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TRAININGZONEThe plan12 WEEKSTO IRONMANTEST yOUR mETTLE IN THIS INFamOUSENDURaNCE RaCE WITH OUR EXPERT PLaNSMeet theexpertPhil MosleyCoaching editor of Triathlon Plus Mosleyhas coached dozens of triathletes toIronman successiROnMAn is the ultimate test oftriathlon endurance, and with 12weeks left there’s no room formessing about. it’s time to knuckledown, or it’ll be a very long day out.thankfully these plans are designedto get you fit and race readywithout taking over your life. theyfollow on from the ironmanFoundation plan we published intriathlon Plus issue 23. Don’t worryif you didn’t see it, because as longas you’ve trained consistently overthe last 12 weeks, there’s no reasonwhy you can’t start now.There are two plans to choose fromhere, one for the ‘time poor’ whichtakes up to 13 hours per week, andone for ‘time rich’ which takesanything up to 16 hours. They’re by nomeans easy – after all you’ll be racinga 3.8km swim, 112-mile bike ride and26.2-mile run, but the sessions doprogress over time, so it doesn’t allcome at once. You’ll need to spend abig chunk of your weekends training,so it’s a good idea to run it past yourfamily and friends first. Then stick acopy of your training plan onto thefridge so everyone can see it.The longest run I’ve set is twohours. I know you’ll be out for longeron race day, but keeping it lowerenables you to train consistently,rather than breaking down with injuryand fatigue. After all, it’s what you doregularly in training that counts, notwhat you do once or twice. I’ve readthat multiple Ironman World ChampDave Scott never ran further than 13miles in training either, and it didn’tdo him any harm. Finally, regardless ofwhat the plan says, if you start losingyour appetite, struggle to sleep orbecome abnormally grumpy take atleast a couple of days rest.Coach’s TipsTrain in your race kit when possibleTrain using the same nutrition you planto use on race dayTrain on your race-day bike when possibleare these plans for you?To start these Ironman training plans youshould already be able to:Swim 2,500m front crawl, non-stopRide your bike for at least 3 hoursRun non-stop for 90 minutesHow it worksPhotos Corbis Illustrations Phil NicodemiGet your guide ready to goCut out the guide followingthe dotted outline90TRI27.zone plan 90Fold the guide in quartersusing the fold guidesNow carry it with you forreference while trainingmay 20113/18/11 3:11:41 PM

The plan Ironman: Time poorTraining ZonesFold2Yo r12-wueplanekUsing these Training Zones will help you train at the right intensityfor each session. This helps develop specific aspects of your fitness,as well as making sure you don’t overdo it. You can either estimateyour intensity using the Training Zone descriptions, or use a heartrate monitor for a more precise measure. If you use a heart-ratemonitor, use the percentages provided and subtract them from yourmaximum heart rate to calculate your zones. Tools like cycle powermeters and GPS watches will also help track your training progress,but they’re not essential for these plans.These training zones are only a guide, so don’t worry about beingoverly precise with heart rates because they’ll fluctuate anyway. It’sgood to be mindful of your intensity but