How long will I need to train for my first Ironman?

Nappy

Hi Guys,

I may be getting a bit ahead of myself but I want to complete an Ironman at some stage in the next 3 years. I am currently training for my first ever sprint triathlon and I'm really enjoying the training and see myself getting addicted to the whole thing.

I'm new to running as well and am starting a 18 weeks marathon plan next week aiming to complete the Dublin marathon in October. There seems to be a huge choice of training plans for marathon training but I can't find one for triathlons and more specifically an Ironman. If anyone has any plans or links to training plans for triathlons/ironmans it would be much appreciated if you could share.

I like the look of Lanzarote IM and am wondering is 2014 too ambitious. My cycling and swimming is good and I can only see it getting better with this training. Any help and tips would be great.

Cheers

Nappy

big mce

I used this one last year for Challenge Barcelona:

http://www.trifuel.com/triathlon/ironman-workouts/

My suggestion would be to do a few sprint, olympic and halves before going to the full, as your new to running and ironman distance is all about the second half of the run!

mrbungle

Nappy wrote: »

Hi Guys,

I may be getting a bit ahead of myself but I want to complete an Ironman at some stage in the next 3 years. I am currently training for my first ever sprint triathlon and I'm really enjoying the training and see myself getting addicted to the whole thing.

I'm new to running as well and am starting a 18 weeks marathon plan next week aiming to complete the Dublin marathon in October. There seems to be a huge choice of training plans for marathon training but I can't find one for triathlons and more specifically an Ironman. If anyone has any plans or links to training plans for triathlons/ironmans it would be much appreciated if you could share.

I like the look of Lanzarote IM and am wondering is 2014 too ambitious. My cycling and swimming is good and I can only see it getting better with this training. Any help and tips would be great.

Cheers

Nappy

If you're looking at 2014, get a coach.

Nappy

big mce wrote: »

I used this one last year for Challenge Barcelona:

http://www.trifuel.com/triathlon/ironman-workouts/

My suggestion would be to do a few sprint, olympic and halves before going to the full, as your new to running and ironman distance is all about the second half of the run!

That plan is really well laid out. Cheers!

Nappy

mrbungle wrote: »

If you're looking at 2014, get a coach.

I think it will have to be 2015 by the looks of things. By coach, do you mean joining a triathlon club?

mrbungle

Nappy wrote: »

I think it will have to be 2015 by the looks of things. By coach, do you mean joining a triathlon club?

Just my personal view, but if not in a club, then get a personal coach.
Both will complement each other, I'd put more weight in a decent coach.

All down to cost and what you want out of it. Others on here will have other/similar/conflicting ideas/advice.

trainerman

If your disciplined enough and motivated enough you can do it without a coach or club. Currently 10 weeks out from my first IM and using a free plan on www.beginnertriathlete.com - seems to be working for me so far!

Nappy

trainerman wrote: »

If your disciplined enough and motivated enough you can do it without a coach or club. Currently 10 weeks out from my first IM and using a free plan on www.beginnertriathlete.com - seems to be working for me so far!

How long have you been training for it and have you competed in many races prior to it? My current plan is to conquer the sprint and olympic this year, then drop the sprints in year two to be replaced by half ironmans, then drop the olympics in year 3 and take on my first ironman. What event are you competing in?

Best of Luck and thanks for the link to the plan!

Bambaata

Key thing is if you want to complete at a decent time for you then work slowly to the distance. If you dont really care for a time then you could probably do it tomorrow, but you probably wont enjoy it. A coach would be best advice, helps keep you honest!

Shedite27

Yeah I agree, it's all about working up to the distance. I progressed up through the ranks of sprint/10k/half marathons the past few years then had my first Olympic last August. Did a marathon this April, more Olympic this summer, and first half ironman next week. Hoping for another marathon this autumn, then going to IRonman next October. I'm sure you could do it quicker, but the way I'm doing it allows me to still have a social life, doesn't annoy the gf too much, and slowly get the body ready thus reducing injury chances

griffin100

The length of time required to train for an IM depends on how fast you want to complete the distance your level of base fitness. You'll find plans ranging from 8-30 weeks. Fink's book gives three different 30 week plans ranging from a 'just finish' plan to a 'competitive' plan. it's worth buying it to have a look. You certainly don't need a coach or to join a club - although joining a club may get you access to swim coaching.

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

To do one well, 4 or 5 years.

A coach takes a lot of guess work out of it if you are serious enough into the sport.

Mr Tango

I have a friend who was in good shape already, first triathlon was a half ironman. Following year did IM.

Depends what shape you are in and your background and ultimately what your goal is, i.e. finish and sort of enjoy it or sub 10, 11 or 12.

trainerman

Nappy wrote: »

How long have you been training for it and have you competed in many races prior to it? My current plan is to conquer the sprint and olympic this year, then drop the sprints in year two to be replaced by half ironmans, then drop the olympics in year 3 and take on my first ironman. What event are you competing in?

