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First half iron man and now London marathon
Hi
I have entered my first half iron man, and now got into London marathon after 6 years of trying. There is a month between them (marathon is first ). What is the best way to train for both of these, I was planning on following a 16 week training plan for the triathlon but now I'm not sure the best way to go about it.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you
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Hi Lucy,
whats your current training levels?
Could you do a 50 mile bike tomorrow? A 1.5 mile swim?
Are you looking to complete or complete?
A month between is plenty to recover, but would suggest the bias is towards running through winter with some long bikes in
You need to decide which is your A race, and prioritise that... You can do both, but with them that close, one will probably be compromised in terms of peak performance. Don't underestimate the recovery time needed from the marathon if you push it.... your legs may feel better in a week, but you'll take several weeks to be back to peak form....
However, many of us on here have done a spring marathon, and then an IM within a few weeks, so it is very doable!
Training wise, I just followed my IM plan (presumably you have a half IM plan you are following?) and upped the running element slightly at the price of (in my case) less swimming, along with bringing some of the longer runs forwards...... I then stopped running completely (although only stopped cycling and swimming for a few days) for 10 days after the mara before picking up the plan where I left off.
Everyone's body reacts differently... my mara definitely took the edge off my IM performance.... but then I did a second IM 9 weeks later and smashed it... go figure!
If however, you want to knock both races out of the park, then with just a 4 week gap, and (I assume) a limited endurance racing background, defer your VLM slot!
I have ran a marathon before 2 years ago, I am generally quite fit. I could go and do a 40mile bike tomorrow ( although it would tire me as have done less biking due to half marathon training. I understand the Half iron man may be slightly compromised but was just wondering on training really.
Thank you for your responses so quick
If you can treat London as a training session you'll be fine but that could be easier said than done seeing as its just a massive event.
If you're doing the bike and swim training properly then you're not doing quite as much run training as you might like.
If you race the marathon flat out - then it takes a while to recover. If you can take it as a long training run then you'll be back to normal much quicker and on with the last 2 weeks or so of IM training.
If you race the Marathon then you'll compromise that last few weeks training.
(dammit - just realised theres 8 weeks between VLM and my iron race next year)
Recovery Recovery Recovery...
If you train and recover correctly, then there shouldnt be a problem.
For example - hard 20 mile run on a Saturday, ice bath, pint of guiness, then go out Sunday for a 50-60 mile bike ride at your HIM pace.
If you've waited 6 years, surely the marathon is the priority, you can always do a second half iron later in the summer and have plenty of time to peak for it. Plus you get to do your bike rides in the summer.
Unless you're GFA standard it may be a long time until you get another shot at the VMLM, middle distance triathlons are ten to the penny.
I raced Slateman after the marathon this year and I was fully recovered, that was about a month. I did a 10k two weeks after the London Marathon and I was very much unrecovered!
Best bet would be to work some cycling and swimming into a marathon training plan, rather than the other way round. Add a morning or lunchtime swim, swap some run sessions for bike, that sort of thing. And as dave says, get some long rides in at weekends. Recovery is key, especially early on when you're getting used to the increasing mileage.
When I'm marathon training I don't like to do long (20+ mile) runs on consecutive weekends, so I alternate with a long (3+ hour) ride. It means starting the marathon build-up a bit earlier and the 'standard' training plans go out the window, but a longer build-up suits me and it means spring duathlons or a May HIM aren't a problem. Lower weekly running mileage is made up by the other two in terms of building up aerobic endurance.
I hope to do something similar, hopefully a fast marathon in early April, maybe the same at London a few weeks later, and then focus on the tri training and aim for a decent HIM in June. Your recovery will be key.
I may be doing the same thing :0)
London Marathon April
Outlaw Half IM May
Lakeman Full Distance June
I plan to follow an IM training plan but increasing the long run miles early. My A race is defined as Lakesman so I'm not too worried about time at either London or Outlaw.