Mop any Ironman Info

[Lyion]

What does it take to train for an Iron Man?

I'm in pretty good shape despite the fact I'm 35, and this is something I'd like to do just to experience it.

Googling this was not very productive

[Mop]

What does it take to train for an Iron Man?

I'm in pretty good shape despite the fact I'm 35, and this is something I'd like to do just to experience it.

Googling this was not very productive

well it depends:

a sprint is fairly easy it is a .5 mile swim 15-20 mile ride and 5 k run usually

an olympic distance is a .9 mile swim 40 k ride and a 10 k run ( 25ish mile sand 6 ish miles)

a half iron man is 1.2 miles swim, 56 mile ride, 13 mile run

an iron man is 2.4 mile swim 112 mile run and 26 mile run.

I would sugges ttrying a sprint or olympic to see if you enjoy it before hand to just see if you enjoy it

a sprint really could be done in abuot 4 or 5 hours of training a week
an olympic well I would say around 1 -1.5 hours a day on avg 6 days a week worht of trainig
a 1/2 iron man and full iron man, well depends on your str's and weaknesses. I will tell you it is 99% mental. It really is a difficult sport - at 4 am when I am leaving for a 60minute run and it is 40 degrees out, it;s only you to push yourself out the door it gets hard. I can give you an example of a week to kinda give perspective of 1/2 and full iron man training since my goal is to get a lottery pick in hawaii in the next 5 years


Sunday Weights in the morning
afternoon ride ( indoors atm ) 1 hour or so
Monday 60 min Jog in the am
45 min swim in the afternoon
Tuesday weights in the am
Bike in the afternoon
Wed 45 min run
swim in the afternoon
Thurs weights and bike in the am
Swim in the afternoon
Friday ( long) swim 90 - 120 minutes
Sat 90- 100 min jog


That is base progression when it get s to cold it will turn into a power progression then come march t will kick into over drive with two + 3 hour rides and 2 + 13 mile runs a week on average most of the cardio is done to a certain HR area

Weight room tuff lasts a hour roughly and is all circut interval based.

for a shorter one can easily develope a plan. Olympics are supposidly the most fun as they take roughly 3 or 4 hours to complete and usually a short course meaning you see the same people chearing you on over and over and it makes it easier.


Some days I love life and I cherrish the lonely rode at 5 am.
Other days I hate life and wonder why my ankle hurts and why i feel tired
Every day though I show up~

[Mop]

http://www.trifind.com is an awesome site for finding races, also has links to other sites that have wonderful info.

sorry as for books:


Total imersion is a awesome book for swimmers.

running is running- there are always better ways to run but for the most part be comfortable asnd be relaxed

Cycling, find a group to ride with makes it more fun... cycling gets a -boring and it is nice to have someone better at a tire change with you on a ride =p

as for weights it is a different mentality this artical is great:
One of the biggest problems with strength training for endurance athletes is the following question: should I train like a strength athlete or like an aerobics instructor, or do I just skip the weights altogether? Most of the time, you’ll see runners training with weights one of two ways:

like a bodybuilder

like a wimp, meaning they will lift the five-pound dumbbells ad nauseum thinking that this is creating endurance.

Let me state for the record that both methods are completely wrong. Big surprise there, right? There is a lot of research regarding strength training for endurance athletes out there, but you must be selective in where you look. Some of the top sports scientists in the former Soviet Union and East Germany looked into the proper methods of endurance. And while your local Road Runner club president might think he knows the “right way to train for runners,” I’m willing to bet he doesn’t.

So just what have these scientists and coaches found? We’ll get to that in short order. Let me first give some definitions of strength endurance. Yuri Verkhoshansky, a top athlete and strength researcher from the Soviet era, describes strength endurance as “involving muscular tension without a decrease in working effectiveness over a long period of time” (Verkhoshansky, 1986). Thomas Kurz takes a similar approach when he talks about “the ability to continue work for a required time without lowering the quality of work” (Kurz, 2001). Notice here the common theme of resisting fatigue, which is the primary goal of endurance training. After all, if you are pooped out after 15 minutes, you’re not much of a runner, are you?

