Hi all,
Last Ironman I did was Roth 2016. Since then I’ve been largely inactive but have still swum with a squad 2-3 times a week, put on the pounds (about 250lb now) and generally settled into middle age.
I never sold my race gear as I thought I may have one more in me, and I’m thinking if 2025 might be the year. I was never outstanding or even good I guess, and 10:42 my pb. Anyone got any experience coming back after a while out and how long am I looking at? Is a year with decent training enough to do myself justice? I think this is the key - I recognise I’m coming back down the hill age wise, but I don’t want to just turn up and finish. I don’t think that 10:42 is pushing the performance envelope for what would be a 47 year old, so the target would be beating that - like the look of Japan in September.
Question I guess is given discipline to get 75lbs or so off, can I come back to a 10:30 sort of pace? Anyone done it?
Will really come down to what your run looks like once you drop weight, but in general, Mother Nature is undefeated. It would take a helluva push to get down to PBs from 10 years ago.
I think you can 100% do it, but it will take a ton of effort and a year might not be enough time to achieve your goal. If you are committed though I think you can get there!
I would split things up into two phases - losing weight and then IM build. Don’t get me wrong, you can definitely lose weight during a build, but I think it gets tough constantly being in a calorie deficit during peak training, so I would try to lose 80-90% of the total amount of weight you want to lose before building.
I would spend the next 6 months primarily focused on dropping weight while building some solid s/b/r volume and consistency. Just my two cents.
75 pounds is a lot. 100% serious here… why not use something like Ozempic?
75 pounds is a lot. 100% serious here… why not use something like Ozempic?
75 lbs over a year is just over 6 lbs a month. That’s certainly on the higher end for a sustainable caloric deficit but not unachievable. A pound a week is a pretty standard bench mark to shoot for.
Someone else mentioned though that putting in hard efforts to get back to PB shape while being in that deficit is going to be very difficult.
If I were OP, I’d aim to lose the weight over a year of solid base rebuilding then do a 6-8 month build for a race.
When I turned 40 I was roughly 110kg. That was July. I signed up to Nice the following June and had not done anything for several years to that point. I completed Nice at 76 kilos.
I lost 34 kg in 8-10 months or so.
I’m down for Nice next year for my 50th, I’m down from 94kg at Xmas to 86 currently.
Losing weight either way is free speed. I’ve no idea what anyone’s potential is but whilst in the long term mother nature remains undefeated, the rate at which you slow or could slow can be slowed down
When I turned 40 I was roughly 110kg. That was July. I signed up to Nice the following June and had not done anything for several years to that point. I completed Nice at 76 kilos.
I lost 34 kg in 8-10 months or so.
I’m down for Nice next year for my 50th, I’m down from 94kg at Xmas to 86 currently.
Losing weight either way is free speed. I’ve no idea what anyone’s potential is but whilst in the long term mother nature remains undefeated, the rate at which you slow or could slow can be slowed down
That’s fantastic, well done. Thanks for the points above too all. I think with the ozempic, it’s just a substitute for willpower and I’d rather go natural as it were. My weight has always yo yo’d throughout my adult life - building into my pb year I lost a similar amount of weight from 100kg ish down to 73 for race day in 7 months. That was when I was 28 so it will be a damn sight harder now granted. Perhaps 75 lbs in 13 months isn’t realistic, but 50 might well be and would put me around 200. Guess only one way to find out.
The run is my weak discipline by miles. That is going to be weight dependent for sure. I guess ultimately the question is how close to my potential was I when younger. I think swim and bike wise very, but running not at all.
My understanding is that Ozempic shrinks the size of fat cells dramatically, while also increasing them in number. So as long as you’re on it, the fat cells stay small. Once you’re off they start to expand and often you’d end up bigger than before.
Since fat cells persist for up to ten years, its a long time you’d need to be calorie neutral/deficit to avoid gaining the weight rapidly back.
