CFE in hindsight after an Ironman

Ironman Louisville was my first Ironman but I have had competed in numerous triathlons from sprint to half iron utilizing traditional endurance training protocols.  This was my first year of triathlon using the Crossfit Endurance approach.  Historical I have been a good swimmer, a much better cyclist and a weak runner.  Every triathlon I have done always presents itself with those results when compared to the rest of the field.  Using CFE I felt very good and confident with my swim and bike training. 

My swim training volume was low, drastically low, compared to my peers however my intensity was through the roof.  Most of the training season I swam twice a week using in intervals in a 25 yard pool.  I rarely did a tempo or time trial swim.  I didn’t feel like I needed it.  Looking back I would have changed only one thing: start swim training later to allow time to concentrate of the other sports. 

For the bike I typically did one interval session (usually hill repeats) and one longer bike ride.  My rides ranged all the way up to 100 miles but typically stayed in the 30 – 60 mile range.  This is a bit longer than called for in the CFE protocol, but significantly less than the traditional approach.  My bike weekly mileage was over a 100 miles less than average Ironman participant (in accordance to the athlete guide information).

The run is my Achilles heel.  I do think the no brick approach that CFE has is wrong.  However I don’t believe it is necessary to do more than 1 every 10 – 14 days.  The recovery cost is high.  It is unfortunate that I discovered late in the season the intervals sessions that worked best for me.  Mile and ¼ mile interval session seemed to work best.  I do agree than any training run over the 10 – 13 mile distance is not needed.  Whatever fitness is gained from the longer runs is lost to the extended recovery.

I consistently showed up to my crossfit gym 3 – 5 times a week.   At times this is less than the CFE protocol requires, but it worked for me.

I will do another Ironman at some point in the future.  If I had to decide now what training protocol I used it would be CFE with some changes.  Every 4 – 6 weeks I would throw out Crossfit and Crossfit Endurance and train with a traditional LSD approach.  This would allow to mix-it up, thoroughly test nutrition, and mostly gain confidence.  Below is how I would schedule a CFE week:

Monday: Crossfit (usually a longer WOD)             CFE short swim intervals
Tuesday: CFE run mile intervals                                                Crossfit or long swim intervals
Wednesday CFE Bike hill intervals                           Crossfit
Thursday: Crossfit                                                           CFE run 400 intervals
Friday: Crossfit or long swim intervals
Saturday: Longer (40 – 70 miles) but hard bike and possibly followed by a 20 – 40 min run

The above would be my approach for an Ironman.  It is what I feel would work best for me.  That has to and will differ from person to person.  I would absolutely agree with and RX CFE for a sprint or Olympic distance triathlon.  The reason I feel as though I need more distance for the Ironman is a reflection of the event itself, my weak run, and mostly because there are just some issues that can only be encountered over a long distance.  Please do not take this as anti-CFE but rather adaption for myself for such a great distance spanning 4 sports: swimming, biking, running, and Crossfit. 

The biggest downfall to the CFE method for me was that I mostly went at it alone.  There were training groups in the area riding and running miles upon miles but my format didn’t match well to theirs.  Obviously I had my crossfit class, but my swim, bike and run WOD’s were typically done by myself.   At times it was tough to motivate myself.  I expect that would be different if I had some people to train with. 

Through this experience starting from my CFE cert in November 2010, I have learned a great deal about myself, crossfit and crossfit endurance.  Both the websites, the Crossfit journal, the forums, and my local box were instrumental in getting me to the finish line.  However my wife was by far the most supportive person and best cheerleader I could have asked for.