AVERAGE TRAINING HOURS FOR IRONMAN and OTHER STATS

I crunched the numbers to see exactly how many hours I trained for  Ironman Wisconsin (IMWI) throughout the year.  My training for 2011 officially started on Monday, January 3, 2011. However, I didn't really ramp up the cycling time till mid-June.   From Jan 3rd thru mid to late June I basically trained as I usually do gradually increasing hours up to about 10 or 11 per week, with R&R weeks of 5 - 5.5 hrs, so I averaged about 8.5 hours per week for the first 6 months or so.  After the Rochesterfest Tri on June 19, I considered this the time I would make my training more IM focused--less interval training, more steady zone 2 & 3, and a little longer distance--mostly on the bike.  I gradually added a little more per week until I started to taper down in August (but I still reduced training for R&R weeks, of course).  The figures below are the averages from Jan 3, 2011 thru Sept 10, 2011 (IMWI was on Sept 11).  For the training I put in, I am very happy with the time it took to complete an Ironman (12:12:20). I'm pretty confident that I could have been closer to 11:30 had I not messed up and started that marathon like it was a solo half marathon. Oh well, here are the numbers with some miscellaneous stats at the end.
NOTE: Training time includes indoor/outdoor training and all race time.

TOTAL TRAINING TIME/DISTANCE PER DISCIPLINE (Jan 3 - Sept 10)

• Swimming: 51 hrs 27 min 3 sec, 128,832.9 yds (73.2 miles)
• Cycling: 150 hrs 47 min 51 sec, 2848.12 miles
• Running: 101 hrs 20 min 4 sec, 821.25 miles
• Weights/Strength: 19 hrs 58 min, NA

WEEKLY AVERAGE TRAINING TIME/DISTANCE PER DISCIPLINE (Jan 3 - Sept 10)

• Swimming: 1 hr 25 min 47 sec, 3593 yds (2.04 miles)
• Cycling:  4 hrs 12 min 6 sec, 79.44 miles (18.9 mph average)
• Running: 2 hrs 49 min 11 sec, 22.9 miles ( 7:23 per mile average)
• Weights/Strength: 33 min, NA

WEEKLY AVERAGE TRAINING TIME

• 9 hrs

MISC STATS

• LONG BIKE RIDE. 112.21 miles was my longest bike ride prior to IMWI. It was on August 6, was point to point with about 12 turns, slight cross winds when going west, slight headwind when riding south. There were some rollers, but no significant climbs at all (pretty flat ride).  It took me 5 hrs 37 min 32 sec. Average Heart Rate was 135 (zone 1), Average Speed 19.95. I did stop twice to refill bottles/fix a flat, but paused the time/mileage. IMWI's 112 mile ride took 5 hrs 53 min 38 sec, Average HR 144 (low zone 2), Ave Speed 19 mph. Stopped once for a few minutes for bottles, but clock keeps ticking.
• LONG RUN.  Longest run in preparation for IMWI was 18 miles on August 10 which took 2 hrs 15 min 37 sec (7:32 pace per mile), 138 Ave HR (zone 1).  Stopped twice for quick refill of Fuel Belt Bottles, but paused time/GPS.  It was on the Sunrise-Sunset Trail in Kasson which is a 6 mile loop that has a few long flat stretches, but miles 5 & 6 are very hilly.  First 15 miles were 7:10 pace, but slowed down for last 3 to about an 8 min pace.
• LONG SWIM.  Don't laugh, but the longest swim I put in was an hour. Actually, I did 3 of them: July 8, 14, and Aug 3.  They ranged from 2100 to 2600 yards. All other swim sessions were between 20 and 50 minutes.

PR's SET THIS SEASON WHILE TRAINING

• 5k= 17:37 (5:41 pace) @ Mac Attack
• 5 mile= 29:10 @ Awesome Blossom 5 miler
• 10k= 36:45 (5:56 pace) @ Stay Out of the Sun Run
• 15k= 56:09 (6:02 pace) @ Spring Classic (ok, I never raced a 15k before, but I don't think I'll beat that time)
• Falls Duathlon= 1:07:01 (Masters Course Record)
• Douglas Time Trial, 18.9 miles= 45:03 (25.17 mph)
• Half Iron Distance Triathlon (Chisago)= 4:47:57 (not an official 70.3)

They're not record setting times by any means, but at age 40, I can't complain.