Anyway, no free lunch and all of that. I think you’re on the right course. If you miss your goal by a few pounds, who cares. The process will be just as rewarding as the result.
first off, hello, other iron mike.
second: can you do this? sure. i have no idea about your times - that will be dependent on lots of stuff, at least some of which is outside your control. (weather, for instance.)
i think the comeback will have to be a bit careful - you mention that running is your weak link, and doing ironman run training with lots of extra pounds on your frame could definitely add an injury risk.
if the goal is to truly push up against your potential, you need to give yourself a good opportunity to do it. 12 months with weight loss built in might not be the best runway. maybe a safer plan would be a fast half ironman in 2025 and then an ironman PB in 2026? otherwise if the goal is to finish and feel good, sure - why not sign up for an IM next summer and go for it?
in terms of general strategy, an approach i think is really useful in comebacks is:
-frequency before duration
-duration before intensity
so, first commit to regular activity. it might be you’re riding the trainer for 15 minutes or you’re doing a 2-mile run. but you’re getting out consistently. once that’s taken root, start stretching out some of those activities to see how you tolerate more duration. only once that’s completely baked into the schedule should you start exploring the higher intensities - by then you’ve probably cut some weight, too.
anyway, good luck!
I came back to tri at age 46 after a 5 year gap. Had less weight to lose than you but still plenty. After a couple of years my results were better than before the gap, and continued to improve. In general I would say 40’s is not an age where you need to worry that time has gotten the better of you (late 50’s, maybe, 60’s, sure; if you were good when younger of course your times might be slower).
I’m still going at age 54 and never been healthier. The thing I wish I’d realised sooner / would have done differently is how helpful strength training is as we start to age - especially in the context of resilience for running. n=1 of course but maybe something for you to consider.
I sense the goal of beating your old PB is motivating but I’m not sure about the wisdom of coming from where you are now to a big ‘race time’ oriented goal a year from now. Is your goal to come back for 1 big race or is there a bigger picture about being more active and more healthy again for the rest of your life? Does the idea to attack your IM PB a year now from come from a worry that ageing will make it harder 2 years from now?
Overall, my thinking would be 2025 could be a year to lose the extra weight, gradually re-establish training habits that work for you, do some lower key races for fun and with less pressure on the outcome. Do that well and you’ll have opened up lots of other possibilities for yourself for 2026.
Good luck!
I have never strength trained prior to the last year when I was 49 going on 50
It has been transformational
I am still not “strong” but relative to last nov, i have gain significant strength and I think it’s paying dividends in terms of general well being
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That’s a really helpful post thankyou. It’s reassuring to hear at 46 I’m perhaps not totally over the hill. It seems for the age groupers at least mid thirties seems to be about peak so I guess if going on a percent a year I’m maybe ten percent or so down on my peak as it were. Yeah, I’m ignoring all the 21 year old wonder kids that seem to dominate long course now :-D.
I’ve started with some strength training but at present once a week and light. I’m back in my Ironman schedule of training every day for the past two months and as you say, distances are all small. Have established a good routine and have had no beer for the past two months. I guess I’m feeling like I’m in a great place mentally so I’ve started thinking well so what now and hence the thought of can I roll back the years and beat my Ironman pb set as a 28 year old.
I’ve considered the T100 race next year in London as it’s local to me and distance obviously not as long. Food for thought.
Thanks for that, really helpful other iron Mike! Another vote for perhaps going half or T100 distance in 25 before a big push to 26. That would be 47 and 48, and I guess 10:42 or better on a fast course would still be physiologically possible.
Point taken about the running with extra weight, and to be honest that is my prime concern. Not had any knee or other such issues to date, but don’t want to start! Went 52 mins last time out in the swim and still swim with a squad so reckon I could jump in a lake tomorrow and go sub 60 with no extra effort. Bike I split 5:02 so that might now slide 20 mins or so. It’s the run - jogged and walked around a 6 hour effort as the wheels always come off for me about half marathon distance. Even fit I’m just a big unit and I’m not a natural runner. Setting my pb I went 4:07 off a 5:30 bike so heading the right way but that’s a fair way off my stand alone best so hence I feel I can still make gains. A winter run focus would defintely be a good idea but then I circle back around to how to do it safely when I’m this heavy, and that is your point I guess around maybe looking at this as a 2 year programme.