Best of Luck and thanks for the link to the plan!

Being doing tri's for about 3 years - took last year off.
Done about 3 or 4 olympics and the same sprints. Have done 2 half's - one this year in the build up. Probably started training around Sept for the Hardman in Kerry but really focused on it from about 10weeks ago. Your plan sounds pretty much exactly the way I did it.

Agree with everyone else here in build up your volume slowely over time. I found the biggest challenge was actually slowing down from olympic / HIM pace in training for the full IM. Right now I'm glad i did as I'm doing far more (volume & frequency) than I would have been able to at that pace. The step up in volume is significant and be prepared for it to take over every minute of your time!!!

I've never been part of a club or been coached - just my preference - but with the right research, plan you can do it. I think both have equal pro's and con's.
Good luck on your journey!

foxyboxer

I guess it depends on your current level of endurance.

Can you swim for 50 minutes to an hour?
Can you cycle for 3 hours with minimal stops.
Can you run for 2 hours?

Note: Not all at once but as standalone workouts.

I'd say those would be general pre requisites before starting a training programme.

peter kern

all i can say is the great majority attempt one too early and would IMHO be better to get decent at Oly distance frst. then spend 2 years half and then go full.

going for sub 2.30 in an oly distance is way better than a 13 hour ironman . sub 2 hour in proper oly race better than 9.10 ironman etc

longshank

peter kern wrote: »

all i can say is the great majority attempt one too early and would IMHO be better to get decent at Oly distance frst. then spend 2 years half and then go full.

going for sub 2.30 in an oly distance is way better than a 13 hour ironman . sub 2 hour in proper oly race better than 9.10 ironman etc

I don't know if that's true it depends what motivates you, personally I built up to doing an Ironman the way most seem to - sprint, olympic, half iron, ironman -always trying to achieve more in terms of endurance.
Now having scratched that itch I'm going back and trying to achieve what you describe as 'better' ie decent Sprint/Olympic times - trying to achieve more in terms of speed.
I wouldn't describe one goal as better than the other!

asmav

I think you need to train very differently for the Ironman, but would agree with Peter above. It is a good base to do at least one good season of Olympics, more importantly it will get your body prepared for the training regime and also teach a lot of useful skills around training and getting to know your own body, as well as bike setup, strengths and weaknesses.

peter kern

longshank wrote: »

I don't know if that's true it depends what motivates you, personally I built up to doing an Ironman the way most seem to - sprint, olympic, half iron, ironman -always trying to achieve more in terms of endurance.
Now having scratched that itch I'm going back and trying to achieve what you describe as 'better' ie decent Sprint/Olympic times - trying to achieve more in terms of speed.
I wouldn't describe one goal as better than the other!

Idid not suggest that any goal is better its just that ironman is more agressive markted and most people go for the cool factor. i have seen some amazing diesel engines, but for 7 or so out of 10 people doing an ironman to their abilty takes time
Took mark allan 6 tries at hawaii to win....and its fair to say he was the allister brownlee in the early days.

anyway truth is i have only seen very very few people that did not get faster over oly distance while training for Ironman.
lothar leder won roth and the german nat oly champs i think twice in the same year. molina carfree cave allan raelert mc cormac, van lierde - and many more can or could do it.(others cant timo bracht maybe the main example or all the guys that cant swim first pack in an ironman)
Either was it takes training years to become good and for full time working people the oly route is less intrusive into life style than doing it via ironman training.

longshank

peter kern wrote: »

Idid not suggest that any goal is better its just that ironman is more agressive markted and most people go for the cool factor. i have seen some amazing diesel engines, but for 7 or so out of 10 people doing an ironman to their abilty takes time
Took mark allan 6 tries at hawaii to win....and its fair to say he was the allister brownlee in the early days.

anyway truth is i have only seen very very few people that did not get faster over oly distance while training for Ironman.
lothar leder won roth and the german nat oly champs i think twice in the same year. molina carfree cave allan raelert mc cormac, van lierde - and many more can or could do it.(others cant timo bracht maybe the main example or all the guys that cant swim first pack in an ironman)
Either was it takes training years to become good and for full time working people the oly route is less intrusive into life style than doing it via ironman training.

You might not have meant to suggest it but "going for sub 2.30 in an oly distance is way better than a 13 hour ironman" certainly comes across that way. For most people unlike the ones you've listed life can get in the way of achieving your physical potential. If someone has a 1 or 2 year period in their life where they know they have time to train for an ironman because of work/kids etc then go for it. In their life circumstances that is reaching their potential.

