Chris D's 2015 Macro

Chris Davis

Hey Coach.  In my initial season plan, I had the Austin Half Marathon on 2/15.  I'm thinking of swapping that out for the Woodlands Half Marathon on 2/28.  This is in preparation for IMTX.  Does that 2 week difference put me "too far" into the ironman training plan to allow for a half marathon?  Right now, the swim camp seems to be a good taper for Austin.  Changing to The Woodlands seems like it might throw that off.  Do you have any thoughts one way or the other?  Thank you.

Coach Rich

Posted By Chris Davis on 29 Dec 2014 09:36 AM

Hey Coach.  In my initial season plan, I had the Austin Half Marathon on 2/15.  I'm thinking of swapping that out for the Woodlands Half Marathon on 2/28.  This is in preparation for IMTX.  Does that 2 week difference put me "too far" into the ironman training plan to allow for a half marathon?  Right now, the swim camp seems to be a good taper for Austin.  Changing to The Woodlands seems like it might throw that off.  Do you have any thoughts one way or the other?  Thank you.

Nah, the scheduling of that HM won't make a difference and don't worry about how that integrates/interfers with the swim camp plan. Just do the HM on 2/28 and follow your TSR as I've written it. 

Good luck!

Chris Davis

Coach, I'm looking ahead a bit (a lot), and saw that my "1st race rehearsal/camp week" is the week of 4/6. I'm doing the Texas Training Camp with Coach P 3/19-3/22. Do I need to change anything up because of that? Will I still do a race rehearsal on 4/6? Or do I switch it out for what we're doing at camp? Should I try to ramp up volume a bit more in anticipation of camp? Or will the standard training plan have me ready by week 12 to handle the volume of camp weekend?

Chris Davis

Also, when I load up the Ironman plan on 2/1, am I loading the "2015 EN Full Beginner" plan? Seems like the right one, since this is my first Ironman, but I just want to double check.

Thank you.

Coach Rich

Posted By Chris Davis on 21 Jan 2015 10:21 AM


Coach, I'm looking ahead a bit (a lot), and saw that my "1st race rehearsal/camp week" is the week of 4/6. I'm doing the Texas Training Camp with Coach P 3/19-3/22. Do I need to change anything up because of that? Will I still do a race rehearsal on 4/6? Or do I switch it out for what we're doing at camp? Should I try to ramp up volume a bit more in anticipation of camp? Or will the standard training plan have me ready by week 12 to handle the volume of camp weekend?

Yes, you'll be ready by wk12, no need to do anything special before the camp. I imagine you'll do an RR during the camp and another the weekend of 4/6. IOW, additional RR's are almost never a bad thing. Good luck!

Chris Davis

Great. Thank you for the feedback and reassurance.

Chris Davis

Hey Coach! I'm looking at the rest of my year (post IMTX) and wanted to get some feedback. I really dont want to schedule anything else longer than an olympic distance race since my wife is doing IM Florida, and I need to give her time to train for that. I'm thinking of doing the Towne Lake Tri on September 7, which is that olympic distance race, and maybe some sort of sprint in July or August. Obviously nothing big. That all being said, I want to put myself into position to do IMTX again next year, and be one of those 4 hour PR's that you guys can brag about. With all that in mind, how do I get there? I'm expecting to be a 15 hour finisher, plus or minus, at IMTX this year, so there's lots of meat on the bone to chew away at. But I really want to minimize my training, especially in the September-November window for my wife's IM.

Thanks in advance Coach!

Coach Rich

Posted By Chris Davis on 17 Apr 2015 02:11 PM


Hey Coach! I'm looking at the rest of my year (post IMTX) and wanted to get some feedback. I really dont want to schedule anything else longer than an olympic distance race since my wife is doing IM Florida, and I need to give her time to train for that. I'm thinking of doing the Towne Lake Tri on September 7, which is that olympic distance race, and maybe some sort of sprint in July or August. Obviously nothing big. That all being said, I want to put myself into position to do IMTX again next year, and be one of those 4 hour PR's that you guys can brag about. With all that in mind, how do I get there? I'm expecting to be a 15 hour finisher, plus or minus, at IMTX this year, so there's lots of meat on the bone to chew away at. But I really want to minimize my training, especially in the September-November window for my wife's IM.



Thanks in advance Coach!

Let's have this conversation after IMTX 

The short answer is that you could bounce around different combinations of the short course, bike/run focused or get faster plans, doing any races you want to do across the summer. Probably best to do a running block during that period where your wife is training, as that would be the lowest volume, most administratively invisible choice of plan that would also set you up well to start the OS when your'e ready. 

Chris Davis

OK Coach, I'm past IMTX, and I still dont hate triathlon (although a week or two to recover is still needed). But I do want to start looking forward a bit. I think my plan for next year will still include some sort of long course race. Maybe IMTX, but maybe not. More likely a HIM. I'll make that decision late in the year I think, after we get Christina through IMFL.

Anyways, priority #1 for the remainder of the year is to get Christina through IMFL and for my training to be secondary (but purposeful).

My remaining races will likely be the Marble Falls Triathlon (nearly an Olympic distance, but not quite) on July 19, and then the Towne Lake Triathlon (Olympic distance) on September 7. With IMFL, I figure September through November for me needs to be speed focused months, with a ton of flexibility (maybe run focused?).

Thank you for getting me through IMTX this year. You and Coach P are awesome and have really put together something special with EN.

Chris Davis

Awesome stuff on the Road Map Coach. Thank you.