First of all, RELAX. You have plenty of time. But I do recommend getting in the pool.

>>My questions are though is this enough base training to really tackle and step up to the IM distance?<<

Yes.

>>How much time should I allot roughly per week to get ready?<<

Do you have a coach? Or at least, a training program laid out? If so, listen to him/her or follow the program. I've head good things about the 13 weeks to a 13 hour IM program which has been in Triathlete magazine and can be found online.

>>And finally what would be a reasonable and realistic time goal to shoot for since this is my first one?<<

Don't put any extra pressure on yourself. Have FINISHING as a goal with the main goal to HAVE FUN.

Can't help you on specifics about GF, but I've heard they do a really good job.

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clm
Nashville, TN
https://twitter.com/ironclm | http://ironclm.typepad.com

Cathy,

Thanks for the information and the needed assurance. I am coaching myself and have laid out a program for the next 20 weeks leading up to the race. I was just concerned that I did not have enough base mileage under my legs to go at it like I want to. The reasoning behind my stress on this was I have done many ultramarathon races in the 50K to 100mile distance and the ones that I that I had put in some good base miles before the training I did real well on. The ones that I just went at it was a struggle. I do not want to struggle more than necessary and your right I want to have fun while I am doing this. Thanks again for the advice.



Craig

Craig,

I am also doing Great Floridian and it will be my first as well. I have many of the same concerns as you. I am also coaching myself using Gale Bernhardt's 26 week program. Maybe we can email each other to compare notes and training plans. I have tried to find out info on the course at GFT as well. The forum on the GFT site is pretty good for info as well..

Chris

Chris,

Do you live in Alabama? If so, where. My email address is tazrun@juno.com. Drop me a line and we can talk offline. Thanks!!!!



Craig

Mark Allen suggest an ironman training plan on ironmanlive that is 20 weeks...

… Weeks 1-12: Base Building. This has an emphasis on gradually upping your training volume. Divide this period into 2 six-week segments. Use the first 6 to get back into the routine while upping the mileage. Keep the intensity at low aerobic. Then during the second 6 weeks do a significantly higher volume and work your key endurance workouts in each sport in the upper end of your aerobic heart rate zones. During this base period the only anaerobic work should be a occasional short (half marathon or under) running race once every 3-5 weeks where you go as fast as you can without worrying about times.

… Weeks 13-16: Speed Work. Start out with one speed session in each sport/week for the first 4 weeks. Make sure that you ease into the speed sessions just like the base training. If at the end of this first part your body is responding well and you are not exhibiting any over training signals (restless sleep, throbbing legs at night, loss of appetite, extra irritability over little things), then consider upping the speed to two workouts/week in one or more sports. Cut out the running races and replace them with one or two shorter distance triathlons (half Ironman or less). This will sharpen your racing skills plus bump up your fitness significantly.

… Weeks 17-20: Taper. A full taper takes four weeks. You have a peak in volume and intensity that ends about 4 weeks out from your race (so this week is actually taking place in the 5th week from your event). Then you draw a straight line down to zero workouts from this peak that ends up at the date that is two days before your race. So you can see that if you hit a peak of running that is a 3-hour run, the line down will be steeper than if your peak is 2.5 hours.

Seems like good advice from a proven source...

kcwiii,

Thanks for the advice on that. Is that info on his website? Have you used this program before? If so, how did it work for you? This was basically what I had in mind for the next 20 weeks also. Thanks again.



Craig

Check out these links:

http://vnews.ironmanlive.com/...arkallen/1011027293/

http://vnews.ironmanlive.com/...arkallen/1011626750/

http://vnews.ironmanlive.com/...arkallen/1012250226/

http://vnews.ironmanlive.com/...arkallen/1012854277/

These are a series of 4 articles he wrote for ironmanlive highlighting the framework of a training plan for an ironman. A friend of mine has used this program to the letter for an ironman with great success. He says it works for marathons too. I used it for Wildflower (16weeks) and was pleased with the result. Good luck. Let us know how your race goes!

Thanks kcwiii.... I appreciate the information. I will let everyone know how the race goes. Thanks for asking. It shows the great comradarie of this site.. Good luck in your future races.



Craig