Triathletes - Hey! Anybody here training for their first Ironman?

Training for Ironman Florida 70.3

gatorkid — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 21:19:30 -0600

No one has posted on this thread in quite sometime, so i figure I will try and get it going again. I am starting to train for my first half ironman on May 16th, 2010. That is the Florida Ironman 70.3 half ironman at Fort Wilderness in Disney in orlando, FL. The only thing close that I have taken part in is the MS150 bike rider this past fall. I have a solid 5 months to train, so I hope I can do it!

Triathlon Training Tips

RayGill — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 11:35:34 -0500

Hi Dave

You could take a look at these Triathlon Training Tips by Dave Scott, a six-time Ironman Champion

http://myfitnessdepot.com/outdoors/triathlon-training-tips/

-Ray

Thinking about 1/2 IM

tribjorn — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 20:56:55 -0600

Great thread! Fun to see other people getting into triathlons. I just did my first triathlon, an Olympic, back in September 2008 and beat my 3 hr goal by finishing in 2h 45m. I was happy with my swim, my transitions, passed a bunch of people with Ironman logo tattoos on the bike (felt awesome) then totally tanked on the run. I've finished a marathon before, but guess I underestimated the run a bit - 6 miles sounded so short after the marathon training. The reality was that it felt more like mile 14-20 of the marathon. I just got caught up with the really fun biking and swimming.

Now, I'm trying to figure out what to do next. It's a busy year with work and I'm trying to decide between doing another Olympic, or advancing to a 1/2 IM. I am not too worried about the bike or swim, but doing a half marathon after those two will be truly challenging. I belong to an awesome gym, but have been slacking off and only doing random strength exercises 1-2 times per week for the last 6 months.

Where is the best place to find a good program for a 1/2 ironman? I was hoping to do more strength over the winter - do you guys have any thoughts around good strenght exercises to do that will be beneficial in a few months when I'll be hitting the trails and the water?

If I do an Olympic in the summer, what is a good late fall 1/2 IM? I am in New England but wouldn't mind going down to FL or something. I am thinking about the Chicago olympic - has anybody done that?

I'll pick up TriFit - seems to be the consensus for a good book. I look forward to keeping in touch with this group.

Thanks for the tips!

IronDave — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 14:09:59 -0600

Thank you coffeespoons for the very interesting tips and insights.

It's true that it is so scary to thing about the race because it seems so impossible to do. Every day I get a little bit better, gain a little bit of endurance, so it seems a bit less impossible and I guess it'll feel impossible up until I cross the finish line.

I'm having a hard time getting my stroke to be more efficient. I'm not really scared about the distance, I just wish I could do a better time. I'm trying to work it out, but I admit to be a little clueless on how to improve it. I've talk with the coach at the pool and he told me to practice more, gave me a few tips, but I don't seem to go any faster.

coffeespoons — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 04:59:02 -0600

Congratulations on stepping up to the plate with Ironman.

I've done a couple of them (Austria '06 and Germany '08). Without being overdramatic they truly were life-defining experiences.

Might I offer a couple of tips?

1/ Try not to get injured. This is vital. A huge percentage of athletes ignore warning signs and pick up injuries that detract from consistent, progressive training.

2/ Sort out your swim technique early. Until you have a smooth, efficient stroke it is hard to work on improving your swim fitness.

3/ Build up your long bike endurance. Curiously bike fitness translates better to running fitness than vice versa. It is also much less likely to injure you once your training hours increase. Even excellent runners struggle to perform to their potential if they fall off the bike, broken, before they start the marathon.

4/ Get your bike and nutrition sorted out well before race day. You don't need fancy stuff like aero helmets until you are ready to go sub-10 hours. Concentrate on getting into a comfortable and efficient aero position on the bike. You need to start this early - too many people leave it until it is too late for this. Sorting your nutrition out is, of course, vital.

5/ Either enter a decent length race 6-8 weeks before your IM to test all your gear and nutrition or stage a long training session to replicate it.

6/ Remember to taper properly before the race.

A couple of tips - I liked the IronFit book for the workout schedules although "Going Long" is probably a better book overall.

Hope some of this helpful.

James

Baby Steps...

QOBrien — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 20:57:12 -0600

I'm an 18 year old looking to do what would be the duathlon equivalent of a half-IM (56 mi bike, 13.1 mi run). This is quite a large distance leap for me but a family friend keeps hounding me to do and I need a long term goal anyways. I'd be interested in keeping up with a couple other tri "newbies" who are tackling longer distances.

-Quinn

First Time Ironman

dgermony — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 17:38:48 -0600

Hey all,

I'm about 90% sure I want to run an Ironman; I want to do a few 5+ hour workouts before I know for sure but if you are going do something you might as well go big! I've read Don Hink's book, IronFit and Joe Friel's, The Triathletes Tranining Bible. Both were good but overall I would recommend IronFit. If anyone comes by other good books be sure to share them. I'm looking for a good cookbook for athletes.

Way to go Danrich!

IronDave — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 10:33:21 -0600

I checked your profile on www.iamtri.com. Good luck for your 70.3, it's coming up soon! I'm not sure I would be up for it.

I started to swim freestyle only last year, before that I could only swim the breast stroke. I'm only strating to have decent stroke now and it is defenitely an area where I could get some improvements.

I was thinking of doing an 1/2IM begining of June and a full IM end of June, but I'm not sure I can handle both. So if I'm only going to do one, it'll probably be the full IM. I haven't registered to the race yet though...

