Mark Allen Coaching
IRONMAN Programs
$199/month with a 3-month minimum commitment
For those of you doing an IRONMAN or other full distance triathlon, this is for you! It will build on the experience and fitness that you already have from previous time training for a triathlon. It is highly recommended that you have completed at least one 70.3 Half Distance triathlon before embarking on the full distance.
Depending on your starting point of fitness in your long swim, bike and run workouts, there can be some longer over-distance workouts in both swimming and cycling where you will have sessions that are longer than what you will do in each of those two legs in the race. This enables you to gain more fitness than you would need to cover the distance and to then use that extra fitness to stay in the hunt for a great time or place and set yourself up for an amazing marathon at the end. It will bring out the best IRONMAN experience of your life!
You will be selecting options of doing 8, 11 or 14 workouts/week. Those include two strength sessions and then the remaining sessions are split evenly between swimming, cycling, and running. You will feel the emphasis on building endurance in the Full Distance program. The exciting news is that training is NOT going to be double what you would do to get ready for a 70.3 race. It is only about a 20-30% increase in the long and moderate length sessions.
Which Option Should I Choose?
Preparing for an IRONMAN is without a question something that requires previous experience in the sport. Ideally some of that is from racing at least one Half Distance triathlon if not several. But once you have that the build on your fitness and experience required to have a great race in a full distance triathlon is a relatively natural transition.
As a minimum it is good to be comfortable swimming 2,000-2500, cycling about 2.5-3hrs and running roughly 10-miles (16km). From there the real decision is going to be how many workouts per week are going to be the right choice for you and your lifestyle.
8 workouts/week is ideal if this is your first time moving up to a full distance, especially if you chose 8 or 11 workouts/week in preparation for a Half Distance race. It is also ideal if you have a minimum of training time and days in the week when you can put in your workouts. It provides the core key workouts needed to build overall fitness and speed yet has enough recovery within the week to make the training quite manageable. This option includes the Core Six Workouts that are part of all Mark Allen Coaching training plans. These are a long session and a shorter faster session in each sport every week plus the two additional strength workouts weekly.
11 workouts/week is a great option if you are accustomed to doing this number of workouts or more each week. It is also a great option if you have prepared for an IRONMAN in the past using 8 workouts/week and are ready to step up your game a bit!
This option includes the core 8 workouts/week and then adds in an additional medium length session in each of the three sports. This helps build extra base fitness and enhances the pace at which your aerobic fat burning physiology needed for a Full Distance race improves. This is our most popular choice for those doing Full Distance racing.
14 workouts/week includes the same workouts that are in the 11 workouts/week option and then puts in an additional shorter recovery workout in each sport weekly. It is a small addition in terms of overall weekly training time and is mostly used by those doing the Full Distance as an active recovery session to help flush muscles. In addition, because these recovery workouts are lower intensity it affords you an opportunity to work on form and mechanics in each sport.