Full Ironman training
The full Ironman distance: 3.8 km swim, 180 km bike and 42.2 km run. For an age-grouper that is 11 to 16 hours, nearly a whole day of daylight. It takes the longest preparation, and almost all of it is about long sessions and recovering from them.
How many weeks to train
TriCoo usually plans 26 weeks for a full distance: 13 weeks of base, 10 weeks of build and 3 weeks of taper. The tightest window is 16 weeks.
No number of hours guarantees a finish. TriCoo does not claim that some number of hours a week is enough for an Ironman. The plan shows what work you can do without a sharp jump in load, and readiness to race cannot be measured that way. TriCoo does not recommend a full distance as a first race.
How TriCoo builds the plan
In the base phase the long ride and the long run grow. Each step is small and starts from what you have already done. A long session never goes beyond the time you gave for that day. If you miss a long session, the next one does not get longer.
In the build phase the long ride becomes a brick, sometimes with a tempo block. For intermediate and experienced athletes a brick comes every load week of the build, for beginners every second one. One week in 4 is a recovery week, one in 3 for beginners.
Sample week
Sample week
Week 14 of preparation, build phase. Total 10 h 20 min.
- Mondayrest
- Tuesday
- Swim, 1 h 30 min, easy
- Wednesday
- Bike, 1 h 30 min, easy
- Thursday
- Run, 1 h 20 min, easy
- Friday
- Swim, 45 min, easy
- Saturday
- Bike, 3 h 30 min, brick: bike with a tempo block
- Run, 25 min, brick: straight into an easy run
- Sunday
- Run, 1 h 20 min, long
A sample for the profile below, computed by TriCoo. Your plan will differ.
Who this week was computed for
A made-up athlete, 35 years old, intermediate, who swims, bikes and runs regularly. No strength training chosen. Thresholds are known: bike power, run pace and swim pace. One main race, a standard preparation window.
Time by day: Tue swim up to 90 min, Wed bike up to 90 min, Thu run up to 90 min, Fri swim up to 60 min, Sat bike and run up to 240 min, Sun run up to 150 min. Monday is a rest day. 12 h a week in total. This is a setting of the example, not a norm for the distance.
For four weeks before the preparation the athlete trained like this: Tue swim 60 min, Wed bike 90 min, Thu run 75 min, Fri swim 60 min, Sat bike 240 min, Sun run 105 min. Fitness at the start of preparation was 72. From there TriCoo computed week after week, and every week was done exactly as planned. There are no missed sessions, illness or bad days in the calculation.
Generator version: endurance-week-v26.
Saturday is the main day: a long ride with a tempo block and a run straight after. On Sunday, a long run. Weekdays are easy. Even in a build week most of the work is easy, that is how preparation for long races works.
Bricks
The brick run for a full distance starts at 25 minutes. The bike part is the long ride of the week. It grows from what you have already ridden. More on the Brick workouts page.
Taper
Before a full distance the taper is longer, 3 weeks. Volume steps down: 60%, 50%, 40% of normal. More on the Tapering page.
Pick a race
Full distance races are in the race calendar. Most people do a half before a full.
TriCoo builds a plan around your schedule and recalculates it after every session, missed day and bad day.
About TriCooRead next
- Ironman 70.3 trainingHalf distance: 1.9 km swim, 90 km bike and 21.1 km run. How many weeks to train, how long sessions grow and a sample week of a plan.
- Tapering for a raceHow long a taper lasts, how much volume drops and what stays in the plan. Plus a short taper for a secondary race.
- Brick workouts: bike then runWhat a brick workout is, why you run straight off the bike, how often TriCoo schedules bricks and how long the run is for each distance.