Thoughts so far, and some of the facts...

A few of you have already trained for and competed in an Ironman (or several!), but I have received a lot of questions about the training. I'll try to answer some of them...and give you my view on how this type of training compares to what it takes to compete in bike racing.

The number of hours training depends on the week, but it averages 15-20 hours. Sometimes a little less, sometimes a little more. Below is a rough breakdown.

Swim 3 times a week, 3-4 hours total, 9k-12k yards
Run 4 times (including bricks) a week, 4-6 hours total, 30-50 miles
Bike 3 times a week, 8-10 hours total, 160-240 miles

Total hours spent training is similar to what is needed to race bikes, but not all workout hours are contiguous. You have to drive to the pool or to the run, etc. This all adds up to a lot more hours to get ready, and return from working out. Also, an hour running or swimming is a much different effort than cycling for an hour...so the total energy & calorie expenditure is MUCH higher. For example, since I switched over training to triathlons, I've dropped 15-20 pounds. Some pounds were fat, but many of the pounds were muscle from my legs and upper body that were needed to compete in cycling races. In cycling I had much higher intensity intervals and operated at a much higher heart rate...at least 20-25 beats higher on average for the week. With that training I was able to generate high wattage for short periods of time, but now I can sustain a medium level wattage for a very long time. I've traded my "jet fuel" for "diesel" to power my engine.

It takes up a lot of time, especially with a full time job, etc. But, what does it really take to compete at the top level (obviously not me, the real guys)? As a comparison, Brian Fleischmann is on the U.S. National team and races ITU races. The distance he races is approximately a 1 mile swim, 25 mile bike, and a 6 mile run...and he trains about 25 hours or so per week. He's not training for an Ironman, but an event that takes around 2 hours to complete! There is much more intensity in his training, so most of those hours have a LOT of quality to them...ouch! It makes my schedule look tiny in comparison. I think for a professional triathlete training for Ironman events probably is around 25-30 hours per week, but much less intensity than Brian's. I read one time that Mark Allen trained 38 hours a week during his peak volume!

Ironman training puts an emphasis on doing long workouts at a lower intensity. This teaches your body to use fat for fuel in an efficient manner, and save your glycogen stores. When you go harder (high heart rate) you burn glycogen which I think is enough for about 2 hours...then your empty...obviously not enough for an Ironman. Your body has a much larger store of fat energy, so you want to keep your heart rate in a certain zone so that you can use fat energy as long as possible...and burn glycogen as needed (toward the end of the race). When I first started training I would do my runs at a low heart rate and feel like I was really crawling, probably 9-10 minute miles. Now, I can keep my heart rate low and run 7:30-8:00 miles. The same is true for the bike training.

I know a lot less than most about this, and the people that really know about his are Gregg Carr, Danny Domingo...and especially Shawn Burke at the folks at Velocity Multisport.

I've rambled too long...
Sween