Triathletes - Sprint to half IM in one year: doable?

Anything possible if you put you mind to it (so they say)

IronDave — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 02:05:24 -0500

I'm trying to go for a full Ironman next year.

I went from doing nothing and started training in june this year. Then I did a Olympic Tri in september and now I'm training for an Ironman.

I'm not near ready yet, but I'm targeting end of june, so it's still leave me some time. If I had to run it tomorrow, I'll probably won't even go through half of it but I'm still confident I'll build up to do it.

Keep us in touch of where you stand. I'll let you guys know if I complete an Ironman.

Go for it!

wjthelen2 — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 11:27:05 -0400

I've been doing tri's for 6 years and I am almost done makeing a similar jump. Last year the longest tri that i had done was and olympic and now on Nov. 1st i am running in an full IRON race in North Carolina. A year is a long time and if you work at it regulary you should have no problem being ready for you race. My advice would be to first just build up you endurance, doing long slow miles. Then once you are about 4-5 months look at, and chose one of the half-iron plans that are online. You don't need to follow them exactly but haveing a plan for the last few months of training really helps you stay on track. Oh and have fun with it, fitness comes easier with a smile.

kellydigital — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 09:33:42 -0400

For sure...as long as thats your 'A' race. Throw in a sprint and olympic in early in the season...but keep your training plan for 1/2 IM.

The fire's there but ...

keithtny — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 10:42:07 -0400

@joe_h: Thanks for the insight. The fire's definitely in the belly to do a half IM, but my only concern is one of timing, i.e. whether it's too big a leap. My sense was that a natural progression would be to go from sprint to Olympic/International one year and then do a half IM the following year. I think I have decided that I think my friend's race in May would be too soon, so I may just see where I'm at in the early spring before taking a more serious look at some of the late summer/early fall races.

yes if you got the time and the fire in your belly

joe_h — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 09:17:35 -0400

if you got the time to train each week and have the ok from your family/wife/SO and REALLY want to do it then I say sure. but don't do it because your friend says to. do it cause you want to. I've been talked into doing a half before and that isn't good motivation 40 miles into the bike ride to keep going.

if you want to do it check the generic training plans at trinewbies.com, beginnertriathlete.com and trifuel.com for ideas on what's involved in training.