So here is my wacky thought process. I’ve done tri for a year. I have Breath of Life this weekend but due to weddings and other BS I am not sure I’ll have any tri’s in the fall. I have the local SCV Marathon if I do the full.
So I was thinking. If I have to wait until next year why not GO BIG? But how big?
I can currently do the 70.3 distances individually. not a speedster but I am consistent. I can swim IM distane in a lake but not ready for that in ocean yet. I have not ridden the 112 or done a marathon.
I want to do a full IM purely for bragging rights.
If I train for a full will I have any time for my family?
“If I train for a full will I have any time for my family?”
It really depends on you and what you want to accomplish. Family time will probably suffer a bit, closer to the race start the more you can count on it. If you can get most of your training done on the weekends you should be fine. Best to have complete buy in from the family before you sign up though…
Just be forewarned, it takes up alot of time! Alot depends on your personal situation. I was up to about 15 or 16 hours/week max training for IM last year, and that’s pretty minimal compared to some here on ST, but it was enough to get me though IMFL in 12 hours without any issues.
I have my own business, so had a bit of flexibility and don’t come in to work until 10:30am. I’m married with one 3 1/2 year old daughter and another kid on the way. I am training for IMC right now, and my LONG training days are Weds (40 mile bike/4 mile run brick), Thursday (long run) and Saturday (long bike/short run brick), and I take Sunday off to spend the day with my family. Just make sure to plan out your training with your family so there are no surprises.
First, I would hold off on the decision until you have done a half. Until then, I don’t think you know what you are in for, and cannot really make a good decision.
Then, remember that training to finish and training to race to totally different; and it sounds like you would be training to finish. I think this is a subtlety that is often lost on ST by the serious crowd.
I think you need to do a long swim, bike, and run at least every 2 weeks while building the distance of each, and more often (weekly) would be better. So think about it, can you dedicate increasing time Saturday for the long bike, Sunday for the long run, and Wednesday for the swim? Realize given your speed how much time each may take. Does that work for your family. Also, work backwards from a race date with a progression (length increase) from where you are to where you need to be, so you can understand how many months will be involved.
Since you have not done a half yet, I am guessing that this is on the order of one year. (Not a lot of information in your first post, so I am not sure, and you should get advice from a real coach.) But I just want to point out that even for people who are somewhat fit, and have done a IM previously, 6 months is often spent to get into IM shape.
If you can do 70.3 distances now, it shouldn’t take too long to get those up to being able to handle individual IM distances. As far as seeing your family, that depends on what you want to accomplish. You should get a pretty good idea of your run fitness while you’re getting ready for Santa Clarita. Assuming that goes ok, it sounds like you just would need to get your bike up from 56 to 112, and that should be easily doable in a year+ of time. As far as training goes, it depends on how you want to do in the IM. If you just want to finish, I think you can still have a semi-normal family life. If you want to race it and be fit, you either need to be super-efficient with your training (it is doable and some here may be able to elaborate) or give up some of the family time. 70.3 distance on the other hand is very doable with a family.
Have fun at Breath of Life this Sunday. It’s going to be my first tri in about 12-13 years. Should be interesting, but I’m looking forward to it.
I was in your same situation last year…about a year of Tri’s and wanted to do a big one. Signed up for IMWI before ever having done anything more than a sprint (I did have a strong swim and bike background though).
I did one HIM at the end of last year and it was an eye opener. 5-6 hours a week and no set plan is no way to train for a 5+ hour event. Also, with a wife, 3 kids and one on the way the week before IMWI I knew I was in trouble!
Best advice I got…get a coach. I have been following the coach’s plan now for 3-4 months and feel great. I am anywhere from 9-15 hours a week and will be ramping up after the Mountaineer next weekend, however before the coach I was on my own and was up to 16-18 hours a week.
I don’t think I was ‘wasting’ my time pre-coach and was building a great base, but it was at the expense of family time and the coach has been able to maximize the time I spend training and keep things reasonable for the real world.
I have to have SOMETHING to motivate me. I’m also an ex smoker with family history of hypertension and cancer, so I have cleaned up my lifestyle so I have can spend a healthy life with my wife and kids.
Besides silly yet worthy bragging rights, setting such a lofty goal will get me to train harder. I got into tri because I can’t just go to a gym to ‘work out.’ I always sign up for tri early so I have to do it. I’m too cheap top eat the entry fee.
When I started last year I ‘ran’ 14 min miles. I’ve gone from 195 to 176 lbs. This year I did Strawberry fields at a 7:40 pace. Not gonna make the podium but finishing gives me a great sense of pride.
So maybe 70.3 is big enough. Would love to do IM before 40 tho.
Sorry. Yes. A year to train. BTW i am not implying this would be a walk in the park so I hope I didn’t insult anyone. Every race is a challenge for me as I am not one of those natural athletes who can crack off an Oly on a bet ( a friend did that - bastard).
I am in a similar situation, except I am a single dad to a 2 year old. I work full time and parent full time. In the next year I am doing a 208 mile relay run, Longhorn 1/2, Disney Marathon and IMAZ. I have been training to full marathon and a little over 1/2 IM distances for a while and will then focus on IMAZ training in November with Disney being a fun thing for me and my dad. My training includes riding on the trainer after the little one’s bed time, running very early in the street in front of my house (1/2 mile lap, never lose sight of my house, I call it running NASCAR), use the elip at night for bricks and fit in a swim whenever I can squeeze out the time in my day. Fortunately I love training even on the stationary stuff and sleep like a baby so it all fits together nicely. I also have a pretty flexible job and get in lots of other running chances when working from home. Then when my youngin is with her mom every Thursday and every other weekend I simply train as much as possible. Long rides, runs, swims, races, whatever fits in.
The funny part is that with my late and early training I can play with my kiddo during all of my daylight free time and on our weekends together with no guilt and no overanxious feeling of needing to be out training. I know I will get it in later in the evening and early the next morning. I don’t miss too many workouts either but wouldn’t mind if there was something for us to be doing instead. I know I can survive a missed workout.
The downside is I don’t have much time or energy to date the womens and might occassionally choose training over work. This is where your wife may not understand. Otherwise I enjoy every second of it.
I am a project manager though so I plan everything. If I was more free spirited I would likely fail at this schedule.
Maybe I’ll see you at Disney. I am just doing the 5k so my wife can do the 1/2. kids are doing the kids K. My schedule works for training too. I have almost two hour lunches so i could do all my swimming and even shorter rides and runs mid day.
I also hit the trainer. spinnervals works for me.Thanks for your post.
Well the decision to do a Half became easier when another member of Team Optimistic (there’s only 5 of us actually) said he’s in for a half next year. He has been studying for the GMAT and plans to enroll in an MBA program for next August. As such, he hasn’t raced since Strawberry Fields but can start training after the GMAT. Gives us plenty of time and obviously having somebody else will make it so much easier.
Any April or May suggestions for 2008? Preferably in CA. Wildflower’s logistics make it a little difficult.
Thanks for all your suggestions. I am obviously a newbie but love the sport.