Well, trainings not gone according to plan due to a number of reasons, and here i am with just 12 weeks left till IMUK.
My trainings been pretty inconsistent over the last 8 weeks. I’ve managed a couple of 1hr 15min runs.
My bikings not been too bad, but only managed one 3hr ride and about four 2hr to 2hr 30 rides.
I’m comfortable with swimming about an hour.
Is 12 weeks enough time to train for this my 1st IM? Life’s a lot less hetic now and i’m able to consistenly train now
What were you doing before life got so hectic? Are you new to this sport or do you have years of long distance training under your belt. If you have the background, I think you can do it. Gale Bernhart put out a plan in Triathlete magazine "Thirteen Weeks to a Thirteen Hour IM" a few years ago that I think might be available at their websight. That will carry you through. If you don't have the background and you are maxiing out at what you are doing right now.................Get Ready For The Pain!
If you absolutely had to, you could probably do an IM on about 10 minutes notice, you know, if someone put a gun to your head or something of the sort.
I think most people would be better off if they just trained, for no distance in particular, and just did what their bodies and minds wanted to everyday. Kind of like just going outside and playing. Then once you’ve found a pattern to your playing, find an event that caters to it.
Your body is a tool/gift that no amount of money and technology can reproduce. So, don’t be disrespectful to it. Without knowing your history, I can’t say if doing an IM in 12 weeks would count as a disprectful indulgence or not, just be honest with yourself.
Sweeney and Sojourner have touched on a couple of important aspects, referring to your previous long-distance experience and the need to respect your body. If you’ve done 1/2irons before and are comfortable with that distance, then you can likely handle IMUK on your current training. “Handle”, of course, is a relative term, and when Sojourner mentions doing an IM on 10 minutes notice, yeah, sure, you can almost certainly finish it…but is that all you want from the experience? If you’ve done 1/2s before and can kind of predict where your current training would land you after 70.3 miles, then you ought to have a fair idea of what you’ll be up against at the 140.6 of IMUK. But if those training levels you mention stand as your all-time highs, then you might want to reconsider things. (Then again, I’m the guy who, whenever someone posts that they want to do an IM in their first year of triathlon, suggests that maybe they would be better served by waiting a year, or two, or three!) If you do it, however, I hope you have a great day…and let us all know how it went!
If you aren’t prone to overuse injuries, and aren’t going to try and RACE the distance, I’d say, “Sure you can”. Just remember the swim is a warm up for a very easy long bike ride. Your first few miles on the marathon should be as slow as the slowest miles you plan on run/walking…use your knowledge of how your body reacts to those first few miles to determine if you should aim to continue at that pace, or go even slower. If you get to 20 miles and wonder what all the fuss was about, speed up a little. That’s what I did on my first IM, without much different training volume than what you described. It’s certainly possible.
My First IM was Hawaii having qualified in Chicago many years ago. From Chicago to Hawaii was 9 weeks. I had only oly distance training and ramped it up pretty quickly to IM training. Managed to get 11 hours in Hawaii but be careful of jumping to big mileage too soon - especially on the run. My max run was then 3 hours but now for IM I only run a max of 2.5 hours. Hope this helps.
Like the others have said, 12 weeks is plenty if you have been keeping reasonably fit throughout your hectic period and have a solid base to go on. My training has been total crap this year with a few injuries and a wife that has been travelling a lot on business. However, last weekend I was able to hook up with a group and ride for 120k in 3.5 hours so I was moving pretty well (I was also doing most of the pulling!) and this was my 6th ride of the year outdoors. Last fall I was in really good shape and about 12 pounds lighter than I am now so a lot of the base from before is still there but just hiding 
I know that in 12 weeks I could be ready to crank out a pretty good ironman.
No, 12 weeks is not enough, it’s too much. Over and over again I have seen people put so much focus and time into training for one event, only to end up overtrained or injured. If you start reasonably fit, then a couple months ought to do it. And it’s a lot easier to stick to a good solid training plan over a shorter period of time. We have all been guilty of this, but try and just remember some of those awesome workouts that you have after 5 or 6 weeks of good solid training. DOn’t give yourself too much time to train into a hole, and hit the race over rested…
To finish - yes
To have a race anywhere near your potential - No
Treat it as an adventure, enjoy the training and have fun on race day with no time pressure.
If you enjoy the first one then make training a part of your life, no start or end. Just train year round.
After a few years of that you should be ready to do an IM.
Well, it depends on what kind of experience you want to have at the event, and on your current condition.
You characterization of your current condition sounds like you are relatively fit. If you can arrange your schedule over the next 12 weeks to really focus on training then I wager you may be able to put together a decent race.
The key workouts are the ones that you can’t afford to miss. Opinion differs on exactly what those should be, but there is a general consensus that there needs to be a few key training sessions that provide a high degree of stress over a longer duration and then the time to “absorb” (Mark Allen’s word) the workout or facilitate the necessry adaptation.
If you can maintain your current fitness, get the key workouts in to build on your current fitness and then execute a precision race paln on race day I bet you’ll have an OK race.
Good luck whatever your decision.
12 weeks is enough to finish it, given that you’ve had some scattered training throughout the year. I’d be really conservative about your time goals, though. I did GFT in '03 on basically 9 weeks of training and finished it, though I staggered across the line in about 12:09, if I can remember through the haze of pain from that day 
T.
I agree w/ Monty. Which is why I said I would never do an IM-too many people spend too much time talking and thinking about it- so when I got to sign up for my first one 3 weeks before I took the chance (college div at IMWIsconsin) I had done several halfs, which I would suggest doing to help with confidence and nutrition. And I ended up qualifying for HI. If you have some base and confidence you will be fine. Don’t over think it.
Agreed. Many people WAY over think this and many coaches make good money out of this - JFT!!
Do the basic components sperately: get in a couple of 5 - 6 hour rides. Run 2 1/2 - 3 hours or 20 miles non stop, whatever comes first and swim non stop for 1:15. Make sure you do that last long run no ckloser than 4 weeks before the race.
Fleck
12:09 is hardly “staggering” across the line. I have a lot of customers who work long and hard for that time, it is pretty respectable.
BK, where you been hiding dawg’?
Long time, no postee…;
To finish - yes
To have a race anywhere near your potential - No
Treat it as an adventure, enjoy the training and have fun on race day with no time pressure.
If you enjoy the first one then make training a part of your life, no start or end. Just train year round.
After a few years of that you should be ready to do an IM.
exactly
did my first one on 6 weeks training. wasn’t pretty…but it was finished.
the irony is that one felt better than the one the following year on 6 months of training…lol
good luck!