Ironman Training – Ironman Triathlon Training
Ironman Training to Make An Ironman Triathlete Out of Anyone
Swim, Bike, Run – Training with Heart Rate for an Ironman
Polar employee and multisport athlete uses an RS800CX to train for his first Ironman race. Find out how training with heart rate helped him accomplish his goal and complete the race in just over 11 hours.
Full transcript: This is Friday, November 5, the day before Ironman, Panama City. What are your expectations for tomorrow? Just to have fun and finish. Alright, say goodnight Dave! Goodnight. I’ll see you at 2 in the morning to start eating.
My name is Dave Thompson. I’m from Long Island, New York, and I completed the 2010 Ironman Florida in 11 hours, 7 minutes and 18 seconds. When I was in high school I competed on the cross country team, and I also lifeguarded during the summer, so I had a pretty extensive run and swim background. Then, as soon as I got out of high school, I started competing in more road races and longer distance events. I always wanted to compete in the ironman. It was always on my to do list. I never thought it was a possibility until I completed a couple of marathons. And then when I was getting a little bit better on the bike, I started going for those 100 mile rides, and then it really became clear that I could just put it all together. When you try to tackle events such as an ironman, I don’t think it’s possible to do it without the support of your coworkers, your family and your friends. It’s a tremendous sacrifice. I started working for Polar in an industry I’m passionate about and that I love. It’s really helped me to excel and kind of put my passion and my profession into one. Training for an ironman typically takes about six months. My basic training would include about 5 hours of swimming, anywhere from 125, 150, just under 200 miles on the bike and about 35 miles on the run. And then we liked to spend about 2 hours a week with strength training to develop core strength and correct my muscular imbalances. When I first started training for this ironman, I knew the importance of heart rate based training and never had so much of background with the amount of hours. It was starting to take kind of a toll on my body. I was getting some colds. I was getting sick fairly easily. I needed something that was going to give me more than just my first Polar that I purchased when I was back in college. So I got an RS800CX. Using the heart rate monitor, I was able to learn and to gauge when my body was starting to go into that overtraining phase, and then I could adjust my plans accordingly with the coach. The RS800cx was actually able to do my running and my cycling, which was huge. Cause now not only could I dial in just my run, I was able to compare that with my cycling and get a more holistic view of everything, where I was putting too much effort in, or where I could actually improve and put more effort into. When you train for an ironman, it’s a lot of guesswork. You’re never swimming 2.4, riding 112 and running 26.2 miles at a given time. It’s something that come race day, on your first try, you’re like, “I hope that this goes according to plan,” and I get everything out of my training that I put into it. There comes a point where on the bike, you’re like, “Is this bike ever going to end?” And it ends. And then you start your run and you get to that halfway mark, and then you’re like, “You know, it’s just a matter of when I finish.” Crossing that finish line is something that is very special, and it’s an amazing feeling.
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Duration : 0:3:47
4 Comments
July 17th, 2011 at 5:22 am
I want to be like …
I want to be like Dave!!!
July 17th, 2011 at 5:22 am
Dave is incredible, …
Dave is incredible, and nice Polar HRM!!
July 17th, 2011 at 5:22 am
YOU ARE THE BOMB!!! …
YOU ARE THE BOMB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
July 17th, 2011 at 5:22 am
Wow.
Wow.