[Marius T]

Hi all,

In the full ironman plans, there are RAe workouts settled by time, in line with the “theoretical average runner” who can complete 10 k in 60 minutes, like David said in another post.

This is nicely in line with another recommendation from David (to do at least one workout of 30 kilometers in preparation for a full ironman) because at that pace, both RAe 18 (2 hour and 40 minutes) and RAe 20 (3 hours) will conduct at targeted distance.

But, for a slow runner, doing time based RAe 18 and RAe 20 will conduct to much lower distances and let’s face it, doing a 30 k is a confident buster for most of us.

On the other hand, doing distance based RAe 18 and RAe 20 will last much longer than 3 hours. For e.g., at my actual pace for Z1 and Z2, RAe 18 will be 4 hours and 19 minutes and RAe 20 will be 4 hours and 20 minutes.

Now, I see to approaches:
-To do the workout till completion of the distance, but I don’t think that is efficient to run for 4+ hours in one session
-To split the workouts and to do “two a day” like this: A.M. 2 hours and 30 minutes, covering as much distance as possible (let’s say 20 km) P.M. 1 hour and 30 minutes covering the last 10 km.

Any thoughts?
Marius

[David Warden]

M,

It’s just not necessary to complete the individual distances in IM training. Even pure marathon training never includes 26.2 miles in training. Maybe 22 miles tops. So why do we think we need to run 24+ miles in IM training?

Yes, the long sessions are important, but there are diminishing returns after 2.5 hours of running and no returns after 3 hours of running (unless you are training for an Ultra event). You just can’t recover fast enough at 3+ ours of running, and you’ll just end up digging yourself into a hole.

There is also nothing wrong with 30K being your peak long run for IM training.

However, I’d target at least one 160-kilometer ride distance and at least one 32-kilometer run. All other runs should not exceed 3 hours, and even that is risky.

Your AM PM option is possible, if you can recover sufficiently. This is what Ultra runners often do, and even our Level 3 Marathon plans split up runs AM and PM in this way. It’s a high-risk/medium reward scenario, whereas the plan as written is a medium risk/medium reward scenario. You’re possibly just introducing more risk for very little increased return.

To help you feel a bit more confident, visit https://www.8020endurance.com/testimonials/ and scroll down all the way to the bottom, then click on the First Time athletes tab. Look at all the amazing first time IM participants on 80/20 plans, and none of them went more than 3 hours of running at a time.

David

[Marius T]

However, I’d target at least one 160-kilometer ride distance and at least one 32-kilometer run. All other runs should not exceed 3 hours, and even that is risky.

This is exactly my concern and my question. How can a slow runner safely do a 32 K run without exceeding the 3 hours mark?

The RAe 18 and RAe 20 workouts where just examples because they are peak workouts in the Level 1 full ironman plan.

Marius

[David Warden]

Some runners won’t be able to run 32KM under 3 hours. I’m OK with one of your runs exceeding 3 hours. It will impact recovery significantly the following week, but the net benefits of completing that distance once are worth it. There is no perfect solution here, it’s just the best-available solution, and I believe that the disadvantages of multiple 3+ hour runs are not worth it, but one 3+ hour run is acceptable.

David

[Marius T]

Thank you, David ! Now I understand.

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