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The Ironman Marathon - How to train to run 26.2 Miles after swimming 2.4 miles and bicycling 112
By Kevin Moats, IM 50-55 Hawaii World Champion and world record holder.
"With Master Amino Acid Pattern (MAP), I find I can train harder and recover better. I have been able to build muscle mass and minimize tendon soreness with MAP."
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The theory of marathon training has changed dramatically in the last few years. The high mileage, periodization approach of the last 50 years has given way to the low mileage, high quality, pace specific workouts. In the “old day’, the typical marathon program consisted of running 6 to 7 days a week, a base training period of LSD (Long Slow Distance), then more specific intervals, and finally the taper or sharpening period. Weekly running mileage was in the 80 to 100 miles and the infamous “doubles” (running twice a day) were in vogue for the true hard core marathoner. The current marathon training theory now limits running to just three key workouts per week with cross training on the non-running days. This approach is ideal for Ironman marathon training.
The basic concept behind the “new” form of training is optimize your running efficiency, and train your body to run your “goal “ pace even when you are tired.
Intervals and Tempo runs are used to improve running efficiency, and the Long Run is used to “lock in” your goal marathon pace in order to maintain the pace over the last 6 to 8 miles. The Furman Institute of Running and Scientific Training has an excellent summary of the optimal marathon training. I will briefly summarize their approach, but strongly recommend you visit their web site at www.furman.edu/FIRST/fmtp.htm. After summarizing their approach for running an all out marathon , I will suggest a few modifications to adapt the plan to the Ironman Marathon. The FIRST program consists of three key workouts per week, Intervals, Tempo Run, and the Long Run. The two critical pieces of information you need however to develop a training program are your all out 10 K pace, and goal marathon pace. The all out 10 K pace is a proxy for your Lactic Threshold (LT) or Anaerobic threshold pace.
Intervals:
1 X week.
Pace should be 30 to 45 seconds per mile faster than your 10 K mile/LT mile pace. Intervals distance should be between 400 Meters to 1500 Meters. The optimal interval workouts appear to be 6 X 800 meters with a 1:30 to 2 Minute recovery. A sample workout would be as follows. If your all out 10 K were 43 minutes, your mile pace would be a 7 minutes per mile pace. It is important to run faster than Lactic Threshold or 10K pace, so your goal pace for each 800 meter would be 3:15 (or a 6:30 per mile pace). Recovery should be sufficient for the heart rate to drop down to 70% of your LT heart rate (1 ½ to 2 minutes).
Tempo Run:
1 X Week
Distances consist of longer runs (2-4 miles) at your 10 K/LT mile pace plus 15 to 30 seconds SLOWER than 10 K pace. To use the example above, a sample workout would be a 2 mile warm up at an easy pace 8:30 to 9:00 per mile pace , then 3 miles at a 7:15 to 7:30 per mile pace., followed by a 1 miles warm down.
Although this run is slower than your lactic threshold, it is still far better to do a shorter tempo run than to do a longer non specific run (8-10 miles) to log some miles.
Long Run:
16 miles up to 22 Miles 1 X Week
The key to the long run is NOT to slog it out. A portion of the long run must be done at your marathon goal pace. The key is run far enough and long enough to work on your goal pace, but not so hard and long as to cause residual fatigue so that you can not do the Interval and Tempo runs. The optimal approach is to “negative split” your Runs, so that the second half is FASTER than the 1st half. For instance if your goal all out marathon pace were 8 minutes per mile, a typical 20 mile run would consist of the 1st 10 miles at 8:30 per mile pace, then the 2nd 10 miles would be at your goal pace of 8 minutes per mile or slightly faster. This is teaching your body to hold the race pace even when it is tired.
Since the key is to run a portion a substantial of your long run at race pace, it is best to alternate distances each week. For instance one week may be just 15 miles at race pace, the next week may be 20 miles with 10 miles at race pace. Again, you will have to judge the residual fatigue to determine how many long runs per month you can handle. A faster pace is more important than “slogging” out the miles.
Ironman Marathon Training:
OK this is all well and good for an ALL OUT Marathon, what about the Ironman Marathon.
Clearly the Interval and Tempo runs as outlined are perfect for Ironman marathon training, since improved running efficiency will pay big dividends in the Ironman marathon. Put simply, a 15 seconds faster per mile at your Lactic Threshold, equals 7 minutes over the marathon distance.
However, the long run should be altered in two ways. First the long run should be run the day after your long bike ride (4 to 6 hours). You need to train your body to push the pace even when it is fatigued off the bike. Secondly the long run should basically be run at your GOAL Ironman marathon pace , instead of Goal ALL OUT marathon pace.
Again, to use the above example, if your goal Ironman pace is 8:30 per mile, instead of 8 minutes per mile for the all out marathon, then you should try to run the long run at an 8:30 per mile pace. Also you should start out at 16 miles and build up to 22 miles prior to 4 weeks to your Ironman event. Similar to the all out marathon training , you should try to “negative split” your long run. For instance, for a 20 mile run, the first 10 miles may be at 9 minutes per mile and the 2nd 10 miles at 8:30 per mile. Also you may alternate your distances so that every 3rd week you are building the run up to 22 miles and the other weeks may be limited to just 15 miles at goal Ironman Marathon pace, so that the residual fatigue is not as great.
The Transition Run:
The only other modifications to the FIRST program is the Transition Run –after your long ride. The Transition run should be 4 to 6 miles run immediately after finishing a 4 to 5 hour ride. The first mile should be at your Goal Ironman marathon pace , then try to increase your pace by 15 seconds per mile. For instance if your goal Ironman marathon pace is 8:30 per mile, then the first mle would be at 8:30, the second mile at 8:15, the 3rd mile at 8:00, the 4th and final mile at 7:45. This is training your body –even though it is tired after 5 hours on the bike- to start turning over the legs and to push the pace as opposed to just slogging through the miles.
Summary:
So there you have it: 4 Key Running Workouts per Week
The key to the Ironman Marathon is to make every running mile count. Train to improve running efficiency by running close to your lactic threshold and train to “lock in” your goal Ironman marathon pace by training at your goal pace when you are tired. Less is more. Anything else is a waste of time, and worse, may actually be training your body to run slower instead of faster
1) Intervals:
1 X Week at 20-30 Seconds per mile faster than your 10 K pace or Lactic Threshold
pace. Distances 12 X 400, 6 X 800, 3 X 1500 Recovery jog of 1 ½ to 3 minutes
2) Tempo Run:
1 X Week at 15 to 30 seconds per miles SLOWER than 10 K/LT mile pace Distances 1 X 2-4 miles
3) Transition Run:
1 X Week at Goal Ironman marathon pace decreasing to Goal all out marathon pace or aster. 4 to 6 Miles
4) Long Run:
2 X Month 20 -22 miles 1st Half at 30 seconds SLOWER than goal Ironman Marathon pace., 2nd Half at Goal Ironman marathon pace.
2 X Month 15 to 16 Miles at Goal Ironman Marathon pace.
Good luck and good racing. See you in Kona.
Kevin Moats - Ironman Champion
Other articles from Kevin
Articles from Kevin:
The Eight-Week Winter Marathon, or Early Season Triathlon Training - Age Group Excellence: Part 1: Running Off the Bike - Part 2: The Challenges of Kona - How to train to run 26.2 Miles after swimming 2.4 miles and bicycling 112 - The Mid-Season Break - 30 Days to Kona: Peaking/Tapering for the Big One - Kona Spring Training Camp -10 Things about Training - Winter Break and Off Season Training - Turnaround Buoy in Kona! - Lavaman Race Report
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