Average hours IM training

[BarryBevan 1,555]

Not for KQ, just trying to get an idea. On ST everyone does 25 or they do 8 and get to Kona. I've been hitting 16 hours per week, ramping that up to 20 for the next little bit. That's about it time wise for me.

What do others do

[pieman 1,191]

1 hour ago, BarryBevan said:

Not for KQ, just trying to get an idea. On ST everyone does 25 or they do 8 and get to Kona. I've been hitting 16 hours per week, ramping that up to 20 for the next little bit. That's about it time wise for me.

What do others do

Yeah but everyone on ST earns half a mill, has a 12 inch cock, 500w FTP etc...

[Bored@work 4,112]

I don’t earn half a million....

[rory-dognz 805]

For me. Between 10 and 14 hr in the 12 weeks prior and average 8 hr across the year

i am a mop/bop who is in it for a lifestyle. Best time 11hr 20 min self coached. With 9 IM completed over 13 years. 

[prizna 715]

How long have you been averaging 16 hours a week?

[BarryBevan 1,555]

All year 12.5 before that 

[Shuffla 358]

Similar to rory-dognz.

10-12 hours for the 12-14 week prep. 4 IMs self coached 10:48-11:21. Plus 1 IM as a guide probably averaged 8 hours a week and we went 13:15.

Just double checked my last IM in 2014 I did 174 hours from 1 Jan to 30 April.  That’s 10.2 hours a week and I did my PB of 10:48  

The missus does about 14-20 hours a week. 10 IMs between 9:45-11:30ish. 

Edited March 16, 2019 by Shuffla

[ScubaSteve 81]

8-10 year round. From oct to jan built to 15-16. Since then consistent 15hrs/week before port mac.  Any more and it’ll start to impact on time with the mrs.

I’m hoping for a big improvement over port Mac 2017. 10-12hrs/week gave me 12:17 or 70/200 in my age group

[Cranky 1,280]

I did 12-15 when I was training for IM. KQed on that. 

Now I do OD and about 12-15 hours.

 

[BarryBevan 1,555]

2 hours ago, Cranky said:

I did 12-15 when I was training for IM. KQed on that. 

Now I do OD and about 12-15 hours.

 

Thanks for that, I won't be KQ but happy that my 16 hours per week is ok without being great

[monkie 1,145]

Massively travel dependent. On a good week at home I can do 17 without it causing issues. With flying and being in CRAP HOTEL GYMS it makes it harder.

[AP 2,296]

14 hours ago, BarryBevan said:

Thanks for that, I won't be KQ but happy that my 16 hours per week is ok without being great

You don't need to do more than 16hrs average - each prep will build on the one before it - this is a long apprenticeship - expect 3-4yrs of consistent 12-16hrs to pay off in big rewards - just be careful where the advice comes from 🙄

[Infinit Jase 85]

I would guess 15 to 20hrs.  

[BarryBevan 1,555]

18.5 left me pretty tired 

[Cape_Horn 302]

4-6hours average, 9-11hours during the 12weeks prerace - never broken 13hours.

[Blobby 119]

Pretty much 12-15hrs year round, with a few 20hrs at key points.  best time is 10:28, mostly over 11h, with the biggest problem keeping nutrition in post 7 hours, regardless of pacing.

 

[wombattri 173]

On 16/03/2019 at 1:18 PM, BarryBevan said:

Not for KQ, just trying to get an idea. On ST everyone does 25 or they do 8 and get to Kona. I've been hitting 16 hours per week, ramping that up to 20 for the next little bit. That's about it time wise for me.

What do others do

I’m about the same as this, which is more than more my past two IM’s.

[Bored@work 4,112]

Just be careful where the advice comes from. Everyone is different and you your circumstances are unique to you. 