it’s even more importantthat you get out there and enjoy your training.Zone 1: Recovery60 to 65% of max. Easy pace, feels nice and light.Zone 2: Steady65 to 75% of max. Fairly easy pace. Easy enough so that you could breathejust through your nose if you wanted to.Zone 3: Tempo75% to 80% of max. Fairly hard but sustainable pace.Zone 4: Race Tempo13 hours per weekironmanFollow this plan to Get ironman raceready in less than 13 hours per week80 to 90% of max. Hard pace. Sustainable, but requires real focus.KEYWU Warm up WD Warm down MAIN Main set FC Front crawl PULL Frontcrawl using a pull float RI Rest interval BUILD Swim each 25m slightly fasterthan the previous K Kick NS Negative split (swim the second half of a repfaster than the first) REC Recovery DESC Descending (swim each rep fasterthan the one before) BI Bilateral (breathe every third stroke) BREASTBreaststroke BACK Backstrokestay in the training Zone with triathlon plusFold1Run 90minsin Z2 on hard groundRun 1hour45minsin Z2 on hard groundBike 2hoursrecovery ride in Z2, with optional café stopSwim 2,700mWU Z2: 300m FC, 200m K, 100m FC,200m KMAIN Z2: 3x [200m PULL (30secs RI), 3x100mFC DESC 1-3 (15sec RI)]. 300m FC WD Z1: 100mFCSwim 1500mWU 500m MAIN 800m at approx Ironmanrace pace WD 200mRun 90minsin Z2 on hard groundRun 30minsWU 13 mins in Z2 MAIN 2x3mins at top ofZ3 60secs RI WD 10mins in Z2Brick 4hours 15minsRide 4hours in Z2, straight into Run15 mins in Z2SatBrick 3hours 45minsRide 3hours 30mins in Z2, straight into Run 15mins in Z2Run 40mins in Z2Bike 2hoursrecovery ride in Z2, with optional café stopSunFriSatSunRest dayMonSwim 2,550mWU Z2: 2x150m FC, 100m K, 50m FC MAIN Z3:4 x [50m PULL (15secs RI), 50m REC (15secs RI),100m BUILD (15secs RI)]. 2x600m NS (30secsRI) WD Z1: 100m FC or BACKTueSwim 2,500mWUZ2: 400m FC MAIN Z2: 8x50m BUILD(20secs RI). 400m in Z3 (15secs RI). 2x200m inZ4 (15secs RI). 400m in Z3 (15secs RI). 4x100min Z4 (15secs RI). WD Z1: 100m FCRECOVERY WEEKSwim 2,500mWUZ2: 300m FC,200m K MAIN Z2: 4x200m as150m FC, 50m K (30 secs RI). 600m PULL(60secs RI). 8x50m DESC (20secs RI).WD Z1:200m FCWedRun 40mins in Z2week 04ThurRun 40mins in Z2week 03FriMonSwim 2,600mWU Z2: 6x75m (20secs RI) MAIN Z2: 2x200m(20secs RI). 100m in Z3, (20secs RI). 2x200m(25secs RI). 100m in Z3 (25secs RI). 2x300m (30RI). 100m in Z3 WD Z1: 6x75m (50m FC, 25mBACK) (20secs RI)ThurSwim 2,550mWU Z2: 200m FC, 2x200m [50m FC,100m K,50m FC (20secs RI)] MAIN Z2: 300m, 200m,100m (20sec RI) 200m,100m, 50m NS (25secRI). 200m in Z4 (30sec RI). 100m in Z4 (30secRI). 6x100m PULL (25sec RI) WD Z1: 100m FCTueweek 02Wedweek 01Swim 1500mWU Z1: 500m FC MAIN Z2: 500m mixedstrokes WD Z1: 500m FCRun 30mins in Z2Rest dayBrick 4hoursRide 3hours 45mins in Z2, straight into Run 15mins in Z2Bike 2hoursrecovery ride in Z2, with optional café stopBrick 2hoursRide 1hours 40mins in Z2, straight into Run 20mins in Z2Bike 90minsrecovery ride in Z2may 2011TRI27.zone plan 91913/18/11 3:11:45 PM

