Full Ironman 140.6

The Ironman: A Defining Achievement

The Full Ironman—140.6 miles of swimming, cycling, and running—stands as one of endurance sport's ultimate challenges. This isn't just a race, it's a six-month commitment that will test your physical limits, mental fortitude, and life balance. This plan is designed for athletes who have completed a Half Ironman and are ready to step into the realm of the extraordinary.

The Ironman Commitment

Training for an Ironman requires 12-20 hours per week at peak training. Single workouts will last 5-7 hours. This is not hyperbole—you will spend entire Saturday mornings riding your bike. You will run double-digit miles on legs still fatigued from yesterday's workout. You will miss social events, rearrange your life, and make sacrifices.

But you will also discover depths of resilience you didn't know you possessed. You will become someone who finished an Ironman. That never goes away.

The Training Philosophy

Ironman training is about developing sustainable power across three sports over 10-17 hours. Speed matters far less than endurance, pacing discipline, and mental toughness. Every workout serves a specific purpose in building the extraordinary fitness required to finish strong.

Swimming (2-3 sessions/week): Building from 3,000m to 5,000m+ sessions. The focus is efficiency, not speed. You need to swim 3.8km and still have a full race day ahead. Smooth, sustainable swimming is the goal.

Cycling (3-4 sessions/week): Progressing to rides of 5-6 hours. You'll develop the ability to sustain watts in aero position for 6-7 hours. This is muscular endurance training at its purest—teaching your body to keep producing power when it wants to quit.

Running (4-5 sessions/week): Building to 45-55 miles per week with long runs reaching 18-20 miles. But here's the key: many of these miles happen on fatigued legs from the bike. Brick runs teach you to run a marathon after already racing for 6-8 hours.

The Four Phases

Base Building (Weeks 1-8): Establish consistent volume without excessive intensity. Long rides build to 3-4 hours, long runs to 2 hours. Swimming focuses on technique and building to 4,000m sessions. Weekly training builds from 10 to 15 hours. Everything should feel sustainable.

Build Phase One (Weeks 9-14): Begin adding race-specific work. Long rides extend to 4-5 hours with tempo intervals. Run volume peaks at 40-45 miles/week. Swimming includes long steady efforts and threshold sets. Weekly training reaches 15-18 hours. Brick workouts become a weekly staple.

Build Phase Two (Weeks 15-20): Your hardest training phase. Long rides reach 6 hours at race effort. Multiple 2-3 hour brick sessions with long runs off the bike. Run volume peaks at 50+ miles/week. This is where you build the confidence that you can finish. Weekly training peaks at 18-20 hours with recovery weeks every 3-4 weeks.

Peak & Race (Weeks 21-24): Final race-effort simulations in weeks 21-22, then a careful three-week taper. Volume drops by 60% in the final week, but you maintain sharpness. Mental preparation becomes as important as physical training. Arrive at race day fresh, confident, and ready.

Non-Negotiable Training Principles

The century ride is essential: Multiple 5-6 hour rides teach your body to function when glycogen depletes, when saddle sores appear, when your mind begs to stop. These rides forge mental toughness.

Run on tired legs constantly: Ironman running is unique. Practice it weekly with brick runs. The marathon doesn't start fresh—it starts after 8 hours of racing.

Nutrition is your fourth sport: You'll consume 300-400g of carbohydrates during the race. Practice your exact nutrition strategy on every long workout. Stomach issues on race day are almost always nutrition mistakes made in training.

Sleep is not optional: Peak training requires 8-9 hours of sleep nightly. Compromise your sleep, compromise your training. Period.

Life balance matters: This is six months of your life. Communicate with your family. Protect your relationships. Ironman training can enrich your life or destroy it—the choice is in how you manage it.

The Mental Game

Physical preparation gets you to mile 100. Mental preparation gets you across the finish line. Ironman will hurt. Around mile 80 of the bike, your body will ask why you're doing this. At mile 18 of the run, your legs will beg you to walk. This is where your preparation, your purpose, your why matters.

Practice mental strategies in training:

• Break long efforts into manageable chunks
• Develop mantras for dark moments
• Visualize finishing strong repeatedly
• Learn to reframe pain as temporary sensation

Race Week: The Final Countdown

Ten days out: Your last long efforts. A 2-hour ride at race effort, 45-minute run off the bike. Nothing heroic—just a reminder that you're fit.

Five days out: Complete rest day. Start carb loading properly (more carbs, not more food).

Race morning: Wake 4 hours before the start. Eat your practiced breakfast. Get to transition early. Check your bike meticulously. Stay calm—you've done the work.

Race Day Execution

Swim (3.8km): This is crowd management and energy conservation. Start where you can find clear water. Settle into a sustainable rhythm by 500m. Draft when possible. Focus on efficiency. The race starts when you exit the water.

T1: No rushing. Check that you have all your bike nutrition. Compose yourself. The bike leg will be 5-7 hours—30 seconds in transition means nothing.

Bike (180km): This is where races are won or lost.

• First 40km: Settle in. Find your power. Start fueling immediately—200-300 calories per hour, every 20 minutes, no exceptions.
• Middle 100km: Stay present. Maintain watts. Keep fueling. Don't chase surges. Your race is long.
• Final 40km: Prepare for the marathon. Continue fueling (yes, still). Stretch when you can. Stay mentally engaged.

T2: Stand up slowly. Walk if needed. Get your run gear on methodically. Start the marathon conservatively.

Run (42.2km): The marathon is where you prove everything.

• Miles 1-6: Run easy. Let your legs find a rhythm. Your stomach may be unhappy—this is normal. Walk aid stations if needed.
• Miles 7-18: Settle into your pace. Focus on one mile at a time. Maintain nutrition—gels, aid station calories, keep taking them in.
• Miles 19-26.2: This is where you become an Ironman. It will hurt. You will want to walk. Every. Single. Step. Forward. Is. Winning. Dig deeper than you've ever dug. The finish line is waiting.

The Finish Line

When you hear those words—"You are an Ironman"—something fundamental changes. Not just in how you see yourself, but in what you know you're capable of. You joined a small community of people who refused to accept limits. You did something extraordinary.

The training was hard. Race day was harder. But you made it. And nothing—nothing—can ever take that away from you.

Welcome to Ironman. You earned it.