I think allot depends on which IM you plan on and where you are relative to incoming fitness level. You also have to balance that with any expectations on race performance given the time to train. I have done my IM races on 4 months training but mine have been relatively flat courses. Essentially, very doable...

Yes its feasible
it all depends how fit you are at the moment and your tolerance for training. you gonna have to put a lot of volume coming from nothing without getting injured.

could you share you FTP for example?

This will be my 4th IM so I know mentally I can push thru however I have never started my training with such little time. I'll be racing IM Maryland which I hear is "easier" than other races. I have LP and MT under my belt. I'm about 165 right now at 5'8" female. I've realized now that I'm 31 years old that its not as easy as it was 4 years ago to bounce back. I've used http://www.trifuel.com/...on/ironman-workouts/ for my training in the past so I may tweak this to a 4 month version. Just curious if others have done this in 4 months. I'm asking a lot to try and shed 20 pounds in 4 months to be at an ideal race weight and ready but I'm willing to put in all the hard work.

To quote you
"that I'm 31 years old that its not as easy as it was 4 years ago to bounce back."

Well thanks alot! what you think us mid fiftiy guys an older deal with ;o)

Yes doable

Easily done. I do think that endurance sports is accumulative, muscle memory ensures that your endurance doesn't vanish over night! Have a good race!

Why were you sidelined? Injury? Work? Pregnancy? I think that's an important consideration for the internet coaches here.

6-9 months is plain crazy. You'll do just fine with 4 months of training.

4 months or 16 weeks. thats possible. guess it would depend on your base.

3 blocks of 4 weeks 3 up 1 down
3 week block 2 up 1 down
1 week taper / rest

a lot can be achieved in 12 weeks, AS CAN INJURY.
progression from your current level and honesty about that level is important.
Forget the previous events and prep you have done..

Strong weight loss will massively assist you performance 1lb a week is achievable and safe...
Would bring you in on target in time.

Plan you training cycles (months) and their progression and then just follow it daily.

Good luck with the race..

hire a coach

I'm a HUGE fan of endurance nation's training plans and they have 12 and 20 week options.

If you have any level of fitness, you can easily jump into one of these plans. Long runs starting at 90min, long bikes at 3h.

Go for it!

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---Patrick

IMMT2014 IMFLA2015
IMMT703-2012/2014 IMFLA703-2013

I wouldn't panic about the weight situation.

4 months is 17 weeks, so even at 1lb/week (very achievable when IM training if you're a little heavier than usual) you'll be close enough to previous race weight that it won't be a big deal.

this. So many unknown variables (for example: how will your body will adjust to long runs on your higher weight? if you have horrible form you may have gotten away without injury but the extra weight might cause issues. If you have great form and are good at taking into account warning signs, then you might be fine. Asides from that, what running base have you kept hold of over the last few months; how much can you dedicate to training inc. injury prevention/strength/flexibility/etc).

My running base is not much at all. I can probably go out and run 5 miles right now. My biking base is about 40 miles. Now I can push myself and do much more but I will most likely get injured. Since this original post I had two workouts that mentally put me back into IM training mode. I appreciate all the replies. I agree if I can keep up the consistency of my workouts I can do this in 4 months.

I would go for it unless the circumstances that caused you to gain 20 lbs cannot be overcome.

Doable, just manage expectations. Hire a coach. He/she will also help manage your expectations!

16 weeks is totally doable. build slowly and don't increase vol by more than 10%. Good luck!