TRAININGZONEweek 06Swim 2,500mWU Z2: 300m FC, 300m K MAIN Z2: 6x150mPULL (DESC 1-6) (20sec RI).6x100m PULL(DESC 1-6) (15sec RI). 6x50m PULL (DESC 1-6)(10secs RI). WD Z1: 100m FCWedRun 2hoursin Z2 on hard groundRun 2hoursin Z2 on hard groundThurBike 2hoursrecovery ride in Z2, with optional café stopRun 40mins in Z2Run 30mins in Z2Swim 1500mWU Z1: 500m FC MAIN Z2: 500m mixedstrokes WD Z1: 500m FCSwim 1,600mMAIN DESC 500s 1 to 3WD Z1: 100m FCRun 2hoursin Z2 on hard groundRun 30minsWU 13 mins in Z2 MAIN 2x3min at top ofZ3 60secs rest WD 10mins in Z2Bike 2hoursrecovery ride in Z2, with optional café stopSwim 1500mWU Z1: 500m FC MAIN Z2: 500m mixedstrokes WD Z1: 500m FCRest dayFriBrick 5hoursRide 4hours 45mins in Z2, straight into Run 15mins in Z2SatBrick 4hours 30minsRide 4hours 15mins in Z2, straight into Run15mins in Z2Swim 3,100mWU Z2: 300m FC, 300m K (20secs RI) MAIN Z2:4x150m (10secs RI). 200m K in Z4. 4x150m(15secs RI). 200m K in Z3. 4x150m (30secs RI).200m K in Z2 WD Z1: 100m FCSunSunSatFriRest dayMonSwim 2,700mWU Z2: 4x300m as (100m FC, 100m K, 100m BI)MAIN Z2: 8x50 BUILD. 3x (150m,100m,50m FC)with the following rests: 1st round (15sec, 10sec,5sec), 2nd round (20sec, 15sec, 10sec), 3rd round(25sec, 20sec, 15sec)] WD Z1: 200 FCweek 08RECOVERY WEEKTueMonTueRun 40mins in Z2Fold2Run 40mins in Z2Wedweek 07Swim 3,000mWU Z2: 6x75m FC (20 secs RI) MAIN Z2:2x200m (20secs RI). 100m in Z3. 2x300m(30secs RI). 1x100m in Z3. 2x400m (40secs RI).1x100m in Z3. WD Z1: 6x75m (50m FC, 25mBACK) (20secs RI)Thurweek 05Swim 2,800mWU Z2: 2x200m FC, 4x50m K (15 secs RI) MAINZ2: 2x300m (20sec RI). 4x25m BACK (15secsRI). 2x250m K (20secs RI). 4x25m BREAST(15secs RI) 2x200m fast (15secs RI). 200m KWD Z1: 200m FCBrick 4hours 45minsRide 4hours 30mins in Z2, straight into Run 15mins in Z2Run 20 minsRecovery run in Z2, including 4x30secsaccelerating to 10km race paceBike 2hoursrecovery ride in Z2, with optional café stopAM Bike 1hour 30mins recovery ride in Z2PM Swim open water 30mins in Z2week 11week 12Fold1MonRun 40mins in Z2Swim 3,800msteady state at approx Ironman race paceSwim 2,100mMAIN DESC 500s 1 to 4WD Z1: 100m FCRun 2hoursin Z2 on hard groundRun 1hourin Z2 on hard groundAM Bike 2hoursrecovery ride in Z2, with optional café stopPM Swim open water30mins in Z2AM Bike 2hoursrecovery ride in Z2, with optional café stopPM Swim open water30mins in Z292TRI27.zone plan 92Ride 1hour in Z2Run 40mins in Z2Run 30mins in Z2FriSwim 1.6kmMAIN DESC 500s 1 to 3WD Z1: 100m FCRest daySatBrick 2hours 45minsRide 2hours 30mins in Z2, straight into Run15mins in Z2Swim 1500mWU Z2: 500m FC MAIN Z3: 500m FC WD Z1:500m mixed strokes (FC, BREAST, BACK)Run 40mins in Z2Brick 2hoursRide 1 hour 45mins in Z2, straight into Run15mins in Z2SunSatBrick 4hoursRide 3hours 45mins in Z2, straight into Run15mins in Z2SunFriRest dayRace weekTueTueRun 40mins in Z2Swim 2,300mWU Z2: 6x75m (20secs RI) MAIN Z2: 1x500m(20secs RI). 1x400m (20secs RI).1x300m(20secs RI). 1x200m (15secs RI). WD Z1: 6x75m(50m FC, 25m BACK)WedSwim 3,000mWU Z2: 400m FC, 300m PULL, 200m K MAINZ2: 1x400m (20secs RI). 2x200m (15secsRI).1x400m (20secs RI). 2x200m (15secs RI).WD Z1: 100m FCThurMonSwim 2,900mWU Z2: 300m FC, 200m K, 100m FC, 200m KMAIN 4x250m as [100m Z3, 50m Z4, 100m Z3(30secs RI)]. 4x150m as [50m Z3, 50m Z4,50mZ3 (20secs RI)]. 4x100m as [25m Z3, 50m Z4,25m Z3 (15secs RI)]. WD Z1: 100 FCWedweek 10Thurweek 09AM Bike 90minsrecovery ride in Z2, with optional café stopPM Swim open water30mins in Z2Rest dayBike 15minsin Z2, to check your bike is working okSwim 15 to 20minsopen water in Z2RACE DAYmay 20113/18/11 3:11:46 PM