Over the last 5 years in the sport I have averaged less then 8hrs a week of training. That includes all non-ironman training (racing crits, CrossFit & playing social mixed netball with my daughter) 

Sure the hours ramp up before an Ironman man but on avg its less than 8hrs a week for the entire year. Sure I'm never going to KQ  but I can live with that for me there is more to life than KQ & Ironman. 

- I have never missed a game of my daughter netball (Sat Comp) because of training

- We do park run every second week 

- work 40+ hours a week 

- study 

- got several promotions at work 

- travelled 

- probably spend more hours waiting outside Lush, Valley Girl, Cotton On, Ally fashion , then I do training

- work the dog a lot 

- help others 

- on my first marriage 

- eat donuts 

etc 

Get a good coach, one who will listen to you. Not just pump out a blue print etc. Tell them what you want to achieve, the hours you have available. Sit down & be honest with what you want. Listen how they intend to get you there. If it sounds like they are full of shit or you can't commit to the hours. Revaluate your goals or find a different coach. It's a good idea to have your family onboard with hours etc before you commit. When I talk with my coach my wife is often in the room or I'm on speaker phone so she knows what is going on. We are a team and work together. 

My hours ramp up for an Ironman but my wife knows she is going to get an awesome holiday & her husband back once the race is over. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[BarryBevan 1,555]

Something I've done better is rest when needed and have avoided serious illness. Reached out and gotten help from some one. 

[Gizmo 73]

back in the day I was averaging 12-14hrs per week which worked fine (50yr old)... having done one each year for 6-7 years and trying to be consistent the rest of the year - 6-8hrs PW. Mega work weeks 50hrs, no kids and a great partner who was super supportive and helped a lot with my diet.. (and having naps on the weekend ha). and a good coach and mentor.. Mr AP.. got me to lots of start lines in good shape especially mentally.. yes I was pretty soft for a few years too..

[Bored@work 4,112]

16 minutes ago, Gizmo said:

back in the day I was averaging 12-14hrs per week which worked fine (50yr old)... having done one each year for 6-7 years and trying to be consistent the rest of the year - 6-8hrs PW. Mega work weeks 50hrs, no kids and a great partner who was super supportive and helped a lot with my diet.. (and having naps on the weekend ha). and a good coach and mentor.. Mr AP.. got me to lots of start lines in good shape especially mentally.. yes I was pretty soft for a few years too..

Did you do Kona?

[nealo 1,657]

11hrs

[AP 2,296]

3 hours ago, Bored@work said:

Did you do Kona?

Did you ?

 

[Peter 4,240]

9 minutes ago, AP said:

Did you ?

 

I don't believe that was the original question?

or are people not a valid triathlete until they have done Kona?
 

[Bored@work 4,112]

14 minutes ago, AP said:

Did you ?

 

Yeah 2012. The coffee at lava java is shit. The queen k is boring.  

 

[Gilliga 75]

On 18/03/2019 at 10:20 AM, AP said:

You don't need to do more than 16hrs average - each prep will build on the one before it - this is a long apprenticeship - expect 3-4yrs of consistent 12-16hrs to pay off in big rewards - just be careful where the advice comes from 🙄

I agree,

The last 12 weeks before Ironman 1 I averaged 17 hours a week, with some back to back 20 hour weeks 7-6-5 out. Got to Kona. For Kona I averaged 15 hour weeks and felt not as strong but got around well. 

I had done a 8 years of Half Racing before going to IM and was used to doing 15-18 hour weeks and putting together solid 12 week blocks etc.

I know some guy pretty new to Tri who are training for Ironman and cant do back to back 14 hour weeks and dont want to hear that it takes years to get used to it.

 

 

[Cranky 1,280]

3 hours ago, Peter said:

I don't believe that was the original question?

or are people not a valid triathlete until they have done Kona?
 

That's not the point. I only mentioned it because finishing an IM and training for the purpose to KQ would require a different level of commitment. Therefore if I was able to KQ on those hours, then you should be able to finish with less training hours per week, I would think. 

