Time for a New Training Plan

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For my fist two attempts at the Ironman, I had used a training plan from a book by Don Fink called 'Be Iron fit: Time-efficient Training Secrets for Ultimate Fitness 3rd Edition’. It’s a really good book. For me as a beginner, it gave me all the information, tips and tricks I needed to successfully train for an Ironman. The book gives you information on time management (very important), the training cycle, techniques for the three disciplines and a little on strength and conditioning and nutrition. The biggest part about the book however, was the training programs it gave you. There were 3 to choose from, a just finish program, an intermediate program and a competitive program. For my training, I chose the competitive plan from the book. The plan suited me and I was able to manage the training around work and social life.

The big problem with the training plan from the book for me, was the lack of strength and conditioning. I would go on a 2-hour run or a 4-hour ride let’s say and the cardiovascular part of me would feel fine. However, my legs would hurt, a lot. This massively hindered me. To be fair to the book it does have a strength and conditioning section, which is really good and gives the reader multiple workouts to carry out. The problem was, that it was not incorporated into the training plans themselves and for me, mentally, they were a secondary goal to the main training plan. So, when the training got tough, I would complete the training that set out and if I was tired, which was a lot, I pushed the strength and conditioning aside and it was not carried out.


Another issue with the training plan from the book, resting in the back of my mind, is the fact that I have not been able to achieve my personal goal of finishing the race in under 12-hours. This might be a little unfair to the book as Bolton was a very hard hilly course and the heat got me in Hamburg. But the feeling was there in the back of my mind. Albert Einstein once said, ‘The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.’

Because of these two issues, I have decided to look for a new training plan. I wanted something different, digital and a plan with strength and conditioning incorporated. I did my research and one website kept popping up over and over again: www.myprocoach.net. MyProCoach uses www.trainingpeaks.com, which makes a very good training app. The training plan goes on to the calendar in training peaks and makes it very easy to follow. The biggest pull for me was the fact that all the plans included the strength and conditioning aspect. I looked through the training plans and chose the intermediate 32-week ironman training plan. This plan suited my work and social life the best. 

Location: Belfast, UK

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