A periodised training plan

Wow - 3 weeks of the 18 week training plan have blown by! 15 weeks to go until Ironman Lanzarote. In this post I thought I would share some details about how I design my training plans along with an update of how the last few weeks have gone.

Designing a training plan

The first step for me in designing a training plan is deciding on 'A' races I would like to do.'A' races are races I want to peak for, where I intend to 'give everything' aiming to break personal records.  In essence they are the reason I train - the ideal is nothing is left to chance at these races, everything has been tested, practiced, and I go into the races rested and highly charged! I take into consideration the date of the race and will not enter unless there is 16-24 weeks for me to get in shape. Given my 6 years experience racing Ironman I have found that I can prepare in 16 weeks, I would not typically recommend this duration to someone new to the sport or someone stepping up to this distance unless they have a solid foundation in endurance racing.

Once 'A' races have been selected, I enter them as soon as I can so I am committed. With Ironman branded races most sell out the moment spaces are released so typically I am entering 1 year in advance.  Once races are entered I then select a date that is my 'official' start date for a regimented training regime. When selecting this date I consider life! So for example this year I started my 'official' training on the 14th January after a ski holiday and the festive period. For me it would be too difficult to stay committed to my training, nutrition and sleeping over this period and whilst skiing. I consider the festive period and ski trip opportunities to spend time with friends and family and have a break from the relentless focus of training for an Ironman.

Once I have my 'A' race date, in this case 18th May for Ironman Lanzarote, and start date -14th January (giving me a period of 18 weeks to train which is referred to as the Macro-cycle) the next step for me is to split this training into a number of phases (Meso-cycles). This process is often called periodisation and although there is lots of terminology around this, I keep it simple. For anyone wanting to know more on periodisation for triathlon, one book I would like to mention/recommend that has a good section on periodisation, is Joe Friel's triathlon training bible (link at the bottom of the post). The key sections I split my training into are base, build, peak and taper (there are others I use such as recovery post race if I am going to build back up to another A race). For Ironman Lanzarote I am doing an 8 week base, 6 week build, 3 week peak and 1 week taper.

During all phases Training load is subjectively considered: Training load = volume x intensity. Training load is key to understand as it gives a good indicator of the amount of stress you are placing on yourself. It is well documented that it is not smart to significantly increase volume and intensity at the same time, I have found this to be true with myself.

Base is where I focus on the volume side of the equation. High mileage at low intensities, coupled with plenty of technique work - long swims, bikes and runs along with conditioning exercises, typically high reps to build local muscular endurance. By the end of the base period I aim to be swimming 4km with relatively less effort. Biking up to 200km feeling controlled and measured and running 35km steady controlled and measured - of course there will be some fatigue after these sessions but it should only be mild and last only a day or two, if it is longer more adaptation is required which suggests volume has been increased too quickly or I am not recovering well which is most likely to be down to not eating and/or sleeping well. It is worth mentioning during this phase the mind adapts also and my goal is to get into that place that only really Ironman recognise when you say in response to the question; what training are you doing today? "I'm ONLY going out for 150km!" I understand this sounds insane to those that do not do this type of training but honestly when you are doing rides of 6hrs+ regularly a 5hr, 150km ride does feel short to the mind, a 1hr, 40km ride hardly seems worth doing! It's quite funny because my Wife Laura has clearly adjusted her mindset to this also and often responds "Oh, only 150km, I thought you were doing a long session today!" When I hear it back it makes me giggle at how ridiculous it sounds. I should say here that I do include some speed/interval work during a base phase but it is typically 1 session a week or fortnight from each discipline. Often I include some single discipline races such as a half marathon which serves as a good intense session, these I call 'C' races, I do not taper for these, I am not that bothered about my times, they are training as opposed to races really. For example I ran Watford half marathon this weekend after riding 150km on Saturday in high winds. My legs were tired on Saturday, at present 150km is still quite a long ride as I have not been tough enough to brave longer in the recent weather. Anyhow I posted a 1hr 34min half marathon time on a lumpy course with tired legs.  This is a long way from my PB half marathon - it was pleasing though to post this time at this stage in my training and this actually gives me more confidence than a fast 'fresh' time.  You never get to run 'fresh' in an Ironman, to me running fresh feels nothing like running in an Ironman and I have found little correlation between my fresh time improvement and my Ironman running.

After base comes build. The focus here is to maintain a high volume but build in more intensity work -this may include some race pace time trial efforts, another interval session for each discipline. Higher heart rates are achieved and sessions start to 'sting' a bit!

No doubt you can guess that peak is about intensity.  Volume is reduced slightly to give more recovery time from more intense sessions. If I have to skip a session or adjust it to be a recovery, in this phase I am okay with that as the sessions need to be of good intensity.  Sometimes in this phase I may put a 'B' race in the schedule, such as a local half iron distance or olympic distance race. This depends if there is one that is on a suitable date and if I need to test something like a new nutrition strategy or bike set up under race conditions. Leading up to Ironman Lanzarote I do not have a B race planned but I do have a 4 day training camp in Lanzarote with a training partner - this is ideal as we will smash up some solid sessions whilst getting a good feel for the actual course and conditions, ideal really.

Lastly then is taper.  This is all about letting the body recover.  You can't just do nothing here though as the body can de-condition very quickly and start to 'glue' up.  Weight can also go on quickly as the big appetite from burning 15,000 extra calories or so per week does not subside once the training load goes down so you have to be careful here! This phase is very subjective and I typically go by how I feel. Short, quality and non fatiguing swims, bikes and runs to maintain fitness and confidence are done.

To give you a visual representation here is how it looks in diagram form.

Of course there is more to it than this but this is the blueprint, in my next post I will talk about micro-cycles which for me are a week. I will look at the number and types of sessions as well as how I structure a week.

Hows the training been going up to week 3 of 18?

The first 3 weeks have been challenging but I have seen lots of progress. The biggest challenge has been the snowy, wet, cold and windy weather. This has made it hard for me to get out for good quality long rides. That said I did manage to get my maiden ride in on my new Cervelo S2 road bike, I covered 150km and loved every pedal stroke, the bike is awesome. Most of my riding has been on the Tri bike which is set up on the turbo. I have done quite a few 3hr sessions and feel really good on these, I have increased a few gears for particular sets and can feel my legs strengthening.

I have been increasing my run volume each week and have a couple of 25km runs under my belt now plus a half marathon. By the end of Feb I aim to have a couple of 30km runs done plus the Brighton half marathon which I am confident I will go quicker on as the course is flatter plus I am getting stronger each week.

Swimming is going very well, I am putting in some big endurance sessions around 5km. One session I do is 4x 1km with a 90second rest, this is becoming much easier now and I am finishing it feeling good, I plan to progress this to 3x 1.5km soon.

I have managed to steadily lose weight whilst getting enough energy in to perform and recover well - this is a tricky balance. My start weight was 158lbs and I am now down to a good weight of 152lbs. I aim to get to 146-148lbs, which is my racing weight, I can achieve this without compromising power.

Right for now it is time for me to start to prepare dinner and get ready for bed as I have a 5km swim session in the morning and a 3hr turbo with some strength sets in the afternoon! As mentioned in my next post I will look at how I plan a week of training - what is called the micro-cycle in periodisation terms.

You can also follow me on twitter: @ironman_JW