The Official One Hour a Week MBF plan (Part 1: Overview)

I've gone through a complete cycle of my 1 hour a week program and think it is fantastic, so i've decided to share it.  I'll do it in pieces so as not to overwhelm.

The general formula is to do four workouts a week, cycling between swimming, biking and running (triathlon order).  The first three workouts each week (on M/W/F for me) are 10 minutes long. The weekend workout is 30 minutes long.  The Monday workout is short intervals, the Wed. workout is medium intervals, and the Friday workout is a single interval/time trial effort.  The weekend workout is a longer, race pace effort.  The entire schedule will repeat itself every three weeks and will look like this:

Week 1:

• Mon - swim, 10 minutes, short intervals
• Wed - bike, 10 min, med intervals
• Fri - Run, 10 min, single interval
• Sat/Sun - swim, 30 minutes, race pace

Week 2:

• Mon - bike, 10 min, short intervals
• Wed - Run, 10 min, med intervals
• Fri - Swim, 10 min, single interval
• Sat - Bike, 30 min, race pace/time trial  - doing this workout on friday allows a day of rest before next lower body workout.

Week 3: 

• Mon - run, 10 min, short intervals
• Wed - swim, 10 min, med intervals
• Fri - Bike, 10 min, single interval
• Sun - Run, 30 min, single interval - doing this on sunday allows a day of rest since previous lower body workout

My present plan is to repeat this scheme 3-4 times (for 9-12 weeks total) which is about the length of time I usually put between my events/efforts.  I'll do the same workouts each time for a specific discipline/interval combination - so for example, right now every time my 10 minute short interval swim comes around during this 9-12 weeks i'm warming up and then doing 8 x 50 yds on 35 sec or under, leaving every 50 sec.  Doing the same workout is crucial as it allows me to have good data on my improvement and make sure i am striving to work just as hard or harder than previous sessions. If i get tired of a particular workout, i may change at the beginning of a new 9-12 week period but will make sure to keep it consistent during the period itself.  

As i mentioned in my last post, i'll eventually hit a plateau of sorts and should be able to identify it pretty specifically.  This is actually a good thing in a sense - it will help me have a goal to 'climb back up to' after each endurance event so i'll know when i'm ready to go destroy myself again. 

Finally, i'll mention once again that these workouts are brutal.  i'm not looking for a shortcut.  I have a great work ethic and a high degree of willpower.  I also am extremely ambitious, and am very much looking forward to this next year where i get to explore the limits of where this regimen can take me and when i'm sure to have lots of time out there walking that line.

Next up - details for the swim workouts.....