Marathon/Gravel Race - Training Plan 9-11 Weeks

Hi

I am looking for some advice.

Thoughts on using an Iron Man plan for running a full marathon on 1/28 and then a 130mile gravel bike race on 2/9?

I’m currently running 3-4 times a week and biking 4-5 times a week.

I also lift 4-5 times a week.

My workouts have been unstructured.

I have run 2 half marathons this year and have done several centuries this year. Completed an Olympic Tri this year as well.

I would say my fitness level is decent.

If anyone has any recommendations on a coach that would be great for this I would greatly appreciate it.

My goal currently is to finish both.

Thanks ahead of time !

Just to clarify… you are using these essentially as training events or are you competing to do your best?

Either way… I would drop the lifting and use that time for more running, especially extending the long run if you haven’t already. You can pick up lifting again once you are done.

Personally I have always been wrecked after racing a marathon… after the race I would entirely focus on recovery. Like no workouts. Light spinning at most. Nothing you can do in between events to make you faster other than rest.

My goal is to just complete both of these events. The marathon will be the Miami Marathon I can run around 8:30 miles but I was thinking of taking it down to 10-11 minute miles due to the other event being so close. The bike race is The Rock Cobbler (Boulder Edition) which is a climbing heavy 130 mile gravel race.

Dropping lifting does sound logical especially on the recovery front.

On 4/20 I’ll have the race I want to complete for time which is the Barry Roubaix 100 miler.

1 Like

Hey there and welcome to the TR community!

An IM plan is a solid approach for these two races coming up. You could skip the swim workouts, of course. :wink:

You’d get some good running fitness in with those plans, and there is definitely some overlap in how the IM plan would prepare your bike fitness for a length 130 mile gravel race.

If you’re interested in using TR to train for these events, you could check out our Custom Plan Builder.

Feel free to let us know if you have any other questions!