Nappy

Really appreciate all the comments and advice guys. I will definitely ease into the training and not rush my first ironman. I completed my first sprint on saturday and looking to book my next. I will try to get an olympic distance done by the end of the year. Ironman will have to wait till 2015-2016. I'm really enjoying the training so thee is no need to rush it.

peter kern

longshank wrote: »

You might not have meant to suggest it but "going for sub 2.30 in an oly distance is way better than a 13 hour ironman" certainly comes across that way. For most people unlike the ones you've listed life can get in the way of achieving your physical potential. If someone has a 1 or 2 year period in their life where they know they have time to train for an ironman because of work/kids etc then go for it. In their life circumstances that is reaching their potential.

ok than let me try again its harder to achieve a sub 2.30 than a 13 xx hour ironman. I am just trying to put it into perspective what "performace" means when the marketing is taken away that Ironman are though people that now can rest on Rest islands ;-) .
For the ordianry punter having done a marathon in 5 hours means more than running sub 40 10 k ....now thats extremly far from the truth for 1 you dodnt really have to train hard ( 5h marathon) for most people to go sub 40 for 10 k does take some commitment.

Anyway the angle i come from that most people do to much too early without a base and the happiest people on the planet for this are the pyhsios who make a killing with those people. and to be fair coaches too who very often should not take those people on.

Nappy

foxyboxer wrote: »

I guess it depends on your current level of endurance.

Can you swim for 50 minutes to an hour?
Can you cycle for 3 hours with minimal stops.
Can you run for 2 hours?

Note: Not all at once but as standalone workouts.

I'd say those would be general pre requisites before starting a training programme.

I currently only run in 5k races. I am starting a plan next week to work on endurance with the view of possibly running Dublin marathon this year. I'm a confident swimmer, I have only ever cycled 40k but will be working on that too. I am going to do a few more sprints to work on speed. I finished at the halfway point of competitors in my first sprint in a time of 83 minutes but know I can definitely knock a few mins off that next time around.

trainerman

foxyboxer wrote: »

I guess it depends on your current level of endurance.

Can you swim for 50 minutes to an hour?
Can you cycle for 3 hours with minimal stops.
Can you run for 2 hours?

Note: Not all at once but as standalone workouts.

I'd say those would be general pre requisites before starting a training programme.

From someone who's training for their first IM I'm not sure these are necessary to start from. At the start of my plan I was covering about 1700m in a swim session (all drills and shorter sets), the bike started at about 90mins to 2hrs and the run was 90mins.
What I found more benefical beforehand was putting in the volume of sessions - more of these duration of sessions but more regularly. frequently doing 6 days,9 sessions /wk, bike rides on consecutitive days etc. builds your base (physically & mentally).

The other challenge I found is to train consistantly in zone 2 of HR - I struggled with this for a couple of months before my plan kicked in but looking back I'm glad I stuck with it as there would have been no way I'd be where I am now if I'd have kept up this volume at the same intensity.

Only my 2cents worth!!

secman

I'm my opinion a sprint tri and an iron man are different sports . A 1500 /800 athlete is a totally different animal to a marathon runner . Totally different training regime . In what seems a previous life I was a triathlete . I mainly raced Olympic distance , but did the occasional sprint and always did a half iron man . I found that you would find each race as difficult as the other, a sprint being a fast and hard, gut busting pace. The Olympic being slightly less pace but full effort , the half iron man being much slower pace and more about endurance. Looking back , the Olympic one" the Hell of the West " was a harder race than the half iron man. Trying to cover these different distances meant changing the training regime a lot .if memory serves me well, best times were:
1:08
2:18
4:44

On a cautionary note I recall 2 club members who had the desire to do the iron man and once done they both gave up the sport soon afterwards .

I said a previous life as I am talking about circa 1989 to 1999 when the race numbers averaged 100 !

Best of luck

Secman

hardCopy

My own path to IM has gone:

2006 - 1 x Sprint
2007 - 1 x Olympic
2008 - 2 x Sprint, 1 x Olympic
2009
2010
2011
2012 - 1 x HIM

My plan was to join a club this year and push on to an IM in 2014. Having trained in a club for a few months and seen the standard of folks that are only contemplating stepping up to HIM this year I've decided to stick at HIM this year and get faster.

I should be able to get under 5:45 for the HIM this year and sub 3:30 for the marathon in October which should stand to me when I make the step up.

I could have done an IM this year but I would have been in agony and dragged myself around at the back of the field, I picked up an injury on the HIM run last year and hobbled the whole way, it wasn't as enjoyable as it should have been.

Oryx

My own path to IM was three years. I was not strong enough to do a great time, but I wanted to see if I could do it, having come from zero, that was the aim. So it can be done in a relatively short time in the sport.

Pros
The training builds a brilliant base.
Your speed generally increases with the training.
It is a fantastic experience, both the training and the race.
It can be a springboard to better performances as you develop great training focus and discipline.
It does wonders for your confidence in terms of what you can achieve.

Cons
Too much too soon can make your body break down.
You won't be as proud of a slow time after the fact.
Skill development is sacrificed as volume takes priority.