New York Marathon, November 2008, after triathlon season...??

gabgab

Hi guys,

I am currently trying to get into shape, and always find that goals and dates help me a lot more. I am looking at commiting to doing the NewYork City Marathon for charity next year,

The way I am looking at doing things are as follows,

The duathlon series in Dublin nstarting in May, till the end which I think is around August, with the Dublin City Triathlon in August as my goal, I have done sprint previously, one of which was a disaster, but can anybody tell me the feasibility of doing this, and recommend some training approaches.

My basic knowledge is as follows, I need to train at approxamitely 70% of my hr for the majority of the time, approxamitely a month or until I stop making gains, then work at speed interval training, again until I stop making gains, then back to the 70% stuff,

I know I am over simplifying it, but is the september and October period enough time to get the marathon stuff done and where should a heart rate be for marathon training, eg: 15/20 mile runs, why I ask is that I have never done a run that far, and am curious will my heart rate steadily climb or, poresuming my legs dont give up will it remain constant.

I am going to do a 90- minute run at the weekend to see how far I get at an average rate of 75%, I am just curious as to what people think,

thanks in advance

tunney

It sounds as if you want to take next season seriously, well done. First step on the slippery slope.........

First thing I would do is buy Joel Friels Training Bible.
Then I'd subscribe to the Ironmantalk podcast and Joel Frields Podcast.

The book is big and complicated but easy to read, if folloed it can help you draw up a proper periodised training plan with peaks for main races. I don't think anyone on the boards to go to have the time or information to do this for you.

It sounds as if you have heard of periodisation but you've not got it quite right.

Works in cycles on a number of levels. Basically the high level cycles are along the lines of Prep, Base, Build, Peak, Race

Prep is basically just light training to prepare you for the proper training
Base is your long slow stuff. Generally you have multiple blocks of base. (couple of months)
Build adds some more intensity and speed work (2-3 months)
Peak is short, sharp stuff to get you in "peak" condition (month max)
Race is a 1-3 week period where you are at your peak

Atfer an interation of this you need to go back to base work and build it back up. The second and subsequent peaks don't take as much work.

Each block is broken down into 3-5 week sub blocks. The normal being a four week block. Week 1 is an easy week, Week 2 slightly harder, week 3 hard, week four very hard.

Finally, triathlon training will not get you in the proper shape to run a marathon. 2-3 months would cover it though.

gabgab

Hey Tunney, that is great thanks a million for your help. Is it the triathlon Bible or the heart rate monitor training one?? I dont wanna buy the wrong one,

http://www.amazon.com/Triathletes-Training-Bible-2nd/dp/1931382425/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1195137644&sr=8-3

Thanks for your advice, and in your opinion, can you do triathlon stuff along with weight training, I reckon I will do it regardless, even just 20 minutes of bench, squat, press and dead, as I am looking to develop a physique, using the triathlon stuff for fitness and bodyfat you know,

Again thanks for your advice, I plan on using it and hopefully surprising a friend of mine that is a little cheeky about how quick he is ya know :D

tunney

Thats the book.

Weight training is an integral part of training for multisports, however once you hit April or so the weight should be sacled back to maintenance mode only.

gabgab

Ah thats class, was worried one cant do the other but I guess for the explosive stuff you need to be doing the strength work too,