Hi everyone, I’m currently training for my first Ironman (IM Canada in July 2019) and 11 weeks into the High Volume of the Base Full Distance Triathlon plan and intend to do the Build and Specialty afterwards.
I believe it’s known to be quite a hilly course and was wondering if I should be including some “hill type” workouts on top of the default Full Distance plan workouts? Or should I potentially just swap out for example one prescribed workout a week for a hill training type workout. Or should I just stick with what the default workouts are for this plan?
For the base plan so far, I added a 5th bike (would do the Thursday workout on Wednesday as well). I was wondering if I continue to do this extra bike, would it ultimately benefit me as a biker or would it hurt me more because I’m having to recover more.
I’d recommend asking this question in the Ironman 2019 Thread to get some great advice from the smart folks in there
Here’s the link:
Generally, the High Volume Plan is already a lot of training stress, so adding additional rides should be done with great caution. Be sure to listen to your body and if you have any hint that you are not recovering enough from week to week, cut that ride out. It’s better to be able to nail all of your workouts at a lower volume than to start burying yourself in fatigue at a higher volume.
I had a quick look at the course profile of the bike. It appears to me that the hills are long ascends. You will thus climb them at sustained power and the IM plan should get you exactly there.
Interested to hear if people have different opinions.
I’d largely agree with @schmidt. The full distance plans include a wide range of interval types and should cover all you need for most courses unless they are exceptionally extreme.
That’s a hugely individual thing. Some people respond well to high volume training, some better to more intensity, and some a mix of both. Even at the Pro level, although they generally will all be at a higher volume of training than most of us, there’s fairly wide range of training methodologies there as well, from super high volume athletes to some who do much less.
As @Bryce says regarding the extra rides, even if you’ve got the time to commit to a High Volume plan doesn’t necessarily mean that your body is ready to absorb the training stress successfully so be cautious about adding extra.
More can be better… until the point that it isn’t and you find yourself in a hole that you need to recover from. Consistency is key and you are better off rolling consistent weeks at 90% of your capacity than pushing a little more than you should and finding a little while down the line that you need extended recovery periods.
