Dude--consider yourself lucky if you can finish with that amount of training. I'm not trying to knock you, either. That's really amazing. I took a year (now going on a year and a half) off because I couldn't handle my 15-17 hr heavy weeks that went from 4 months out from the race down to my taper period. You've given me a new perspective that maybe less is more. How's your time with that amount of training? Riding <3000 and running 617 miles in a year leading up to an IM would scare me, but you swim WAY more than I do.

I bike an hour each weekday, 2 on Sat and 3 on Sun. That's about 10. It is just a regular life activity schedule--doesn't seem like prison. I did train for 2 IM and that did seem like punishment.

The best reason to give IM training the boot is that many people find that the running gets to their knees, and maybe their hearts. Too much of a good thing.

Agreed. It seems light to me also, but I finished the previous 2 years with times right around 13:30 - not spectacular (I have always been a real slow runner) but the bottom line for me was that I felt good and recovered quick. In my age group (60-64) I think that puts me somewhere around the middle of the pack - maybe a little lower. I'll take it.

---

John F. Martin, Jr.
+1 (614) 403-0567
jfm225@gmail.com

How about these for the last 34 weeks? Swim: 197,850 mtrs Bike: 3,695 mi Run: 702 mi Total hours: 406.6 weekly average: 11.96 hrs Last build block was 3 wks of 19 hrs. I used a Rich Strauss trainig plan which has a lot of LT work on the bike and run, instead of high volume apporach. So there are few easy miles here.... Going on to my 2nd IM...

Don't fret about the numbers...mine looked very similiar going into IMWI. Trust your training (or lack there of...gotta be honest with yourself and pace a smart race...regardless of what other say.)

My numbers: S - 150k B- 3500 R - 620. That total is for 9 months and I was very light on running in the first 3 months due to injury. Finished IMWI in low 12's.

Good luck.

---

******************************************************
Well I believe in God, and the only thing that scares me is Keyser Soze

Nice times for your age-group expecially with a relatively light Ironman training plan. I just checked my numbers to date and they are allmost the same as yours, except the log only coveres the last 6 months not all the winter base and I've only been training for 1/2 Ironmans :P

Its all about balance.

---

---------------------------
http://www.nunnsontherun.com

good luck in your race :D

---

maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

I'm lucky I quess, I love the training. Over the last 4 1/2 years I have trained for and completed 7 IM's, 4 marathons, 5 -1/2 Im's, and a combination of around 30+ sprint and olympic distance tris. Can't wait for #8 at FL. If you are going to live the lifestyle, live the lifestyle. I mean what else are you going to do, sit on the couch and bitch about crappy tv? (now thats prison) :-)

Dude--at 60-64, I think a 13:30 is awesome. I'm in the 30-34 age group and I see MANY of those guys going way longer than that. Best of luck to you. PCB used to be my "hometown." I was stationed there, anyway. I love it and it's one of my top 3 places to race.

Give me a break - it doesn't take all that much to finish. Racing fast? Sure, but just finishing can be done on minimal volume, if it's done smart.

I'm definitely not superhuman, and I went under 12 at IMLP on bike numbers way less than that. I biked ~2400km, including MTB bike races. My outdoor season starts in April, and I didn't bike indoors, so I only had 3 months of road time. It was the quality of riding that counted for much more than the volume - lots of MTB racing combined with a weekly 100k+ road ride. Most of the guys on our tri team had similar bike numbers, because we only get on the roads 3 months before LP.

If you want to just finish, all you need to do is train smart, not kill yourself with volume.

I'd say you are well prepared. Good job. Best of luck in the race!

---

Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

The worst thing about your post is that you've opened up the can of worms for everyone's uncle to say "Dude, that ain't enough!" bla bla. Hope it doesn't rattle your confidence, because it shouldn't. Forget all of it. The numbers really don't matter.

Enjoy your race.

Hey, if your wife will let you get away with it..... keep going.

I do more than that training wise, work 2 jobs and coach swimming on the side. And let me tell you, it's tough to training 20+ hours a week and work 50+ hours a week. Just tell your wife your trying to go pro next year.

I favor low volume, high intensity training over the 'going long' theory of training for ironman. I managed my first IM on under 12 hours a week avg and finished in 9:38 (Austria 2000). I took the year after that off completely from both racing and training.

Last year (2005) I averaged closer to 14 hours a week and finsihed IMC in 9:42. Lots of consistent weeks with the occasional big volume week thrown in and a decent amount of racing. Felt good although still lacked run volume which led to a poor run.

This year was very interesting; a genuine 8 hours a week average and a 10:12 performance again at IMC. If you make all your sessions count and can include the occasional big volume week then I believe most people can comfortably finish an ironman on a volume under 10 hours a week. Going fast on this low volume is dependant on the chemical make up of the athlete, and years of based accumulated.

To summarize I think you will have a great race. Gordo recently said 90% of athletes go into a race overtrained, rest assured that will never be me!