Endurance Performance Factors


The physiological factors most often affecting the endurance athlete are categorized into local endurance factors and general endurance factors (Kurz, 2001). Local factors affecting endurance include the strength of a particular muscle group, the energy stores in a particular muscle group (i.e., muscle glycogen, fatty acids, phosphate compounds) and the density of capillaries in a particular muscle.



General muscle endurance factors include the strength of all muscles involved with the activity, the energy stores in the muscles involved, cardiorespiratory factors (i.e., stroke volume, blood vessel integrity, Max Vo2, etc.), and homeostatic factors that play an essential role in any anaerobic activity (i.e., buffer capacity of blood, ability to tolerate high acidity in the blood).



This stuff makes sense, right? You have to develop endurance in the proper muscles needed for your activity, and you need to make sure all of these muscles can perform for the entire duration of your event, otherwise you will still be limited by your weakest link. Remember, our chain is only that strong.



Hitting the Weights!


So, for the average long-distance runner, just what should that person be doing in the gym? German scientists have utilized two basic strength training program with their athletes for years with great success. These two basic methods of strength training are known as the extensive interval method and the intensive interval method (Hartmann and Tunnemann, 1995). Each method has a slightly different focus, and endurance athletes looking for an edge to their performance should utilize both.



The extensive interval method is used primarily for athletes needing to acquire high endurance capacities within a given unit of time. This method increases the athlete’s ability to resist fatigue during lengthy activities (e.g., marathons). To train with this method, there are a few guidelines you need to know.



First, all weight training sessions should be performed in a “circuit” format, whereby you train on one exercise, rest, then move to exercise #2, rest, exercise #3, etc. until you have completed all of the exercises for that day. You then repeat the circuit three to six more times. This is critical to perform since “station” training will not be as effective. Station training refers to training one exercise completely before moving to the next exercise, similar to how most bodybuilders train. Remember your goals: you are not training for a bodybuilding contest, therefore your training should not resemble theirs.



You will also be training the entire body each session. This promotes a greater release of growth hormone and increased levels of lactic acid production, which will enhance the body’s ability to remove this waste product when competition arrives.



Extensive Interval Method Guidelines


Resistance Reps
Sets
Rest Interval
Set Speed
Rest Between Circuits

30-40% of max.
20-30 reps

(set lasts ~60 sec.)
3-6
60 sec.
Brisk, with emphasis on exploding on the concentric
3-5 min.




The intensive interval method is most effective with helping to improve resistance to fatigue during short-term muscular endurance training of medium to high intensity (Hartmann & Tunnemann, 1995). This format will help endurance athletes to generate high-endurance performance by exploiting both the aerobic and anaerobic energy systems (Hartmann & Tunnemann, 1995). Theory points to the fact that the arteries are blocked during the contraction phase of the exercise and the relatively short breaks involved. The volume for this format is slightly lower than with the extensive interval method, owing to the increased intensity levels.



Another important aspect of the intensive interval method is the regulation of repetitions. For this method, we will not be concerned with numbers, but time. You will perform reps for 20-45 seconds, with 30-second sets being the average. You need to time yourself somehow, and a digital timer on your watch with a countdown function works best in this regard. Don’t worry about the number or reps you complete, just keep repping until the time limit is up.



Intensive Interval Method Guidelines


Resistance
Reps
Sets
Rest Interval
Set Speed
Rest Between Circuits

50-60% of max.
20-45 sec., 30 sec. is optimal
3-6
10-30 sec.
Explosive, focus on fast concentrics
1-3 min.



So What’s The Plan?


To periodise these methods, you should focus on the extensive interval method during most of your pre-competitive phase, adding in the intensive interval phase just before your competitive season. Even long-distance runners need to do this, as the intensive interval method will help the athlete with the “burst” needed at the end of a race. Be careful with your planning with each method, since overtraining is a distinct possibility when dealing with strength training and long-endurance training.


