From what I hear the flatest is Florida. Flat and no wind, what the hell fun would that be.;)

You are ready now if you are psychologically mature enough to slow down on the bike and are prepared to walk quite a bit on the "run". Any more base is just gravy if your goal is to finish subseventeen™.

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Frank,
An original Ironman and the Inventor of PowerCranks

Sorry, but I'm getting sick of these cat threads. Big cat, wild cat, blue cat. This one at least doesn't have pictures. But why is everybody here acting like cats can enter ironman races? Well, maybe a independent race, but no way an IM-brand race.

Oh, and yeah, all this cat crap needs to be in the purple room.

I signed up for Canada next year, it will be my first IM distance...everyone laughed at me because I had not even done a half yet....

Ok...so now I did the half...no big deal...I finished exactly as predicted...

So had I listened to them I would have missed the opportunity for IMC....i'm glad I listen to myself....

Most of everyone elses issues are they are trying to win their age group....or at least place....

Personally...I'm not built for that...I really do want to enjoy the experience of getting there.....If I manage to do Sub 17 then I will be perfectly happy with that.

If I could do it in even 10-15 hrs per week, that would be great. I'm not sure I have 20-25 to dedicate to training. Unless of course they start a seniors tour and I get sponsored by Viagra.

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_________________________________
I'll be what I am
A solitary man

I have no question you could do it in 5 to 10 if this was done all year round. Can not be a 4 month effort.



dave

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Dave Campbell | Facebook | @DaveECampbell | h2ofun@h2ofun.net

Boom Nutrition code 19F4Y3 $5 off 24 pack box | Bionic Runner | PowerCranks | Velotron | Spruzzamist

Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

If I can complete an Ironman, anyone can. I'm serious. I have a very demanding job, wife and two year old son. I did my first tri in 2001, and have been on a steady diet of sprint races since then. I've done four half IM's, none very well (my best time is 6:15), and I managed to finish the Duke race three weeks ago. I finished in just over 15 hours. I had a mechanical on the bike that cost me some time, I basically walked the second half of the marathon and still finished comfortably and well within the cutoff time. No visit to the medical tent, either. Yeah, you can do it with no problems.

RP

It's a lifestyle for me. I go all year-the winter is pretty mild here. That's encouraging as hell Dave, thanks.

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_________________________________
I'll be what I am
A solitary man

Just as Robert posted, you can do it!! And since it is a lifestyle like I do also, it would all be in the planning.

Meaning, I did the swim as slow as I could, the bike as slow as I could, and the run as slow as I could. I still walked more of the second half of the run than I wanted. Whether this was from I didnt eat enough at that point, not enough training, who cares, I finished.

Even if you could prove a larger amount of time would cut off one, two, three or four hours off your time, who cares!! Have a life first. Finish the race, and then you have a base line. Again, I would like to try again now knowing I can finish, and try to increase a few things.

As an example, I ran my first marathon last year and finished. This year I am going for a time, but still based on running at the most 20 miles per week. If I bonk who cares.

So yes, a lot of it is mental. A LOT of it is making sure you eat and drink right. But, you would be fine!!!

So, which IM are you going to do in 2006?

Now, one other thought. I decided that rather than train a lot, I did a lot of races instead. I always race harder than I ever train. So, one does just need to make sure one gets the training in one way or another.



Dave

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Dave Campbell | Facebook | @DaveECampbell | h2ofun@h2ofun.net

Boom Nutrition code 19F4Y3 $5 off 24 pack box | Bionic Runner | PowerCranks | Velotron | Spruzzamist

Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

Sounds to me like you are already overtraining! You'll do fine. Just stay within your abilities, stay hydrated and take in the right amount of calories, and don't stop moving forward. You don't have to go fast. Ever. Just Don't Stop.

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Quid quid latine dictum sit altum videtur
(That which is said in Latin sounds profound)

Sure you can. Piece of cake! Seriously!

