Typical training week during IRONMAN® pre season

My pre season started in September 2018 with the plan to be ready for the IRONMAN® Canada taking place in Whistler in July 2019 first and potentially if things are going well for the World Championship in Kona mid October 2019.

Since 2015 when I finished my first IRONMAN®, also in Whistler, I continually train and study with the purpose to improve these long distance races. The direction after the second IRONMAN in Sonoma, CA in 2016 was to be able to race in order to have a chance to qualify for the World Championship – ie. to arrive in the 3 to 4 first of your age group.

The approach I had in the beginning of the season was to assess what I needed to do in order to arrive in January 2019 with the endurance and stamina to tackle the specific IRONMAN® training.

While keeping doing aerobic activities, I realized that I needed to build strength, flexibility and mental fitness. Another aspect needed improvement what my sleeping pattern as lots of training hours will have to be balanced by enough quality rest.

Instead of being part of a triathlon club, I’m part of different specialized organizations all based in Vancouver BC.

Yyoga – A yoga studio offering various yoga classes (from meditation to power and hot yoga)
Clem Fitness – Clem Duranseaud personal trainer
English Bay Swim Club – Master swim club based in the Burrard Aquatic Centre
Speed Theory - A premier Cycling and Triathlon store in Vancouver
Forerunners - A Community running store organizing clinics

The program is comprised of:
Strength conditioning three times a week.
1 session called Yfit at Yyoga made of 1 hour of circuit training based on calisthenics with sometimes the help of dumbbells.
1 session of TRX at Yoga made of 1 hour of circuit training using the TRX method.
1 session with Clem Fitness of 1 hour where we work of various themes (upper body, core etc…) using some equipment again in circuits training.

Yoga
1/2 meditation
1:15 Yin yoga
1 h Yoga flow
1 h Hatha yoga

Aerobic activities
Swim 3 times a week
Bike and run casually till October
Run 3 times a week starting November

The schedule of a typical week during the pre season looks like

Monday
6:00pm - 7:00pm: Strength (Yfit)
7:30pm - 8:00pm: Meditation
8:15pm : 9:30pm: Yin yoga

Tuesday
10:45am - 11:45am: Yoga flow
7:00pm - 8:00pm: Swim

Wednesday
6:30pm : 7:30pm: Run, speed work

Thursday
8:45am - 9:45am: Strength (TRX)
7:00pm - 8:00pm: Swim

Friday
12:00pm - 1:00pm: Run
4:45pm - 5:45pm: Hatha yoga

Saturday
8:00am - 10:30am: Long Run
2:30pm - 3:30pm: Strength (Clem fitness)
5:00pm - 6:30pm: Swim

Sunday
RESTTTTTTTTTTT….

Start again on Monday.

Since September I improved swimming (Yes I moved one lane up!), this is partly due by a better position (core) and the ability to increase the strokes cadence while maintaining a proper form. The running feels also totally different from last year. I don’t have anymore back pain when starting and the day after.

In conclusion, a good amount of time is necessary to build the body to go to the next level using both physical and mental training. Using this period to do others related activities such as hiking, trail running, mountain biking can keep the engine running and bring diversity and new horizons for the mind.