No Time To Train For An Ironman? | Triathlon Training Explained

[@gtn]

What topics would you like us to cover in future episodes of 'Triathlon Training Explained?' Let us know in the comments below 👇

[@1dree1]

what would be interesting to me is the "pros and cons of tt bike vs road bike on the turbo-trainer" so ...which one makes sense for what and what are the pros and cons for indoor-training don't know if that's worth an episode but I always wondered about it and have never found much information on the regard :) thanks for the very nice content, I love gtn!

[@Duecewilder]

Found this video very useful. Would be great to see if and how you would structure a 6 to 8 month first ironman training programme around this minimalist training style?

[@alfredoablandonm6761]

Triainning to comeback on surgery or another type of medical condition 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼 I have a event in 3 moths and have a surgery abdominal (vesicula)

[@xGshikamaru]

How to pace an Ironman ? In this video you talk about building to Ironman pace for the run but that feels alien to me since I've never done one. As a 3:20 marathoner who does his base runs at 8min/mi or 5min/km, it feels strange to think that pace would fall somewhere in between. I would have guessed my IM pace would be somewhat close to that base run pace, so I wonder why one would build to IM pace since that implies running slower than that. These days when I'm doing brick workouts I'm in between half marathon and marathon pace, but I'm preparing for a HIM and expect to run in that ballpark for the run. Is it sensible ? I don't know 😕

[@DocKandTBW]

xGshikamaru great question, I enjoy running at above 1/2 marathon pace and thought whilst watching this 1- where does the fatigue come from over a 45 min run that doesn’t go beyond marathon pace and 2- can I ever run fast within Ironman training!!

[@mwendwak]

You two make a good and natural duo.. Great presentation

[@gtn]

Thanks!

[@DanNoz]

i average 10 to 11 hour training hours per week for my Ironman training. I know people consider that to be low, but am i the only one feeling that's a lot if you're still working full time??? to me the game changer was moving away from focusing on time spent towards structured intensity based training. Best of luck everyone for whatever you are up to in 2019. And like the guys said, don't panic :)

[@010MACS]

Dan Noz it is a lot when you work full time too! I averaged that for my ironman tris. Worked out fine in the end!

[@DanNoz]

@@010MACS 😎 congratulations which one did you do?

[@010MACS]

Dan Noz cheers! Switzerland in 2017 and Wales last year. Doing some ultras this year for a change then back on it! How about you?

[@JustinDoesTriathlon]

I set out to do 13-15 and ended up closer to 10-13 a lot of weeks. I actually *just* made a video talking about this, but I think it's also a bit of an underestimation too, because no one tacks on all the supplemental time to that. So sure, it's 12hours of *workout time,* but even if you're crazy efficient at driving to the pool, swimming, showering, all that, you're easily adding another 30min per day at LEAST of real time you've spent, and it adds up. It's tough, that's for sure. It also made me realize the value of late season races. I've got a friend training for a full in April and he basically has to run in the dark outside every night; kinda crappy.

[@orijit]

I do 8-9 in training for my first HIM... I can't imagine doing any more.

[@IronWill]

I have very limited time, and am training for a full IRONMAN in May! My most used 'time cheat' is to do my bike sessions indoors on a trainer (even during summer) - indoors you can hit exact training zones at any time (including hills) :/

[@1dree1]

and no traffic/traffic lights, construction works or whatever slowing you down :-) as much as I love riding outside enjoying fresh air and landscape ... but specially within the week it's a horrible waste of time really understand your "time-cheat" there

[@ironmantooltime]

Split swim sets, double swim day. Easier to fit in two 30 minutes rather than one hr etc 👍

[@trbeyond]

You guys repeatedly (and correctly) assert that swimming is very technique dependent. But what I’ve yet to see you discuss is the value of swim video analysis. The number of novice swimmers that have never seen themselves swim is mind blowing. How can you improve your technique if you don’t know what you look like? A video on how folks can do their own video analysis and some good online software/tools would be useful. I could provide my own thoughts but I’m sure viewers will pay more attention to your suggestions!

