Seemingly the first thing people want when Starting out is a training plan. All their training sessions laid out for them in a nice neat convenient way. But for me this is a huge mistake. Training plans only lead to one way. Missed sessions and stress. An online training plan doesn’t take into account…LIFE.
This site certainly isn’t aimed at Pro or top level athletes. Who have the time available to train when their plan says. Most of us have Jobs, Families, Social lives. And Despite what most people tell you there is no need to compromise these for an ironman. The key is flexibility. Fitting your training around your life.
Too often people trying to stick to a rigid plan get stressed, miss Import Family and social occasions for training, Train when tired or generally degrade both their training and their lives because it says on a training plan they must train at x on y. If they miss the session, they will be stressed. If they miss the family or social event, they will be stressed. It’s simply not worth it.
You need to be completely flexible. Have training times in mind but if they don’t fit move them.
I will write extensively about this as It’s so important and a key area people get wrong.
The other big problem with most plans I see is they simply have you training far too often and for too long. They are often adapted from PRO schedules and geared to make the training seem daunting and scary. I have never trained more than 7 times in week, normally less. And 10-12 hours per week is a rare PEAK week event normally only because it includes a very long ride. Most weekly sessions are around an hour only getting longer at weekends. While this may not be enough for Kona Qualifying times it’s enough for a good time. And more than enough to make your day enjoyable.
While this may well seem daunting on the amount of training you do now. It’s not unthinkable.
I will talk you through the basics of building your own adaptable schedule. How to best morph it around your own life events. And how to build up to the long sessions that really count. There is no reason an Iron-Distance Training schedule can’t and shouldn’t be fitted around Family, Work and a Social life. Never should it be the other way round!