Be Iron Fit (2004): Don Fink

Picked up this book "Be Iron Fit" from the library a week ago. Don Fink was a former Wall Street managing director who left his job after 20 years to pursue his passion for Ironman. This book was written for busy people and the central theme is time-efficient training secrets.

The key principles:

1. Train time, not miles
2. Indoor training for time efficiency
3. Lunch time training
4. Master swim sessions
5. Early bird workouts

Principle of Gradual Adaptation: the 10% rule
We all know about the 10% rule for miles. Fink translates that to time and intensity. By intensity, what is important is the percentage of high intensity to low intensity training. The 10% rule does not apply directly to frequency of training, only indirectly through duration of training.

Adjustments for missed workouts:
This section is interesting to note.
1 day missed: Continue as scheduled. No doubling up.
2 - 3 days missed: Do only half of scheduled training on first day back. Resume on second day back.
4 - 6 days missed: Do only one-third of scheduled training on first 2 days back, and two-thirds of next two days back. Resume on fifth day back.
7 or more days missed: consider redesigning program and/or timing of your goals.

Effective Heart Rate Training
An excellent chapter on how not to train using "How I feel" and "My Pace". The method of choice: HR zones. What Fink advocates is to train in the aerobic zones (for Ironman goals) (90%) and in the anaerobic zones (10%). Avoid the no-man's land zone 3.

Zone 4: 90 - 95% max HR (166 to 175 bpm*)
Zone 3: 86 - 89% (159 - 165 bpm)
Zone 2: 75 - 85% (139 - 158 bpm)
Zone 1: 65 - 74% (120 - 138 bpm)

*bpm range based on max HR of 185

The HR ranges for cycling is scaled down 5% because of different mechanics. So minus 5% from above ranges.

Zone 4: 158 to 166 bpm
Zone 3: 151 - 157 bpm
Zone 2: 132 - 150 bpm
Zone 1: 114 - 131 bpm

Since my max HR is 188 bpm, that means my long runs had been in zones 1 and 2 (<140 bpm), and the tempo intervals were in zone 4. Biking generally around 120 bpm, so that is also in zone 1. All aerobic training for the Base Training Phase. Next would be the Build and Peak phases, followed by the Recovery phase.