The main method of structuring your training program using these methods will depend on your chosen sport, but I can present a few guidelines to help you get started. Remember to adjust the parameters presented above based on your athlete’s current abilities and future goals.



The Extensive Interval method is used most often in the preparatory phase of the training cycle. It will prepare the athlete for the necessary utilization of glucose for exercise. Some research also suggests that this method of training increases the number of mitochondria as well as the density of capillaries in the worked muscles (Hartmann & Tunnemann, 1995). This method is favored by athletes in cyclic-types of sports (e.g., cross-country skiing). In this case, repetitions may be increased to 100 or even close to 200 per set (Bompa, 1999).



The Intensive Interval method would primarily be used in the pre-competitive phase of training for athletes involved in acyclic types of sports (e.g., wrestlers). You may begin their preparatory phase with extensive interval work and then shift to the intensive method as you close in to the season. To preserve strength during the season, you would drop the intensive method and rely on wrestling matches to preserve anaerobic endurance.



Sprinters Take Note!


These methods are also useful for track work, and the same general principles apply as with the weights. I’ve presented a chart below for an advanced sprinter that may run the 100, 200 or 400 meters. Notice the similarity in intensities and repetition as we discussed with the weights.



Distance Running Speed
Break (jogging)
Repetitions

Extensive Interval



100m
15-14 sec.
60-45 sec.
20-40

200m
33-29 sec.
90-45 sec.
40-50

400m
72-60 sec.
120-60 sec.
16-20

Intensive Interval
(jogging/walking)


100m
13.5-12.5 sec.
180-90 sec.
8-12

200m
28-26 sec.
200-150 sec.
8-10

400m
66-58 sec.
300-180 sec.
8-10


(Table from Schmolinsky, 2000)


Breaking Away From Tradition…Thankfully!


These routines may seem “different” when compared to what’s out there currently, but in many cases, different is what is needed! Ask yourself if your current weight routine has been making any difference in your runs, and then take the chance to try out these methods.

[Lyion]

Thanks for the info. Again, this is something I'd like to do as a personal accomplishment to go along with other things.

[Tacks]

Mid life crisis?

[Martrae]

Damn..Taxx beat me to it.

[Mop]

I think every single person that crosses that finish line is my hero - not the pro's but the avg people.

upwards of 18 hours of mind over your body.. every step telling you to stop.

I get vry emotional when I see ppl finish.. it's a dream come true through lotsw of hard work.

[Mop]

If you really get inspired to try one, let me know and i wll help you come up with a plan that works w/in your time frame and help as much as i can.

[liquidstayce]

Hey Lyion -
You mentioned that you are 35. In the Tri world that is smack in the middle of the dominate age group that wins - usually 30 - 40yr olds. They can handle the mental part of the racing better then the younger guys. They also usually have more training years and a proven higher capacity for better oxygen intake.
Good Luck!

Oh... p.s. if you are married or have a significant other, make sure you also prep them. Triathlon training is an obsession. Free time will be limited and it is really good if you can try to get your other half involved in your training if at all possible.
Since Dana and I workout together, at least one of those sessions almost every day, it helps. We also try to take a piltates class one night a week in the evening. Additionally, he keeps me really involved with his training, accomplishments, and new things that he learns. I have a lot of fun cheering him on from the sidelines. You also have to take the good with the bad. Some days when he is moody and exhausted I just have to ignore him.

P.S.S check this out ... http://stacyndana.photosite.com/races/
(I'm now as obsessed supporting him as he is about his racing =P )

[Lyion]

Thanks for the link. I'll PM you Mop. I've done some intensive military training in my 20s, but been a lightweight over the last 8 years.

This is something I've always considered, and want to do for my personal growth.

Ya, its definitely a mid life thing, Taxx.

[Mop]

I personally find it really rewarding every day. I find a new challenge every single time I go out.

I am thinking of doing a race in northern Cali that is an Olympic style.

.9 mile swim, 26 mile ride 6 mile run in June ( San Jose International Tri )
SHould be fun in a lake which will make it 10 times easier than ocean If you want to do that one, let me know I can probally find you a place to stay for free.