Hello! This plan is the final and most important part of the 30 weeks Ironman plan - Cycle III - "ATTACK". Yes, we are going to attack our form to get ready for a sub 12hrs race. If you are really disciplined in training and lucky on a race day, you can also race around 10hrs with this plan - evidence-based! Because I put the best of all coaching into this baby - this plan contains only proven successful coaching practice I collected from the best coaches around the world - the German, Australian, Swiss and Russian schools - and from my own experience of coaching and racing.
This plan is for ambitious triathletes with some experience and who have completed at least 12 weeks of training - Cycle 1 and 2 - entry and consolidation phases. We start right away with triathlon-specific training and moderate levels of volume and intensity, which then grow every week.
The training is based on duration, heart rate and your "feel/perception". The feel is important - we want to listen to our bodies to stay injury-free. We also want to understand our minds, because we need to develop mental toughness and fatigue resistance - Ironman is 80% mental. In the "ATTACK" phase we train our bodies and we program our minds for a superb performance on a race day!

Here is some general guidance how to calculate your training zone, based on your max HR.
Max HR women = 205 - 1/2(age). Max HR men = 220 - age
Z1 = <60% of Max HR
Z2 = 60-75% of Max HR
Z3 = 75-85% of Max HR
Z4 = 85-95% of Max HR
Please note, that Max HR for running which is the reference above is typically 10 bpm higher that for cycling, since more muscles are involved in running. So for your bike training zones, please subtract 10bpm from all values of running zones.
Abbreviations: Z=zone, P=pause, PB=pullbuoy, PD=paddles, B=band, HR=heart rate, bpm=beats per minute.
Please read all descriptions and sweat the seemingly small things - details matter! For personal guidance and all questions, please contact me at coachtatjana@gmail.com. Have fun training!! Tatjana