I have three years of sprint and olympic distance events only. I want to do a half next summer and somehow complete a IM in the summer of '07. I feel like an idiot for even mentioning an Ironman. My longest run is 2 hours, longest bike is 3:30 and my longest swim is 1:00. I’m a bop at most tri’s. Can I really get there? Has anyone else started where I am and become an Ironman.
Nope. You are doomed to your olympic distances. Give it up.
JK: You could probably finish an Iron distance tomorrow. It might take awhile but you would finish.
I want to do a half next summer and somehow complete a IM in the summer of '07.
That’s crazy talk. You can’t do it, quit now.
if you build up reasonably and are persistent about it, you could do the IM next year if you wanted to. 07 is completely doable.
Jokesters these guys! I’m looking at doing my first IM in '06 and have done a 1/2 IM already. Sounds like you’ve already done enough training for a great base. Just up your volume a few months out from a full IM so that you’re at the very least duplicating the distances of each leg (except the run…you don’t have to do a marathon in training…maybe 20 miles for your longest run in training). Check some of the training plans on sites like BeginnerTriathlete.com
Good luck!
Hell yes you can do it. I’m on a similar track. I’m doing Wildflower Oly, a marathon and a half IM next year. In '07, I will do another half IM and a full IM to celebrate my 50th birthday. All of this assumes no significant injuries. Make a plan and start edgingthat training up. Good luck!
BOP…no way…send me your bike and I’ll put it to rest for you!
I remember 3 weeks before my first marathon, knowing… KNOWING that it was impossible for me to run all that way. Completing it taught me the best lesson I think I’ve ever learned: you can do anything you put your mind to, if you do your homework, and rest a bit beforehand. Having said that, there is a little under ten months till my first Ironman too, and I feel that trepidation: the biggest fear I feel is that I will dislike it enough to quit before I’m finished - you’re not an idiot for mentioning it: it’s things like this that make us human, and impel us to go beyond where we thought our limits were. Some heroism is just stupid brave stuff - but this…THIS commitment you’ve started to find in yourself is where you’ll discover the resource of your inner hero.
Hey,
I came off the couch Jan 2004, and could BARELY run a mile. I trained for a Marathon and completed that in Jan 2005. I trained for a 1/2 Ironman for 6 months after that and did my first 1/2 Ironman in June 2005. I’ve trained for the last 6 months, and in 4 days, I’ll do an Ironman.
So if fat arsed person like me, can get off his duff, anyone can. You have tons more experience than I did. Sign up for IMFL this Sunday!
I followed the beginnertriathlete.com IM trainining plan and it seems to have worked for me. Course, I’ll let you know if it actually worked when/if I finish
Trae
Piece of cake. I signed up for Lake Placid the day after completing my first triathlon (I was in a fit of overconfidence).
It worked out just fine. Thirteen-plus hours and a whole lot of fun.
The only thing standing between you and an IM race is an entry form.
An IM isn’t as hard as you think!! You have 17 hours to complete the event. If that’s all you want to do is complete it, you could probably do one right now!!! It’s when you push yourself to your limits that it becomes difficult. As long as you stay well within yourself it’s not hard. Hell, people over 70 yrs old do it. As long as you can stay within the cutoff times, you could just about walk the whole marathon. It’s just a matter of wanting it. Now if your trying to win your AG or qualify for IM Hawaii, well that’s a different ball game and it would take a large commitment on your part and proper training. Go for it, you’ll never regret of forget the immense feeling of accomplishment.
Yes. You can do it, and that isn’t just a cliche’.
The Ironman tagline is, “Anything is Possible” for a reason. A huge part of the allure of Ironman is the prospect of exceeding perceived limitations.
You will do that.
I was laughing to myself this past weekend when I bumped into the first real Ironman I met years ago. I had just done a few sprint tris and someone pointed him out. He was chisled, walked with self-confidence, and damn he could swim. He had one of those super-cool tatoos (which I now think of differently) I thought he was on another planet. I admired him. Never, then, did I imagine that I could do an IM. The following year I did some olys, ventured a half, and thought to myself, time to sign up and give it a shot. I stressed, I trained, I got great coaching . . . piece of cake. It is in your head. Prepare sensibly, and you can do an IM. Stay consistent with training, and you can do an IM whenever you want, with just a bit of a ramp-up. Respect the race and have a great time out there.
Tim, looks like I will see you at wildflower. And in the same age group. Lets do a 50 miler for our 50th.
Dave
I’m on a similar time table. If you haven’t been to one, I would encourage you to go to an Ironman either as a spectator or better yet a volunteer. I hauled dnf’s back from an aid station at IM Moo this year, and learned a lot. Good and bad. Have you decided which IM?
**Ashburn **
Nov 1, 2005, 3:45 PM
Post #10 of 13 (104 views)
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**Re: Can an average cat like me be an ironman? - NEW **In reply to] **Quote | Reply ** Piece of cake. I signed up for Lake Placid the day after completing my first triathlon (I was in a fit of overconfidence).
It worked out just fine. Thirteen-plus hours and a whole lot of fun.
The only thing standing between you and an IM race is an entry form.
And $425. 
hell yes, Your ass and the couch need to be strangers.
You’re on!
BTW, you tagline about the 12 hr. finish on 6 hrs. training is always encouraging every time I see it.
Whenever acquaintances and colleagues marvel at my IM finishes and tell me I’m “an inspiration!”, I always feel uncomfortable and more than a little sheepish. Because the dirty little secret is…ANYBODY can do an Ironman! It’s simply a question of WANTING to —honest! If you really want to, you will do the training (which is actually the hardest part), and finishing the race itself is just icing on the cake.
The people who are “inspiring” are the ones who overcome severe handicaps and hardships to be able to complete the race. For the average healthy human, though: put in the training, and reap the rewards. Race day is just a question of relentless forward motion.
I always remember a quote from the 1995 IMH broadcast that goes like this: “You put in, you take out; it’s an equation that everybody here understands.” It’s totally true. You put in the training, you take out the marvellous experience of the race.
GO FOR IT!
interesting that you post this, as it sounds a lot like my plan: do a spring marathon and summer half next year, then a half leading up to a full ironman in '07. I don’t think I’m really pushing the envelope, and you definitely have a better base than I do.
you and the long rides will become good friends tho…
(and by long rides I mean longer than 3:30)