[prizna 715]

Majority of people on here aren't in age groups where you can KQ off a 12 hour average.

[Bored@work 4,112]

10 minutes ago, Cranky said:

That's not the point. I only mentioned it because finishing an IM and training for the purpose to KQ would require a different level of commitment. Therefore if I was able to KQ on those hours, then you should be able to finish with less training hours per week, I would think. 

You can finish an Ironman on less then 3hrs a week of training. Ratdog has proved that.

[Peter 4,240]

2 minutes ago, prizna said:

Majority of people on here aren't in age groups where you can KQ off a 12 hour average.

Agree.

There is a girl I am following on Strava and she has done 2 Ironman's.  Never qualified but she's handy on the bike.

Each week she is easily doing 15-20 hours a week and the moment and thats not including all the wasted time getting to pools or run sessions.  Super interested to see how she goes at Port Mac.  

[Ex-Hasbeen 8,122]

1 minute ago, Peter said:

Each week she is easily doing 15-20 hours a week and the moment and thats not including all the wasted time getting to pools or run sessions.  Super interested to see how she goes at Port Mac.  

She'll probably KQ, and that'll blow your whole argument.

 

[Guest FFF1077]

At a rough guess, I averaged 10-12hrs over the whole 16 week build for Busso last year. I didn't push myself in the race and pulled up fine the next day. 

 

I agree with B@W that balance year round with a final push is sustainable and the best way. Personally I couldn't toe the line on 3hrs a week, I'm not that self assured or brave. 

 

If I could do more than I did last time I would. It was all confidence for me. More hours equalled more confidence. 

 

BarryBevan, that's a solid effort. If you can honestly sustain that without sacrificing the rest of the things in your life, do it. 

 

But finally I will add, from my "one and done" I learnt that you can train 20 hrs a week year round, but having the actual ability to push IN A RACE SITUATION is what counts. Having a mind that says you can't when you have a body that says GO HARDER is not going to change unless you have developed your ability to dig deep and stay there in a race. 

 

All the best 

[AP 2,296]

It's pretty simple really - if you think you need to be doing more than you are to KQ - you never will

If you think your not doing enough to break 12hrs - you never will

If you think you're not suited to long distance - you're right again

There's no magic figure - recovery and technique are more important than total hours 

Your "training age" is an important factor - that's the number of hours you have accumulated over the years - another big advantage is to not take any notice of what a bunch of anonymous posters on a forum tell you about what you're capable of - look up the story of "The racehorse and the bumble bee" 

[Guest FFF1077]

@AP

Yes, like what was said to me at the end of the third lap.... 

 

"your legs aren't empty, your mind has given up" 

[Notsofast 227]

1 hour ago, AP said:

The racehorse and the bumble bee

I just looked it up, great story and even better message

http://library.crossfit.com/free/pdf/CFJ_Racehose_Bergeron.pdf

Cheers

NSF

[prizna 715]

1 hour ago, Notsofast said:

I just looked it up, great story and even better message

http://library.crossfit.com/free/pdf/CFJ_Racehose_Bergeron.pdf

Cheers

NSF

uuuuh so should i do cross fit?

[Guest FFF1077]

8 minutes ago, prizna said:

uuuuh so should i do cross fit?

No 

 

You need a new hat for race day lad.... 

[Peter 4,240]

38 minutes ago, prizna said:

uuuuh so should i do cross fit?

Only if you become a vegan

[Notsofast 227]

47 minutes ago, prizna said:

uuuuh so should i do cross fit?

I think the principles carry across most sports

NSF

[prizna 715]

56 minutes ago, FFF1077 said:

No 

 

You need a new hat for race day lad.... 

and blocked...

[Bored@work 4,112]

All the greats do Crossfit.

[FatPom 5,413]

The last two seasons I logged every training minute for both IM Wales races. Started at 30 wks out. (not really a plan, just gradually increasing).