Agree with this. I wouldn’t force the weight loss. 75 pounds in a year can’t happen in a healthy way. Getting back into training will naturally get you to a good place & then you can reevaluate. You’re selling yourself short. 10:42 is plenty good. Can you get back there? Absolutely. It might not happen in a year but there are so many factors like course & pacing that can be optimized. Going to a place like Roth versus Lake Placid can give you 30ish minutes back on your final time. Maybe pick a flier of a European course & see what you can do there. Racing has probably changed a lot since your PB. It really does seem to be all about the bike now. Idk what your strongest disciplines were. That should dictate where you’re going to need to spend your time. Have you been doing zero bike/run training? The swimming will be enough that you shouldn’t have to change that much. I would think about getting a coach. I like the idea of not stressing about weight or time goals & just getting into an extended base build. You just need to get back into the habit of swim/bike/run, before choosing a race & what goals to go after.
for what it’s worth, i’m a similar vintage to you ('79) and something i hear from a lot of people in our general bracket is that turning 40 isn’t it, it’s turning 50. after that, it seems like things change a fair deal. so i’d be optimistic that you’ve got some years left before you need a very different approach and changed expectations.
also, consider looking up gordo byrn. former ultraman world champ who’s a few years older than us and is documenting his attempt to return to fitness.
Cool. Gordo was the epic camp bloke wasn’t he? Will deffo look him up as used to follow the madness of those camps back in the day - never quite had the courage or the money to attend one mind!
Yeah was definitely not going to pick Lanza for my pb return! Thing is I’ve done Austria, Switzerland and Germany to death so want to do something further a field. Will watch Japan with interest when it runs next month and see what times they are pushing out. Seems to be up and down an expressway for the bike so should be fast if a bit boring perhaps. Florida has a history of being a fast course too doesn’t it and I’ve heard Barcelona is but it sounds a nightmare draft train extravaganza.
I’m a swim biker. I’ve been swim squad training all the way since my last IM in 2016 as I love swimming. As above, I could go sub 60 tomorrow I’m sure if chucked in an IM race. Bike I’ve been largely on Zwift doing 45 mins ish rides the past two years so have a bit of fitness and did a 45km bike today which hurt a bit but it’s something. Running I started again two months back and am at 4km going 6 min/km pace and it sucks so bad, but that’s what 250lbs will do hey.
I just wanted to say welcome back !!! As they say at Ironman, anything is possible. If you have been swimming with your swim squad your cardio is OK and carrying all that extra weight around is a daily workout. So once that starts coming off, and you lose multiple weight jackets of mass and insulation (the weight dramatically impacts overheating on the run), you will find out, but step one is giving it a go. How old are you now? This may determine things. Were you in your 30’s in 2016, or early 40’s or late 40’s. If you are young enough, the chances all depend on you. If you’re closing in on 60 or higher, I would say “not realistic”
When I turned 40 I was roughly 110kg. That was July. I signed up to Nice the following June and had not done anything for several years to that point. I completed Nice at 76 kilos.
I lost 34 kg in 8-10 months or so.
I’m down for Nice next year for my 50th, I’m down from 94kg at Xmas to 86 currently.
Losing weight either way is free speed. I’ve no idea what anyone’s potential is but whilst in the long term mother nature remains undefeated, the rate at which you slow or could slow can be slowed down
Were you trying to chase PBs from a decade prior? It’s one thing to lose weight and do the race (congratulations on that by the way) it’s another to return to and surpase your previous best form like OP is trying to do.
No, but I’m not sure what the real taper is in times from 40 to 50 (I may be able to tell you next year 🤣)
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