I'm training every day. It's hard for me not to. If I don't train during a day, I really feel the urge of doing something. Usually I train in the morning before work. Sometimes, when I feel a little tired and I feel my body needs some rest, I don't do anything in the morning and I train in the evening, so it gives me a bit of resting time between my trainings.

I know I should rest one day per week, I just don't feel good when I stop training... Well with the winter coming up here, I guess I'll be force to slow down a little. Today I fell on the bike because of the slippery road in the rain.

Training for Ironman

danrich — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 11:51:11 -0600

Hi Dave

I am also training for my 1st Ironman. Started to learn to swim more than a year ago - it took me more than a year to learn to swim and entered for my 1st Half Ironman before I could swim properly in the pool. I also did the sprint & olympic tri distances for training - just to get used to the transition.

I am also participating in 2km ocean swimming events every second weekend and managed to cut my swimming time with 15 minutes. I swim/cycle/run with a group of friends here in South Africa which are also training for Ironman. I must say the Tri life is great!

Have you seen the website www.iamtri.com

Have a look at my profile

I noted that you are training 7 days a week. I do take at least one day of the week off.

My half Ironman is in January 2009 and the full Ironman takes place in April 2009. So time is running out for training. At this stage I would like to at least complete my 1st Ironman with a smile on my face and not worry too much about the time.

I am currently sitting at home with flu for more than a week now.

Can't wait to get back into training - at least you still have time left for your training. Go for it!

"Somewhere in the world someone is training when you are not. When you race him, he will win."

Hills

IronDave — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 11:40:38 -0600

I know what you mean, I got plenty of hills here too (the Tour de France comes around here very often and we have some Category 1 peaks).

That said, 12 to 15% is steeper than most hills. If you look at the mountain stages they have in the Tour de France, they usually have grades that are between 7 to 10% (for longer distances though).

I'm trying to train on hills as much as I can. Up to 10 to 11% I can more or less manage to keep some speed, but above that I have to admin that it really becomes hard for me to stay abobe 15km/h.

Bike/Hills

roycarl — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 08:32:31 -0600

The area in which I live is naturally hilly - several mega-grade hills that i take on purpose for training. It's helped me on a couple race courses!

If you're not blessed with naturally hilly terrain in your training areas, try some spinning (it's what i'm doing all winter) - i could recommend some good resources for guided butt-kicking spin podcasts if you need.

Good book recommandantion, thanks!

IronDave — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 23:31:49 -0600

I'll definitely look into that book!

I was going to "just finish" an IM, but why not going for a more competitive approach! Nor sure I'll get qualification for Kona (well actually, I'm sure I won't).

My first Olympic tri last year, I did it in 3h20... and I was aiming for 2h45 too, but the bike was tougher than I expected (even though I pratice a couple of times on the same course). Hills were between 12% and 15% so I was really slow on those and that really burned me for the run that I didn't perform very well (51 minutes for the 10k).

Resource Recommendation

roycarl — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 10:09:09 -0600

If you're trying to fit Iron or Half-Iron distance training into your busy schedule and family life, I'd recommend reading Don Fink's book "Be IronFit" - it's an excellent guide on how to fit training into your life (rather than the other way around). The book also includes detailed training programs you can follow for competitive, intermediate, or "just finish" levels. I actually followed the first 18 weeks of his training plan to prep for my first Olympic-length race this past August, and finished in two hours 51 minutes (I was shooting for under 2 hours 45 minutes, but got literally run over by an SUV four weeks before the race while out on a training ride - kindof put a kink in my peak period, and totalled my bike to boot).

Anyway, you can pick up a copy of the book for a couple of bucks on alibris.com or abebooks.com.

I'm on the fence

joe_h — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 06:05:41 -0600

been doing tri's for about 12 years and really got the bug to do my first ironman next year. gonna have to sit down w/ the wife and see if we can work this out somehow between family life and training will be the biggest problem I see for me

Going for 1/2 IM / Full IM ?

IronDave — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 01:45:40 -0600

I did one Olympic this year and now I want to go for a full IM. I'm scared too, but I get less scared almost every day.

About a month ago, I really though I wouldn't be able to do it. Slowly I start to think I'll make it. So I keep training 7 days a week, with the winter here now and days getting shorter I can't train as much as I would like (maybe it is for the best). And every day I feel more confident about it (but still scared).

When days will get longer by next spring, I'll try to train twice a day, 7 days a week, to really get fit for an IM.

I guess it's all about confidence, if you feel confident you'll make it, you'll stand a good chance of making it.

See what you fitness level is right now. How many miles can you run, swim or bike? is it close to the distances in an 1/2 IM? if so, you're probably not very far of being able to go through it. If not, a little bit more training and you will.

See where you were about 6 months ago or a year ago, and now picture yourself in 6 months or in 1 year. I'm sure you already se yourself crossing the finish line of that 1/2 IM.

Good luck tio you all! I hope we'll be here next year to report how well we all did that IM we so scared of!

Scared S!#$less

kellydigital — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 13:24:44 -0600

I'd love to do a 1/2 IM or full IM...but i"m scared to death... I did a sprint distance last year... maybe I need another year of sprints/olympics before I attempt a IM of any kind...what do you think?

Training to train...

roycarl — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 16:20:16 -0600

Not going Iron yet, but soon i'll start training for the Summer '09 Door County Half-Ironman. My plan is to do Wisconsin Ironman in 2010.