[@markthrelfall3577]

trbeyond hi, we have actually discussed swim analysis in a few videos before, but not explained how one would do it. It’s a good idea, although I know that many can’t just turn up to their local pool and start filming underwater. We definitely have rules against that in the Uk. I used to use video analysis all the time for myself and my coaching, so I definitely understand the value of it

[@trbeyond]

Good point - I hadn’t considered the nuances of videotaping and privacy laws in different countries

[@stug45]

I historically struggle with the run...did my first IM with just 5 runs over 10k. Shorter runs (which had been discussed in a previous video) enabled me to manage a 4:14 in Wales, with my last lap being my fastest! Had I made use of my TT bike would have been much faster than 12:01 in the end. 2019 is allowing more time to train but with the extra time spent on strength and stretching to enable consistency and hopefully no injuries. Planning to go well below 11 this time!

[@123overthehill]

In 2004, I did a 11:50 first Ironman in less than ten hours a week. Took about ten weeks. Not a great time but I wasn’t last either and my bike was very 1990s. 5000 yard swim in 1.25 hours. 5 hour bike ride. 2.5 hour run. And then a fast brick about 40 minutes bike, 20 minute run. Every now and then added some stretching and body weight exercises.

[@NicholasWoodley]

Really helpful. Just found out I'm in the London Marathon so have 3x months to train and 3* kids and a full time job and,and,and so the making the most of the miles is great advice. Thank you. I might try that build run idea from Mark.

[@markthrelfall3577]

Oh congratulations! Try to factor in one longer run per week, and gradually increase it's duration with time. If you do a shorter build run during the week...and then with time you can merge the two. A longer run with a build within it. As you get about a month out you can focus on some sustained effort at marathon pace too

[@davidclarkson787]

How about taking an IM noob through a 10hr per wk journey and see how they perform on the day!

[@markthrelfall3577]

Funny you say that, we have that exact video planned

[@nielsbrand291]

Maybe Dan Loyd would also be up for this ;)

[@JustinDoesTriathlon]

@@markthrelfall3577 I'm willing to sacrifice myself to your free coaching. You know, for science. ;)

[@deeoverthesea1]

@@markthrelfall3577 iam doing my 1st 70.3 in Montenegro on May 20th

[@Thedoctorjosh]

Fantastic! Exactly what I needed

[@johnp7950]

hours per week as a total and also in isolation would be helpful. 1 hr swim /6hr bike /3hr run per week = 10hours total, for me that meant a 12hr IM - a PB

[@markthrelfall3577]

To be honest, it's very hard to say that given everyone's 'limited time' is different. As Fraser mentioned in the video, aiming for 3 sessions of each discipline is a nice ideal, and then figuring out the time available for those 3 sessions. For about a 10hr week, I would advise around 1.5-2 hrs swimming / 5-5.5 hours cycling / 3-3.5 hrs running. We do plan on doing an actual ironman programme specific to a 10hr training week anyway, so watch this space

[@johnp7950]

@@markthrelfall3577 thanks mark for the reply, love the show - great content to suit everyone, keep it up👍

[@markthrelfall3577]

@@johnp7950 you're very welcome! I'm glad you're enjoying the channel :)

[@MK-je7kz]

@@markthrelfall3577 The problem with many sessions is overhead. If it takes an hour to get from home into the pool and back, then going from one session to three takes two extra hours per week. In that regard cycling and running are easier. And you couldn't do all your weekly running at one session anyway, but travelling and getting the gear on and off is also a factor when your time is limited.

[@dirk8260]

Mark Threlfall would be really great to get an example of an 10 hour training plan as orientation. Sure that all depends on the current status of the fitness.

[@paulgibson3248]

Hopefully doing my first 70.3 sept 13 Swim, bike, run, and lift at least 3 times a week usually two short sessions and one long

[@TheDomLouis]

Great video. Maybe suggest that those strapped for time might get decent bang for buck, on time, with focused turbo sessions, particularly over Winter.