I was a smoking/drinking couch potato in 2002 that started to seriously run to help with quitting smoking. Three months later, spring 2003, I ran my first marathon (sub-4), loved it and not hard at all. Promptly decided to start tris - 5 sprints, 2 Olympics, Clermont 1/2 in sub-six that first season. Was overtrained and fed up that winter and signed up for Clermont Full to get my motivation going (but not a good course choice for first IM).

Raced another marathon in spring, the sprints and olys in summer and finished Clermont Full (2004). Was a bit tough because I had this stupid time goal that I couldn't reach but was never an issue about the finish.

I always looked at this absolute minimum plan from Triathlete magazine and since I was always way above that I didn't worry too much. It is true what many posts say, it is just a question of going forward. And if you built up in training you'll have no problem in the race.

http://www.winningmag.com/...3weeksSchedule.shtml

Did my second IM, Duke BD, three weeks ago (so I'm now in my third tri season) and it is getting easier! and faster...

And don't overdo it. I trained less total volume this year but improved my perfomance in all distances, believe had a lot to do with the long break I took last winter after Clermont Full.

You'll be addicted by the time you finish your first ...GO FOR IT!!!

I say sign up for IMFL this weekend, perfect beginners course and it will motivate you to know you have the slot....

You can do it with no problem. With three years of experience in shorter tris and the fact that you already do 2 hour runs, the only thing between you and IM finish are some longer bike rides.

you can definintely finish. how fast is another question. mainly i'd crank up that long bike, learn about what your body likes to eat/wear/etc., and make a few lifestyle changes to stay on your feet more: commute to work, cancel the cable, etc etc.

my coach always says, before you think about racing the ironman, just put on a packpack with some snacks and your wallet in it and go walk around town for 9 hours. don't even run a step, but just feel the kind of fatigue that comes with being upright and mobile for that long. a very good point, i think.

-mike

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https://lshtm.academia.edu/MikeCallaghan

http://howtobeswiss.blogspot.ch/

This year I completed an Ironman, after two years of sprint tri's only, and no exercise at all before that. I am BMOP if that makes any sense. Longest ride before I started the program was 40 miles. Longest swim was one hour. The training program was 9 months long. I am old and unathletic, but I did stick to the program, doing between 8 and 16 hours per week. The 16 hour weeks were at the end of the program and there weren't too many of them. If you just want to finish, why not do it next year?

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__________________________________________

Those who know do not speak, those who speak, do not know.

Well I suppose I need to commit to a IM and start training. In the beginning of this journey I never dreamed I could complete an Oly. After 3 years many sprints and some Oly's Im a click away from IMFL or Oklahoma City Redman. Thanks for the encouragement and inspiration. By the way, my wife hates you all.ha

If YOU want it bad enough you can finish.............that is the most important part of this adventure, not life changing crap it is an adventure of what you can put your body and mind through.

t~

p.s. my buddy never done a TRI but WANTED to do an IM for the challenge and finished sub12, cuz he WANTED it.

I did a 5:25 Half IM last summer with my longest weekly swim, bike and run being fairly similar in length to what yours are now. My other training was 30 minutes running off of the long bike, two easy rides of between 60 and 90 minutes, one harder ride of between 60 and 90 minutes, an easy run of 4 to 6 miles and a harder run of between 6 and 8 miles. With this training, I only had two rough miles on the run (11 & 12). The rest of the race was not "easy", but I was able to push along at a reasonably fast pace on the bike (at least for me) and have enough left after the bike to run fairly hard for most of the run. So, there is no reason you can't do a half IM fairly easily next summer off of your current training.

As far as an IM the following year, I have never done the distance, so I'm speculating some here, but it seems to me that if you have the time to train, and I think this mostly means the time to do a 100 mile plus bike rides on a weekly basis, with a 30 to 60 minute runs afterwards, you should be able to do a full IM the year after next.