On Sunday, March 5th, it hit me

Here's a basic plan for the 2006 Ironman training. This plan is submitted in July of 2005 . . . weighing in at around 188 pounds.
Date range Total training
volume (in hours)		 Comments
August 15-31, 2005 10 [13:37 actual] Swim, base bike, gradual run build
September, 2005 25 [26:07 actual] Swim, base bike, gradual run build
October, 2005 30 [31:34 actual] Swim, base bike, gradual run build
November, 2005 35
[Goal changed to 61 hours for November/December] 		Swim, base/moderate-intensity bike, gradual run build
December 1-20, 2005 20
[Goal changed to 61 hours for November/December]		 Swim, base/moderate-intensity bike, gradual run build
December 21, 2005, to January 1, 2006 How you feel/If you feel.
Being in Livingston County and/or Cincinnati is the priority
[Goal changed to 61 hours for November/December] ---I actually got in 51:51 for the November/December window.		 Enjoy time with my family.
Now, for 2006 (upon returning from vacation), we go to a 'Build Phase' which runs from January 2, 2006, until April 1, 2006. After this Build Phase we move to the Base-Grade-Strengthen Phase which goes from April 2, 2006 up until 2-3 weeks prior to Ironman Wisconsin. At the time of this writing, the projected date for the 2006 IM Wisconsin is September 10th. I've not yet been able to confirm this through IM North America.

The 2-3 week period after the Base-Grade-Strengthen Phase is the taper phase.

Here is the plan for the Build Phase
Week begins on Monday . . . Training Hours

January 2nd

6 [6 hours actual]

January 9th

8 [8 hours actual]

January 16th

10 [10 hours actual]

January 23rd

6 [6 hours actual]

January 30th

8 [8 hours actual]

February 6th

10 [10:01 hours actual]

February 13th

6 [12:06 hours actual]

February 20th

10 [7:07 hours actual---CompuTrainer meltdown]

February 27th

12

March 6th

6

March 13th

10

March 20th

12

March 27th

How you feel
If you feel
The Base-Grade-Strengthen Phase will use a 'Swing Grid' system. Essentially, training will 'swing' from 3 week cycles to 4 week cycles, depending on unforseen real world scheduling realities. There is no rule regarding how many 3 week cycles there should be, how many 4 week cycles there should be, etc. The table below offers a suggested progression of how the weeks in a cycle might progress. There should always be a progression within a cycle (each week should involve more training than the previous with the low volume and high volume weeks being the definitive volume requirements) and from one phase to the next (each subsequent phase should be exactly one level higher than the previous phase . . . . In other words, if you just completed a three week cycle at Phase II then the next cycle must be Phase III, regardless of whether it's a 3 week or a 4 week cycle).

Mathematically, it's possible to use up the Phases prior to the taper. For instance, if nothing but three week cycles was pursued (and no transitional HYF/IYF weeks were implemented) then it's likely that Phase VI would be completed prior to the taper. Hopefully, this won't happen. In other words, there is a slight push to do some 4 week cycles. However, if it does happen, then a Phase VII will be created and pursued such that it flows with the progression patterns established to that point.

Phase Number 3 Week Cycle Progression
[In hours]		 4 Week Cycle Progression
[In hours]

I

9-12-14

9-11-13-15

II

9-13-16

9-12-15-17

III

9-14-18

9-13-16-19

IV

9-15-20

9-14-17-20

V

9-16-22

9-15-18-22

VI

9-18-24

9-16-20-24

Never forget, this . . .

. . . is what you're looking for.
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