Here's what I didn't count.  Swimming faffing, changing, wall time etc. Time at the cafe on rides, or any other faffing that wasn't moving fwd. No changing/ travelling time.  Same with running, only time actually running.

I did count strength sessions.

Both years I had a combination of travel, a few weekends blown with family/travel,  one week out for injury in the first year,  and some flu type stuff both years.

My peak weeks were 15hrs both years (LCW and one other).  If you'd asked me before counting, I would have said I was averaging 10hrs easy.

The actual average count over 30wks was:

2017:  8.8hrs

2018: 9.6 hrs

I was quite shocked,,and still knackered

[BarryBevan 1,555]

Thanks for feedback. Peaking out just below 20 and doing okay. There will be a couple of over 20 but thats it. Can see how I could do more in future, for this one I'll go with what I've got.

Following from Coach@ in other thread I'd love to be able to get that 4th swim in as that swim fit is just great when you start getting it.

 

[Greyman 680]

BB, that would be my point to you. There's a world of difference between a consistent 3 and 4 swim sessions per week. Best advice I got early in my ironman journey, way back in 1994, was 4 swim sessions a week as a minimum. it was hard but made a world of difference and for most of my IMs I did 4 to 5 sessions. 

 

[AP 2,296]

22 minutes ago, BarryBevan said:

Thanks for feedback. Peaking out just below 20 and doing okay. There will be a couple of over 20 but thats it. Can see how I could do more in future, for this one I'll go with what I've got.

In 97 I took 11 athletes to Kona - all in great shape - their training indicated they would do better than they did - they all performed respectably but not up to what I believed was possible. I looked back through diaries and the only difference between previous builds for the same group when they really fired on race day. 

The fourth week is usually a lighter, recovery week. In the Kona build everyone was so "ON" that I didn't make the fourth week as  light as before. When athletes are really keen it's hard for a coach to hold them back.

We learned from the experience - since then our fourth week is dropped by 50% from the third week - far to many athletes training for important races train themselves out of contention - more is not better 🤥 

[BarryBevan 1,555]

41 minutes ago, Greyman said:

BB, that would be my point to you. There's a world of difference between a consistent 3 and 4 swim sessions per week. Best advice I got early in my ironman journey, way back in 1994, was 4 swim sessions a week as a minimum. it was hard but made a world of difference and for most of my IMs I did 4 to 5 sessions. 

 

Yes, even 6 weeks to go, I'm going to add in that fourth swim as it just makes that first hour so much more comfortable. Pretty happy with the bikes too.

Happy with the running, making sure the back half of runs are stronger than the front half. But could really do with more swim time

[Guest FFF1077]

15 minutes ago, BarryBevan said:

Yes, even 6 weeks to go, I'm going to add in that fourth swim as it just makes that first hour so much more comfortable. Pretty happy with the bikes too.

Happy with the running, making sure the back half of runs are stronger than the front half. But could really do with more swim time

Awesome stuff mate. 

 

Getting lots of swimming in is a great way to recover from the bike/run. Mine was anyway as I always used a bouy unless I swam in a Wettie, but even then I didn't kick at all 

[Dave T 328]

11 hours ago, Greyman said:

BB, that would be my point to you. There's a world of difference between a consistent 3 and 4 swim sessions per week. Best advice I got early in my ironman journey, way back in 1994, was 4 swim sessions a week as a minimum. it was hard but made a world of difference and for most of my IMs I did 4 to 5 sessions. 

 

With the greatest respect, I honestly believe people should train their weakness. 

Over 19 IM races my swim time has been 1:00hr +/- 2mins. 

I tried swimming 15km/wk. No difference to my finish time.

I've swum 3  x 2km swims since Xmas.( all O/W)

This week I did a 4k swim with the first, second and last km exactly the same split TO THE SECOND. (must have stopped to do some sightseeing for the 15secs difference in the 3rd km 😁).

