The featured picture… worth a thousand words. That was 2013, the year we did Ironman Tahoe in the snow. Even though I had a DNF 90-something miles into the bike (long story, head to tritawn.com archives for that), completing that cold swim was a victory in itself. Thankfully I’ve had better Ironman days, and I know first hand how daunting and demanding it is to train for one of these beasts. In my opinion, as you build up over the season, getting in Big Days are arguably the most valuable part of your training; the long run off a long bike, the nutrition practice, and so on… priceless.
So if your goal is to do an Ironman, here’s a tried and trusted Big Day Brick workout that you can and should do several times during your peak training months (be sure to do this well before your three- to four-week taper begins). This workout has been inspired by many triathlon experts and professionals I’ve talked with over the years, but in particular a guy name Lucho. It may be a heavy load for just one day, but just go at your own pace and be true to your fitness. Ironman doesn’t have to be about speed. It’s all about smart pacing that allows you to finish strong and recover well. Don’t forget: your Big Day is not race day.
Besides putting together a solid day of swim-bike-run, these Big Days are an essential time to practice race nutrition and train your gut, which we know is important and necessary for endurance athletes and can be achieved in as little as one session a week (i.e. using your race nutrition in a kay workout only needs to be done once a week or less to train the gut). It’s much safer and healthier to figure these things out well in advance rather than leaving it to race day and risk having a blowup if your nutrition of gut status is not right.
You can also split this in half and use it for a 70.3 Big Day Practice, and up the intensity a tad as needed and as is appropriate to your fitness.
Pre-Big Day Breakfast
Option 1: Ideally, wake up early like you would on race day and eat and drink exactly what you plan to have on race morning. Preferably this meal is 2-3 hours before you start. That said, if you really don’t want to get up early…
Option 2: Have a small snack shortly before you start the swim, hydrate well, and save breakfast for post-swim in T1. If you do this, still have a breakfast that you’d eat on race day.
Swim – 30-80 minutes
Total aerobic effort. Use this more for a warmup to the day! Goal is to finish feeling fresh as a daisy—or something like that 😉 An open water swim is ideal for practicing sighting and holding a straight line as well as swimming in a wetsuit if that’ll be the case in your race, but not mandatory.
“T1”
Take your time. It’s no rush. Literally, if it takes an hour to drive home, eat if you haven’t had breakfast yet (or take in a snack if you did have brekkie), get ready for the bike, that is ok. However, T2 is a different story and you’ll want to make that a time-conscious transition.
Bike – 4-6 hours
This is all about dialing in Ironman HR, watts and pacing that will allow for a good bike and GREAT run. It’s important to understand that you are in the driver’s seat and this is our chance to experiment in order to have you perform your best on race day!
Your IM target HR is likely 5-15 beats below MAF or near/at MAF, but not over MAF. Don’t be afraid to ride “easy” below MAF. Report how this feels. We can make adjustments if needed.
60′ warmup + easier aerobic, steady riding below MAF HR.
2 X (20′ @ IM target HR*, 5′ @ 5-15 beats over IM goal HR, 5′ recovery)
15′ @ easy recovery
2 X (20′ @ IM target HR, 5′ @ 5-15 beats over IM goal HR, 5′ recovery)
15′ @ easy recovery
60′ @ IM RPE – listening to your body
20′ @ throw in some higher cadence intervals to get legs ready for run, and also sit up out of saddle a few time to stretch legs and hip flexors
10′ easy
T2
No need to “race” through T2, but do hustle so you can get on the run within 15 min or dismounting the bike. Reapply sunscreen if it’s sunny out!
Run – 2 hours
Just focus on steady pacing for most of this and meeting your hydration/nutrition needs so you know what you’ll need on race day. Focus on effort and how you feel, and don’t worry so much about what your actual pace is. IM is about being able to go long without slowing down – it’s NOT about how fast you can go!
10′ walking warmup (off the bike)
100-120′ @ a wide MAF range: Anything 10 beats over, or 10 beats under MAF, or directly at MAF is fine. Mostly avoid letting HR creep too high over MAF especially for the initial 90′ of running. You may see some cardiac drift happen but don’t let it get out of control early on. Then, if you still feel good the last 20-30′ you can up effort to avoid letting pace slow down too much.
10′ walking cooldown start and end with walking (more walking at the end for cooldown).
Notes:
- This workout technically starts 48 hours prior: practice good diet, fueling, adequate hydration and rest as needed the day(s) before your big day.
- This is not a race. Allow for some time to recover between efforts and focus more on being steady and strong till the end, rather than testing how fast you can go. IM is about not slowing down.
- It’s crucial to practice race fueling and hydration during your big day. This starts morning of with breakfast, and continues all the way through the long workout and post-workout recovery.
- Weigh yourself pre and post brick and note the difference; this will tell us more about how you hydrated and sweat loss. if it’s a significant loss, consider up’ing your hydration or electrolytes for absorption.
- Test gear, kits, and everything you will use on race day!
- Try to ride and run course-specific routes with similar elevation profile.
- Have a blast! It’s supposed to be fun 🙂