[@thiagor.2266]

I was wondering about the importance of strength training in between swiming/cycling/runnning sessions. Isn't it important for core stability and stuff?

[@connorpimmphotography]

Strength training is an important element of any workout programme for performance improvements and injury prevention. That said, the majority of your training should be sport specific

[@tommoores1138]

When you guys talk about 'threshold' intensity for swimming, is that related to your Critical Swim Speed?

[@danthorward2801]

I’d like some more content on time management. The week of the and the day of the race are both tricky to manage.

[@andreacassani7903]

Please make italian subtitles for your videos. They are really good!!

[@markthrelfall3577]

Thank you. I will look into this

[@SotaMaehara]

Another informative video, cheers

[@qasimnalawala1526]

What is threshold and recovery pace?

[@cooperstravels5725]

I have made the decision to one day compete in an Ironman. I have done 1 sprint triathlon and about 8 half marathons. Looking to upgrade my bike from my 1992 Trek Mountain bike. Not looking to spend more than $1500 and would like to be around $1000. Any thoughts? I found a Trek Emonda alr4 for under $1000. Will this work?

[@LPisg]

Great Video...might have given me some Perspektive that im overdoing it...i have my very first triathlon this May (Sprint distance) and im trying to squeeze 3 swim 3 Bike and 3 runs per week...i guess i need to slow down a bit

[@mustaphab.1190]

Liked the beard Mark 👍

[@Pajoern]

Great video guys! I was wondering whether these sessions also make sense for short distance race?

[@tdb3472]

As a beginner, I'd be really interested in how to relate training time to swim/bike/run length. I'm looking at doing 500m/20km/5km cross-triathlon events. I don't need to be training for IM distance components, so doing 3hour bike sessions seems excessive. I have a feel for how to divide training time proportionally, but not really how to set run/bike interval distances and repetitions or swim sets for shorter distances. I suspect that swimming training won't really change, as swimming seems to be mostly technique, but I can't seem to find any rules fo thumb or guidelines on how to plan run/bike training to target specific distances. Thanks!

[@JasonParham83]

Tim B34 same goal for me. I purchased a training plan for my specific goal on “BeginnerTriathlete”. Seems to be working pretty good so far.

[@crnkspinnr5863]

How about a video on brick training since it wasn't addressed here? Thanks

[@markthrelfall3577]

Hi. Search Brick Workout 101. We have a couple of good Brick Session videos online. Thanks

[@andybarrowcliffe1154]

Where was the pool?

[@mylesiswhite4122]

"Doing pointless mILEs" Nice voice crack 😂

[@ReallyTooky]

What do they mean when they say “threshold”?

[@gtn]

Hey Edward Whalen, here is a video that explains all you need to know about threshold 👉 gtn.io/TempoRun

[@andrejstaruch7697]

Where do you shoot these videos?

[@heatherfell_oly]

The boys shot this one in Lanzarote.

[@markankone9362]

10% of the ironman is swimming. The video is 9 min 8 4 min for the swim 3 tot the bike 2 tot the run 😂

[@rajinbin]

People have most of the problems with swimming. Look it up

[@iamruss74]

Some people spend 90% of their juice on these 10% though...

[@_____________9599]

I did an Ironman with 79min of swim training in total

[@markthrelfall3577]

Haha good going!!

[@markankone9362]

First 😁

[@moytheboy22]

Pointless swimming = Garbage Yardage

[@markthrelfall3577]

Moe Rodriguez I like the phrase 😂

[@debaetsstevie]

OK.... It true.. No talent..

[@jflood82]

I don't really understand this ... If you have no time to train for an IM why do it ? .. Play with your kids, be a better boss/employee and enjoy life and don't be shit at all 3. When you do have time do it properly and enjoy it because if you are going to do it on 10Hrs a week its not going to be fun !

[@lefenec]

a lot of people forget about the having fun part of all of it

[@eddytjhia1131]

why not go to olympic distance or sprint distance tri right ?

[@stug45]

Do a shorter race

[@christopherdevine2811]

Matt said 'you know' 13 times.