I did the preparation for my two last Ironman races with Power & Pace. This was Ironman Switzerland 2022 and the Ironman European Championship Frankfurt 2023. I started the training each time in October of the previous year. Power & Pace target audience are German triathletes and the website and magazine is in German, but I’m pretty sure that with the help of Google translate or DeepL everyone interested could use the plans and information provided by Power & Pace.
Who is behind Power&Pace?
Power & Pace is a “joined operation” from the German triathlon magazine TriMag and Björn Geesmann with his company HYCYS (High performance Coached by science). Björn is for example the coach of Patrick Lange, Daniel Baekkegard, Katherina Matthews and other top Pro Triathletes. All the training plans are printed in the triathlon magazine Tri-Mag or available online at the Power & Pace website.
Which subscriptions and training plans are available and how much does it cost?
There are several different options to get the plans.
- You can buy the monthly published triathlon magazine (7,50€) and use the plans in the back of the magazine (4 week plans).
- You can subscribe to the magazine for a yearly fee of 89,90€ (ePaper or printed)
- You can become a Pro Member at Power & Pace for 70€/month or for 35€/month if you have a subscription for the Tri-Mag magazine.
With the Pro Membership you get several advantages. For example you get a Premium Account at TrainingPeaks, where the Power & Pace plan can be synced with your devices. You can also get specific plans for a specific race and a whole community with a triathlon club, local squats, races, Zwift rides, YouTube strength training sessions and more.
Power & Pace has 5 categories for every sort of triathlon event and goal of an athlete.
| Categories | Amount of training over the season | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Mover | 2 to 6 hours | For someone how wants to swim, cycle and run, without a fixed goal in mind. |
| Allrounder | 4 to 8 hours | For someone with limited time, but really loves the sport on the short and middle distances. |
| Campion | 6 to 14 hours | For an ambitious person who doesn’t want to do long distance races, but get faster on the shorter distances. |
| Finisher | 8 to 14 hours | For someone who has already some experience in the endurance world and wants to finish a middle or long distance race. |
| Qualifier | 8 to 20 hours | For someone who wants to qualifies for Hawai or Nice Ironman World Championship in his agegroup. |
Which training plans did I use and how do they look?
For Ironman Switzerland (2022) I used the Qualifier plan and for Ironman Frankfurt (2023) I used the Finisher plan. The big difference between the two plans is the volume. The Qualifier plan has longer runs and longer bike rides and most of the weeks three swim sessions instead of two in the finisher plan. It would be too much for this introduction to show all the details of each plan for each week for a period of a half year. But to give you an overview I have added the table below, with one of the longer training weeks from the Qualifier plan.
| Monday | Thuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
| Restday (Allways) | Swim 2000m | Swim 2900m | Swim 3200m | |||
| Bike (EB-G2) Duration 2:00 h Warmup, 3x EB (4min EB + 3min G1) 10 min G1 3xG2 (8min G2 + 6min 1), Rest G1 | Bike G2 Duration 1:30h Warmup, 3xG2 (10min G2 + 8min G1 Cadence 70), Rest G1 | Bike(EB-G2) Duration 2:00h Warmup, 3xEB (3min EB + 3min G1), 10min G1, 3xG2 (10min G2+ 6min G1), Rest G1 | Bike (G2) Duration 2:00h Warmup, 3xG2 (8min G2 + 6min G1), Rest G1 |
|||
| Run (DLTempo) Duration 1:15 h (DLTempo) Warmup, 4 DLTempo (4min DLTempo + 3min DLext), Rest DLext | Run(DLTempo- DLInt) Duration 1:00h Warmup, 3x DLTempo (3min DLTempo + 3min DLext), 6min DLext, 2x DLint (5min DLint + 4min DLext), Rest DLext | Run (DLint) Duration 1:15h Warmup, 3xDLint (10min DLint + 8min DLext), Rest DLext | Run(DLext) | |||
| Athletic 0:40h | Athletic 0:40h |
Each session is marked with a trainings intensity, a description and the duration or distance (swimming). The intensities for cycling and running are listed in the tables below.
