travelmama

To do such a long race was something that I wanted to do (not as a life dream or goal) for years and knew that I would finish no matter the time or condition at the time. I race half marathon, marathon, half iron distance and iron distance events for kicks and my health so that I can walk away knowing I had a good time. I tri nearly ever day of my life so the fever comes from within and is not a "hit it and quit it" deal with me.

StanSeven- You are wrong. I am no where near being an elite triathlete but will be doing a 10k swim very soon.

bengreen79

I would like to qualify my own comment by telling you this thread started in the road forum and later got moved. But after reading comments made since then, I am considering taking advantage of some adult swim classes offered free with my Y membership. I will still hate running but it probably won't drown me.

StanSeven

Why would you do a 10K swim for IM training? Why not use that energy and training to improve upon the run and bike?

kdawg

i did 2010 WI. im a really bad swimmer got out of the water with 15 people behind be. passed hundreds or people on the bike since thats what i do bike races. passed a good amount on the run and did it all in around 15 hours. thats with about 12 hour a week training.

travelmama

My life is not about IM, it is about fitness and having fun doing what I want to, which is why I will do a 10k swim. Furthermore, how do you figure energy being wasted if a planned IM race is in 10 months?

dspilot

I am signed up to do an Olympic distance race in July of this year. Hopefully, next year I will be tackling a Half Ironman. Learning a lot as I go.

Dalai

Disagree. IM triathletes I know and myself (all sub 10 hour racers) ramp up the run mileage prior to IM to up to 32-34km's (20-22 miles) for the longest run.

I like the mental aspect of IM; going through the highs and lows during the day and being able to turn things around and keep going. Have an issue in a Sprint or Olympic and the race is over...

caelric

Lots of interesting misconceptions here. Typical of most threads, I suppose.

17 hour cutoff is quite generous. Someone said 'many' do not make the cutoff; I supoose that depends on your definition of 'many'; IM St George last year, considered one of the hilliest/hardest course had somewhere along the lines of 20% DNF Rate. Most IM's have much less than that, around 5-10% DNF. So, to me, 5-10% is not many. Others may think that it meets the defintion of 'many'

22 mile training runs? Well, occasionally, but no more than once a week, at most. The damage it does to your body hinders your other training. Better to run a 10-12 mile run at a faster pace.

Not able to hold 21 mph? Umm, no. I'm a MOPer (middile of the pack) and I can hold 21 MPH on the flats no problem. Faster, even. My IM pace is around 10-19.5 (when I don't blow up), on a somewhat hilly course. Everyone is different, of course, and might be a much better swimmer and runner, and terrible cyclist.

And yeah, I have done a couple. 11:59, 12:30, and a 14:30 (blew up and hurt myself, still finished) And while I am proud of those times, they are mediocre compared to a lot of triathletes.

SRR

Sprint distances last year, signing up for 3-4 olympic distances this year, with an end goal of a half IM (Kansas) in 2012.

twobadfish

You should come do the St George one this year. I'll do it with you. The only thing that will be VERY challenging for me is the run.

Triguy

Also disagree but with you. Not to get in a pissing contest, but I know/have personally known 5 "Elite/Pro" licensed triathletes who have done ironmans. Only 2 of the 5 do training runs over 18 miles while prepping for an ironman. The other 3 don't feel it's worth the time and energy for what little adaptations are to be made going up to and over 2 hours in a long run.

Two others I know who have gone under 9:25 but are not/never were elite licensed at any time do not run over 2 hours(about 18 miles) in prepping for ironmans.

Everyone is different, but of my posse of people, 18 miles is the more likely the highest you really see.

kevmk81

I've done Ironman Louisville in 2009, and Ironman Florida in 2010. 13:04, 12:46 respectively... both going into the race with injuries.

spinalrx

doing a olympic in June and HIM in October...i currently do not have the ambition to do a 2.4 mile swim so a full IM is not on the schedule, but that could change.

unixd0od

I'm doing my second half-iron distance in June, and doing IRONMAN Canada in August.

Dalai

Totally agree everyone is different and approach training differently. I wasn't referring to Elite/Pro racers as I personally don't know any. Was referring to age groupers where going at least one long run prior to IM is more for mental preparation vs physical.

twobadfish

If the IM St George wasn't so soon I would consider registering. I've done the bike course - but only one lap

StanSeven

Well, I didn't make the cutoff on one tri. And my longest training runs are 15-16 miles.

So I should blow off the "interesting misconceptions" I and others posted?

Well maybe when I slow by 1.5 hours to your times.

caelric

And, there ya have it, someone always has to resort to personal attacks to make themselves feel better.

cjbruin

Back in 2004 I started with a similar goal to yours. I started racing sprints and getting into the whole tri thing, the next year I did a few more sprints and added on two Olympics. The year after that I did my first Half and the year after that I did my first Ironman. It's not necessary to do things this way but I enjoyed the journey. It allowed me to learn a lot about my racing/training strengths and weaknesses and I had fun. I developed some training tools (such as a custom training log in Excel to track my workouts...happy to e-mail it to you). I found some great websites to help along the way. I stay away from beginner triathlete because I find there to be a lot of misinformation.

Check out the book, "Becoming an Ironman" by Thom. It's a great read.

One awesome thing about Ironman is that once you cross that finish line, no one can ever take that away from you.

Dalai

enginerd

I've finished 6 IM distance races. I'm not blazing fast (fastest 11:46 IM Moo, slowest 13:45 or so Silverman). I just enjoy going long so it's my race distance of choice.

shotgunshooter3

I am signed up for the Austin Longhorn 70.3 in October 2011, it will be my first one. I hope to do a full Ironman in 2012 at some point!

I've never done one before but I've done a few marathons with minimal training, the big factor is to just keep moving and focus on the finish!

Monoborracho

Aquabike is a relatively new category in USATriathlon for folks like you (and me) who can't run anymore, usually because of knees and hips. Two out of three is still fun.

Monoborracho

I did my first sprint Aquabike last year. I'm planning my first half (1.2 swim/56 ride) in June. Then I'm having the right knee replaced in July.

Velo Gator

I'll be there too!