4 months to my first Ironman. 10 top training rules

Posted: Wednesday March 11, 2009

By Ian Stokell

For the average, non-professional athlete, taking on a first Ironman is probably the biggest athletic commitment they will make in their life.

It is not something to be taken lightly. But with so much training information available it’s easy to be overwhelmed by the task before you even start. With Ironman, forget the idea of triathlon; this is a completely different sport.

As a first time Ironman competitor, I have compiled my own top ten list of training rules – obtained through both personal and published sources – based on a combination of common sense and a consensus of available training advice.

Aged 49, competing in the 50-54 age group, my main concern is not the race distance – 2.4 miles swim, 112 miles on the bike, with 26.2 mile run to finish – it’s the punishment my body must endure with the volume of training required to reach the finish on May 23 in Lanzarote.

I have a lifetime of athletics behind me, along with a Masters Degree in Physical Education and a sports coaching book published by McGraw-Hill. And after participating in, and coaching a multitude of sports at a variety of competitive levels – my real forte is team coaching and motivating athletes – I have come to the conclusion that two basic rules always apply when coaching newcomers to any sport: keep it simple and practice good, athletic fundamentals.

More than that though, after reading a lot of the advice available in books and articles, talking to athletes, as well as implementing my own daily training for many months, I have devised these top ten training rules list that I am using as I prepare for my first Ironman.

1) Simplicity.
2) Athletic fundementals.
3) Patience.
4) Volume; increase volume in small steps
5) Consistency
6) Bricks rule!
7) Common Sense
8) Recovery
9) Listen to your body
10) Don’t ignore slight injuries; they will quickly become major injuries.

As mentioned, simplicity is key; and simplicity in training should be coupled with athletic fundamentals. For triathlon, a good, basic technique will save you time and energy over a short distance; but over an Ironman distance it could save you many, many minutes and thousands of calories expended, which in turn necessitates the consumption of a lot of extra food and drink. So work on your technique. Take advice from more experienced athletes. Maybe even get yourself a coach who can watch you and tell you where to improve.

To that end, triathlon drills can play a part in developing good technique. Some athletes like to use them, some prefer not to. How much time you have to donate to training may play a part in implementing drills above and beyond seeking advice from a coach or trainer. Of course, well-supervised drills can also break a lifetime of bad technique!

Working with weights in the gym can also help improve strength. If you have enough time to fit in gym-work, schedule it in – but not at the expense of sufficient volume for all three disciplines. Customised gym sessions can do wonders in overcoming certain muscle or power weaknesses. In addition, never underestimate the importance of nutrition.

The one thing that I hear repeatedly from experienced Ironman athletes is that Ironman is not a sprint. Relative to short triathlons, it is a low intensity sport. Everything needs to be done with patience. From rehabbing an injury to improving leg strength on the bike to increasing lung capacity running up hills – it should all be done with patience.

With that in mind, a multitude of published opinion, and common sense, says that a solid foundation is needed before even attempting an Ironman. The consensus seems to be that at least a year of triathlon training, and competing at shorter distances, is required before putting your body through the rigours of Ironman.

The big difference between Ironman, and everything else, is volume. Not just in the race itself, but in the training. And just as volume is the key; volume can also be the killer. As a rule of thumb, do not increase volume more than 10% at a time in training. Then make sure your body can cope with the increased volume before increasing it again.

A considerable amount of available advice out there will suggest high intensity workouts each week to add strength or improve speed. That is for athletes to decide for themselves. The basic common sense rule is don’t try too much too soon. Ease in to the training, listening to your body the whole time. A heart rate monitor can be used to allow for easy observation of athletic exertion. But it’s not essential. More important is to be able to recognise what your body is telling you intuitively, without the aid of technology.

It seems to me that, for a first-timer, volume is more important than intensity. Ideally there is some combination of the two – some happy medium. The first priority is that your body has to be capable of completing a 140-mile race, regardless of time (unless you run out the course clock of course!). I still have a rough system for the bike though – hard up the hills (70-80%), steady and smooth on the flat (50-60%), and easy on the downhills.

The uniqueness of the multiple-event triathlon is compounded by the sheer distance involved in an Ironman. Moreover, it is three disciplines – one right after the other – rolled in to a single event! Something that is true for any sport also applies to triathlon. The best training for the sport is the sport itself. So if the event calls for changing from swimming to riding and from riding to running, then include those changes in training. Getting your body used to these back-to-back events – called “bricks” – is important.

Common sense should tell you that even the best athletes can’t train hard every day without a break. Recovery time is important. It gives your body time to strengthen, take advantage of the hard work you have been putting in, and…well, recover! Recovery days should be a regular occurrence in any weekly training regime.

And just as patience and recovery days should be integral to any training program, so should consistency – both in training effort and technique, as well as in the regularity of training sessions. In the early stages of training it is okay to miss training sessions as real life intrudes, but as race day gets within a couple of months or so, training schedules should be set, as immovable as anything can be in a busy modern life. Be disciplined. Consistent training over months will lead to athletic improvement! Patience and consistency, coupled with discipline.

Even if using a heart rate monitor, the number one rule for avoiding injury is to listen to your body. There is a big difference between pushing your body in pursuit of athletic excellence, and ignoring the onset of injury pain in the hope it will go away. It is a distinction that has to be learned by every athlete, and one that is even more important for Ironman athletes with the large amount of training that has to be accomplished. You have to recognise the onset of injury and adjust training accordingly. Minor injuries can quickly become major injuries if they aren’t addressed. Listening to your body will also tell you if you are doing too much too soon, whether you are over-training, or nearing exhaustion. Training when you are exhausted leads to bad technique and a higher possibility of injury.

It is a lucky athlete that doesn’t get injured undergoing the training needed for an Ironman. In fact, by all accounts, it’s highly likely that you will. The most important aspect of rehab is patience in recovering from the injury. It is critical to take advice on the best way to recover, if not from a doctor, then certainly from other triathletes, preferably ones that have had the same injury.

So how does all this talk relate to my training?
As mentioned, my biggest concern in preparing for my first Ironman is whether my body can cope with the large volume of training.

With my Ten Rules list in mind, I am keeping my training as simple as I can. I train six days a week and have one day off. I have one main training session for each of the three disciplines each week – one long run, one long ride, one key swim. When I’m feeling healthy, I do 2-3 runs a week in total, two swims, and five rides. I don’t ride on Sunday when I do my long run. I don’t do anything else on Saturday when I do my long ride. Basic math skills will tell you I either do a number of brick sessions a week or two-a-days – morning and evening.

When I want to add volume, I do it incrementally. When I increase distance, I do it at a slower pace. Then I build up the pace once I’m happy my body can cope with the new distance. Perhaps I’m being overcautious, but I rarely push my body with high intensity activity for long as I don’t want to risk pushing too hard. Experienced Ironman athletes should know their own bodies better than I do in terms of training and pushing their limits.

As I write this article, I am recovering from a painful knee strain. As a result, I am keeping my running at a low volume – two runs a week of 5-7 miles each. I shall increase that when I know my knee is working at full strength again. Patience is key to rehab, as well as training. Rule number three!

Everyone is different and what works for one new athlete can very well be less effective for the next. Social environment and work demands, family life, available time for training – all affect how and where, and how much, an athlete can train. You only find that out what is truly best for you by doing it yourself. Educate yourself by reading and listening to advice.
One thing is for sure, from my point of view, I don’t want to get to the end of my first Ironman not having enjoyed the training and the build up, no matter what happens on race day.

With the amount of training required for an Ironman, I want to have enjoyed the journey, not just to have completed it.
See you in Lanzarote on May 23!

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