An Endurance Nation member, in a fit of youthful exuberance, signed herself up for another Ironman six weeks after successfully finishing Ironman Boulder at the start of this month. Here’s her question:
Hey Al, my name is H., and a fellow ENer showed me a post you made about doing a second IM just weeks after the first. You said a lot of great info. I was wondering if you could give me advice on how to plan the length of my long runs. I did IMBoulder 2.5 weeks ago, and in a recovering stupor, I signed up for IM Maryland (6 weeks from IMBoulder, 4.5 weeks from today). I took two weeks just to recover, building up bike and swim length toward the end of the second week. I trained for IMBoulder on the advanced plan and ran 3 18 milers, but per Rich’s advice, I am looking at the intermediate plan for this period between races. I have a long run coming up on Thursday, and I was just wondering how you would plan out these few long runs I get before tapering again? Sorry for the long email and to take up any of your time, but I appreciate any insight you have to offer. I have never done to IMs this close before.
And my response:
H … A few general keys to keep in mind before specifically getting to the long run question. First, remember that you don’t have to start from square one; you already have fitness from both your recent IM build and your years long training for endurance events. Second, your Race Rehearsal #1 for the upcoming IM was the previous IM! Third, you need to pay close attention to nutrition, hydration, sleep during this recovery/build dilemma you have created for yourself. The idea during the next month is to balance your body’s need to recover and re-build with your need to re-kindle your fitness. It’s always best to err on the side of eating what you need, and resting as your body tells you.
Now, what about the specifics of long run training during the next month. Like I said, you have years-long fitness to draw on. It might be hard to believe but even if you only ran easy 3-4 days a week, 5-8 miles each time, you would still be able to run a 10 minute/mile marathon (assuming you executed on race day as you did in Boulder). I’ve seen MANY people (myself included) who have had injuries which precluded “adequate” run training in the last 1-2 months before an IM, have very successful marathons on race day.
So, my suggestions … follow the EN IM plan, holding the running 3-4 times a week. An interval day, a Saturday “Run Before”, MAYBE an easy day with a few strides, and a “long” run. TWO of those long runs might be 1:45-2 hrs, but no longer than 13 miles max. The other “long” runs can be shorter, like 1:15-1:30 ish. An idea for how hard to run, taken from Bruce THompson, who just won his age group in Mont Tremblant, is to run the second half of the long run as 1 mi @ marathon pace/1 mi @ easy pace, giving yourself more rest between the harder parts of the long run.
Same idea with the bike. All you need is Race Rehearsal #2, and one more long ride of 4.5-5 hours. You might also consider making the Sunday rides optional, or at least easier than written in the plan – Just Riding Along, instead of 75-80% as written.
When in doubt, rest, take a day off, drink more water, take a nap. You can;t cram for an Ironman, especially when your body wants to repair itself. Think of what you are doing now as just keeping yourself tuned up, not trying to achieve any breakthrough workouts.
Reading your Boulder report, I noticed your were a bit concerned about not being able to keep the watts up on the bike. I don’t know if your plan was to ride at your hometown power levels, or if you reduced that to account for the altitude. At 5000′, there’s probably a 4-5% reduction in power levels from sea level, so your race day pace would need to be adjusted accordingly.
The BIG plus you have going for you, to keep in mind always, is how successful your race was in Colorado. You kept yourself in check during the bike, and then were able to run the whole way at a fairly steady pace. The same attitude in Maryland will give you a chance for another good race.