16 week Aerobic Development plan for Ironman athletes with a solid base of fitness. Must be able to swim 3,000yds, bike 50 miles and run 6 miles continuously at Zone 2/3 before starting.
This is designed to build aerobic fitness and increase Threshold speeds across all three disciplines.
Main focus is Aerobic Development to maximize fractional utilization of Maximal Aerobic Capacity.
A few mesocycles are dedicated to improving Aerobic Capacity as the assumption is the athlete selecting this plan will be already reasonably fit and will most likely need to "raise the (aerobic) roof" to continue improving Aerobic Development.
It is designed to be the first of 2 Aerobic Development phases for a total of 32 weeks, then followed by the Ironman Build phase of 13 weeks right up to Race Day. It can be used as a standalone to either build the Aerobic engine or transition into the Build, but it is recommended in combination to Aerobic Development 2 prior to the Build for best results.
For the athlete that is ready to commit to the full race prep, the entire 45 week Ironman preparation plan is also available as one plan.
Bike and Run workouts are built in the Workout Builder so they can be exported to your trainer, watch or head unit for ease of use.