This plan is designed to prepare the athlete for the rigours of the notoriously tough IM Wales. Racesnake coach Mike Bridge has collaborated with welsh native Carol Bridge (2nd pro out of water IM Wales, Castle series winner and commonwealth games). Carol lives and trains on these roads and so her insight into how to prepare gives this plan an edge you may not find elsewhere.

Mainly designed for intermediate athletes who have some IM or 70.3 racing under their belts, the plan could also be used by athletes who are coming with training backgrounds from other disciplines and are aiming at sub 12hr times.
The plan builds from 10hrs to a maximum of 15.00 hrs with a significant amount of strength and power resistance training in the preparation phase to prepare the athlete for the higher intensity efforts demanded by the hills of Wales.Later in the plan resistance training is replaced by more discipline specific training.
The plan requires a large amount of work at goal race pace throughout so an idea of your target time and a break down of this into average speed, pace per mile and kilometre will be useful.

The swim facet of this plan focuses on the athletes ability to maintain goal pace over the IM distance. To this end swim sessions are simple to follow and work on consistency over set distances, making them time efficient and effective.

Longer endurance bike/run endurance sessions have been placed on weekends and so could easily be swapped with events of a similar time/distance. The plan does not follow a traditional taper and stays relatively high volume until the final week. This is in line with new thinking on how to avoid losing fitness in the lead up to IM type events.

Need more guidance on your journey to the big day? Use this plan in conjunction with Racesnake's personal coaching and see your times smashed. Coaching for this plan starts at £60/month.

Good luck on the big day and Hwyl Fawr!