MY time is better spent ( now that I'm entering the 60-64 AG) trying to build SE on the bike.

Based on this thread, the average  training week for most people ( including me) looks like it's around 12hrs, with a few peak weeks thrown in.

4 swims per week in the context of a 12 hr week is excessive . YMMV.😁

 

Edited March 21, 2019 by Dave T

[ironpo 3,021]

This is an interesting topic 

Just like everything in life what works for some won’t work for others 

One year damo Angus KQ off a 10 hr a week build for 10 weeks , now he is an smzjng athlete and had plenty hrs of training in the bank , been to kona before , could race pro but it’s still only a ten hr week with his longest run at 10 k

at the other end of the scale there are some that are just never gunna KQ doesn’t matter how many hrs they put in . That’s ehy there is th legacy scheme which is fantastic IMO

as I’ve sad before anyone can finish an IM on NO training if they had a gun to the head or thier first born was held hostage 

if the Will and mind is there it will happen , dispite what Facebook and insta will tell you finishing an ironman is not that hard 

, IM is just what we do for a fun 

going fast or “racing” an IM is hard , getting or having the mindset to do this is rare and probably can’t be trained , and by going fast doesn’t mean sub 9hr for everyone , it means taking a usual 12 hr IM to 10 hr flat 

Or  a15 hr plus to 12 hr flat , some folks just are never gunna be sub 10 but that doesn’t mean they arnt going fast for thier genetics , age , , biomechanics and most importantly their mindset is right 

mrs IP did 12-20hr at port last year , her first IM was 13-56hr ten years and 25 odd IM later she wins her Ag by 3hrs15 mins 

not bad fir a 60 yr old 

most who do IM these days just trundle through the race , post on FB servers times ) And move on , these folk could proBly get the same experience out of the race if they “trained” half the amount of time in the build , wouldn’t make any difference to the outcome as the Will and the drive to “race” just isn’t there , it’s just a matter of getting to the finish line 

 

so getting ing back to the OPs question , it all depends on what you want to get out ofthe race (event)  , will depend how many hrs u put in (or need to put in) 

 

Edited March 21, 2019 by ironpo

[Peter 4,240]

39 minutes ago, ironpo said:

This is an interesting topic 

Just like everything in life what works for some won’t work for others 

One year damo Angus KQ off a 10 hr a week build for 10 weeks , now he is an smzjng athlete and had plenty hrs of training in the bank , been to kona before , could race pro but it’s still only a ten hr week with his longest run at 10 k

at the other end of the scale there are some that are just never gunna KQ doesn’t matter how many hrs they put in . That’s ehy there is th legacy scheme which is fantastic IMO

as I’ve sad before anyone can finish an IM on NO training if they had a gun to the head or thier first born was held hostage 

if the Will and mind is there it will happen , dispite what Facebook and insta will tell you finishing an ironman is not that hard 

, IM is just what we do for a fun 

going fast or “racing” an IM is hard , getting or having the mindset to do this is rare and probably can’t be trained , and by going fast doesn’t mean sub 9hr for everyone , it means taking a usual 12 hr IM to 10 hr flat 

Or  a15 hr plus to 12 hr flat , some folks just are never gunna be sub 10 but that doesn’t mean they arnt going fast for thier genetics , age , , biomechanics and most importantly their mindset is right 

mrs IP did 12-20hr at port last year , her first IM was 13-56hr ten years and 25 odd IM later she wins her Ag by 3hrs15 mins 

not bad fir a 60 yr old 

most who do IM these days just trundle through the race , post on FB servers times ) And move on , these folk could proBly get the same experience out of the race if they “trained” half the amount of time in the build , wouldn’t make any difference to the outcome as the Will and the drive to “race” just isn’t there , it’s just a matter of getting to the finish line 

 

so getting ing back to the OPs question , it all depends on what you want to get out ofthe race (event)  , will depend how many hrs u put in (or need to put in) 

 

Tri gold