Ironman Training

Pmaldini

Hello Lad's and Ladies, i am signed up for my 1st ironman in Copenhagen next August and have been reading Don Finks book(Be Iron Fit), i am looking at the competitive plan as i think i can fit it around my family/work life with a few tweaks, with so many experienced Ironmen and women on this forum i was wondering if you could offer advice on Don Finks plan, is it a good plan to follow for a 1st attempt at long course? is there is a better plan out there to follow?, i am planning to start on 27th of this month which will give me the 30 weeks required, at the moment i am just trying to get my fitness back up after an accident in early summer which wrote off my year:(

Happy New Year to all and i hope the training is going well after the excesses of christmas

shotgunmcos

Pmaldini wrote: »

Hello Lad's and Ladies, i am signed up for my 1st ironman in Copenhagen next August and have been reading Don Finks book(Be Iron Fit), i am looking at the competitive plan as i think i can fit it around my family/work life with a few tweaks, with so many experienced Ironmen and women on this forum i was wondering if you could offer advice on Don Finks plan, is it a good plan to follow for a 1st attempt at long course? is there is a better plan out there to follow?, i am planning to start on 27th of this month which will give me the 30 weeks required, at the moment i am just trying to get my fitness back up after an accident in early summer which wrote off my year:(

Happy New Year to all and i hope the training is going well after the excesses of christmas

Yep I used most of that plan for my first IM. Used my own swim & club training, DF bike sessions and DF run sessions. Possibly overcooked the running by running marathons before the IM though Obviously to get the best out of yourself, it is probably best to take on a coach but I don't believe that is entirely necessary for a first go unless you want QF for Kona or something.

Pmaldini

shotgunmcos wrote: »

Yep I used most of that plan for my first IM. Used my own swim & club training, DF bike sessions and DF run sessions. Possibly overcooked the running by running marathons before the IM though Obviously to get the best out of yourself, it is probably best to take on a coach but I don't believe that is entirely necessary for a first go unless you want QF for Kona or something.

thanks MCOS, i think Kona is well out of my reach this time round:),plan to do some of the club swim sessions too but with work starting at 8 i only get part of the session done, was doing a 5am swim but unfortunately it has been cancelled,generally have to plan swims around my own time, also have no chance of hitting your IM times even using the same plan:) i might also have to add a bit more bike than DF has in the early part of the plan

shotgunmcos

MD's 5am session at the Arena? I did 2 of those and then they stopped :mad: I get it but shame the Arena don't see there is an appetite for opening earlier. I'm same max I can get in is an hour before work. For the swim to complement the DF programme I did 2 club morning sessions at the arena and then a tough progressive 4.2k set one evening every 2 weeks. I'd be out in Worlds End come the start of May building a long OW swim on top of that. The solo sessions + group stuff stood well for Roth '11

glennbhoy

.Did the copenhagen IM just gone and used that plan. Didnt stick exactly to it but it did help give me an idea of what to be doing and how to pace/build yourself

You have picked an excellent race and the support is amazing on the run, you get what you Put in

Its all about the bike as very fast course so work on that, the crowd will get you through the run

Oh 11.05 hr in case ya wondering . Boom

Pmaldini

shotgunmcos wrote: »

MD's 5am session at the Arena? I did 2 of those and then they stopped :mad: I get it but shame the Arena don't see there is an appetite for opening earlier. I'm same max I can get in is an hour before work. For the swim to complement the DF programme I did 2 club morning sessions at the arena and then a tough progressive 4.2k set one evening every 2 weeks. I'd be out in Worlds End come the start of May building a long OW swim on top of that. The solo sessions + group stuff stood well for Roth '11

Didn't know you were in MD's sessions too, you must have been with the dolphins in lane 2 it's a pity the arena can't accomodate us it was a fantastic session, I am going to spend plenty of time in worlds end from May, I might follow your swim plan, sounds like a good way to go, thanks for the advice

Pmaldini

glennbhoy wrote: »

.Did the copenhagen IM just gone and used that plan. Didnt stick exactly to it but it did help give me an idea of what to be doing and how to pace/build yourself

You have picked an excellent race and the support is amazing on the run, you get what you out in

Its all about the bike as very fast course so wok on that, the crowd will get you through the run

Oh 11.05 hr in case ya wondering . Boom

Hi Glennbhoy, looking forward to it, I hear it's a great race, I will definitely be putting an emphasis on the bike training over the coming months. It's good to know that people are generally happy with the DF plan.

By the way, fantastic time, welldone:)

Clon surfer

Hi there, any chance of a favour? It seems they have opened up some extra slots for Copenhagen. You will have received an email. I've been trying everything to get in, I'd be extremely grateful if you could give me a referral.
Either way best of luck in both the training and the race. I was to much of a wimp to sign up early on.
Cheers
Ps I've also been studying that book, it looks ok to me.

Pmaldini

Clon surfer wrote: »

Hi there, any chance of a favour? It seems they have opened up some extra slots for Copenhagen. You will have received an email. I've been trying everything to get in, I'd be extremely grateful if you could give me a referral.
Either way best of luck in both the training and the race. I was to much of a wimp to sign up early on.
Cheers
Ps I've also been studying that book, it looks ok to me.

Hey Clon Surfer, no worries at all, i will PM you the link and my reg number, after talking to a few people and having someone like ShotgunMcos giving Mr. Fink the thumbs up i am going to give his program a go, all kicks off next monday no tuesday, (fink doesnt do mondays) only 30 weeks to go!!!!!

shando09

Hi.

Just had a browse through this forum and am interested to know how pmaldini got on with the ironman using the training methods you were talking about?

Pmaldini

shando09 wrote: »

Hi.

Just had a browse through this forum and am interested to know how pmaldini got on with the ironman using the training methods you were talking about?

Hi Shando09, i was very happy how it went as it was my 1st IM and would certainly recommend using Don Finks book, the one thing i learned this year is there is not enough cycling in the Fink plan,but for a first effort it gives you a good 30 week structure, i went with a coach this year for my 2nd IM and there was a much bigger focus on cycling, it made a huge difference overall, my running was still sh!te but that was down to a calf injury:( as well as just being a sh!te runner:). Fink has a few 5hr and i think 1 x 6hr bike on his plan but that may not get you to 180k on irish roads. if i was to give any advice on doing an IM it would be to do a couple of 180k bikes and if possible do a 200k bike, and also do them solo,you might be out longer than 6 hours but they will definitely stand to you on the big day.