven't even rehearsed a race plan.

On race day, your fitness is only a vehicle you drive 140 miles across the finish line. The race doesn't care how fit you are, only how well you execute. Read Ironman How-To, Ironman Nutrition, and Mental Focus.

II. Attempting to focus for too long on one race
With athletes now required to register 364 days before their race, the primary question is "what the hell do I do for a year?" This carries a tremendous risk of mental and emotional burnout, particularly for the first-timer. It's December. If you are putting your feet on the floor at 5:30am every morning and saying "Time to go train for IMFL/IMWI/IMLP or any other IMNA race" you are in serious risk of winding up in a tower with a high-powered rifle. For most athletes it is simply too long to be focused on a single event.

Northern athletes are at the greatest risk of burnout, with snow and ice often relegating them to training indoors. The key is to structure most of the season to address limiters, not to train for a race. For my Ironman athletes, our focuses right now are:

• Run: moderate volume as a result of frequent, Easy to Steady runs. Running form addressed through drills and Strides. Consistency and frequency are paramount. I'm not very concerned with volume right now. We have scheduled 5k's, 10k's in the winter and spring half marathons to provide us with fitness target dates.

• Bike: addressing the basic limiters of speed skills and force. No concern for cycling volume. I'm very reluctant to have athletes on the trainer longer than is necessary to address basic limiters. Again, my critical mission is addressing limiters and keeping these athletes as mentally fresh as possible.

• Swim: technique and recovery. My stronger swimmers are swimming for recovery purposes or not at all. My guidance is "if it's your strength and a logistical pain in the ass right now, don't worry about it. Plenty of time later in the season."

• Body composition and flexibility: limit the damage during the holidays and then progress toward a body comp and flexibility goal to be achieved by the beginning of race specific training.

The key thread here is effectively addressing limiters, not training for a race months and months away.

III. Confusion about the training volume required for success
Before we can talk about training volume, we must first define "success." Your definition of success must be framed within your current fitness, your time available to train, and recovery resources available. How important is recovery? Read Rest and Recovery.

Two realistic definitions of success:

1. Age group athlete. Works 40-50 hours per week. Has a wife, three kids, 20% body fat, and a half IM personal best of 6:30. This will be his first Ironman. This athlete will have limited training time, limited recovery time, and does not have a significant base of fitness. He should define success for his first IM as "finish with a smile on my face."

2. Elite age grouper. Works 35-40hrs per week. Single with no weekend commitments, half IM personal best of 4:45, four Ironman finishes. This athlete can have a more aggressive definition of success because he has the base fitness, training and recovery time resources to back it up.

Let's get back to the question of training volume:
Q: How much do I need to train to achieve my realistic definition of success?
A: How much time to you have available, to both train AND recover?

If you can train 10-13 hours per week, recover, and still juggle the other much more important balls in your life, then that is your reality. Train within that reality.

Read Event Based Volume. I wrote this almost two years ago and had another version published in Inside Triathlon. It's simple and it works. It's what I've used for over two years of Ironman coaching. In short, disregard your weekly training volume and instead focus on:

1. The purpose of every training session and it's successful execution.

2. The volume of your long bike and run.

The volume of your "other sessions" is what it is, given your personal schedule. Don't worry about the volume, just focus on their character and execute them the best you can, given your recovery state that day.

Rich Strauss can be reached at...

http://www.cruciblefitness.com