| Training | Power@AT (Aeorobic Threshold) | Heartrate@AT | perceived exertion (BORG Scale; 6-20) | Breating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Compensation (KB) | 30 – 55% | 30 -54% | very easy (7-10) | barely accelerated |
| Basic Endurance 1 (G1) | 56 – 75% | 55 – 75% | easy to moderate (11-13) | slightly increased |
| Basic Endurance 2 (G2) | 76 – 90% | 76 – 91% | moderate to strenuous (14-15) | accelerated |
| Development Area (EB) | 91 – 105% | 92 – 105% | strenuous to stressful (15-18) | greatly accelerated |
| Strength Endurance (K3) | 88 – 100% | 85 – 95% | moderate to strenuous (14-16) | accelerated |
| Peak Area (SB) | 106 – 140% | > 106% | extremely stressful (18-20) | maximum |
| Intermitted Excercise (IE) | Load 130% Recover 55% | > 106% | extremely stressful (18-20) | maximum |
| Training Areas | Pace @AT | Heart rate @AT | Max. Hardrate (HFMAX) | Power @AT | Perceived Exertion (BORG Scale; 6-20) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regenerative Endurance Running | 57 – 68% | 68 – 76% | < 60% | 57 – 67% | very easy (7-10) |
| Extensive Endurance Running (DLext) | 69 – 79% | 77 – 86% | 61 – 75% | 68 – 79% | easy to moderate (11-13) |
| Intensive Endurance Running (DLint) | 80 – 93% | 87 – 98% | 76 – 85% | 80 – 92% | moderate to strenuous (14-15) |
| Tempo Endurance Running (DLTempo) | 94 – 105% | 97 – 104% | 86 – 95% | 93 – 105% | moderate to strenuous(14-16) |
| Extensive Speed Training (TText) | 106 – 123% | 105 – 120% | > 95% | 106 -123% | strenuous to stressful (15-18) |
| Intensive Speed Training (TTint) | > 125% | > 121% | > 95% | > 124% | extremely stressful (18-20) |
Tests are regularly scheduled in the plan to train in the right zones. For swimming this is a CSS test. After a warmup you have to swim 400m all out, followed by 5-10min easy swimming, followed by 200m all out. On the bike it’s a classic 20 min FTP test. From time to time they do a live FTP test event on Zwift. For running you do a 5k all out test. With this results and the intensities table you can then train in the zones as shown in the plan.
How did it went?
In October 2021 I started very optimistic with the Qualifier plan and on the 10th of October all optimism was gone, when I step, while running, on an apple. It was dark and I had a head lamp on, but somehow missed this one apple on the path. The result was that I couldn’t run for a long time.
I could still swim, cycle and slowly walk. And that’s what I did. After the winter I finally could start to run again. Bit something was still not right. The whole foot, calf, leg, hips thing was out of balance. I was not able to run more than 15 km on the long runs without serious pain. So I hat to again scale down my ambitions. When Ironman Switzerland finally was due, I had only run little and only short distances on the long run days (< 15 km). No surprise that I faded fast on the run, even despite a super slow beginning. But I made it to the finish line, which was the minimal goal. Sure that I can’t blame the Power & Pace training plan. Apart from my personal struggles, I really loved the variety of the training in the plan and the whole ecosystem surrounding it. For example their podcast kept me entertained and motivated on the indoor bike sessions.
After three month of light training, without any plan, I started, in October 2022 my training for Ironman Frankfurt. This time took it easier and trained with the Finisher plan from Power & Pace. Things went pretty well, but winter can be long here in Germany and somehow I picked up to much weight, because I felt always cold and was constantly eating stuff. So one thing is training after a plan, which is great, but the other thing is being able to get in good shape while doing so. No training plan can teach you this. At the end of the training I felt well prepared. I only was concerned with the running part. Like the Tridot plan the long runs are not as long as I think they should be. There was only one 2h run and that was it. For me this is for sure not enough. In 2h I can’t run 25k in Zone 2, that’s not possible for me. So at the end of the Ironman run I faded again. In addition I misjudged the not so hot conditions and didn’t take enough electrolytes.
Final Thoughts
Training with Power&Pace was fun for me. I like their approach to training and that you can chose from a variety of training plans to suite you goals. In addition you can decide if you want to be part of a whole community with additional plans, local squats, a sports club, racing events, athletic training on YouTube, podcasts and much more. The mantra seams to be, train smarter not harder and it is probably a good thing for longevity. Personally I haven’t found a way to implement this very well, especially with the running part and my mishap with the apple. Anyway consistency is key and that’s something their plans can offer, if you are willing to put in the time and effort to follow along.
