Full Ironman

Anyone do one? I am getting a new prospective on what hard is. At least it gets one in shape for the approach.

Yeaaa, how fun does this look?!?:

I did. If you do, I have 5 recommendations:
1. Don't let the training distract you from climbing. Its actually stupid easy. If you ever aren't sure what to do during the event, just keep going. One moderate bike ride, one swim, and one run a week will get you through.
2. Don't take the thing too seriously. I kind of can't swim very well and didn't want to buy a wet suit so I just did the elementary back stroke the whole time in a pair of trunks. People gasped and laughed and I didn't give a duck. There was one guy who did the ride wearing jean shorts and a beach cruiser. No problemo.
3. Get in one 100 mile ride and one 22-24ish mile run before the race. That'll do it.
4. Put beer in your special needs bag. That shit is good come mile 20 on the run.
5. Don't do an actual Ironman. Find one of the less expensive knock offs. IM Corp. and IM people can take their sport too seriously

I did a few sprint tris and two olympics. The culture of training is very different from that of climbing. It is individual based vs climbing is a team based. Swimming is my strong point. Drafting is ok in that leg of tri. Learn how to swim in somebody's bubbles and it will save you a lot of energy. Transition stations is a whole new science. Learn to organize it, and your steps and it will save you a lot of headache too. Bike ride is when you eat and drink. Service your bike before your event. Figure out which food works with your digestion etc. , that takes trial and error. Run is when people get "HURT". Doing BRICK workouts (bike/runs) will get you accustomed to the transition. It's in the technique. Tri training is very committing. It will distract you not only from climning but pretty much from everything. It is a lot of fun and gives you a chance to go shopping for a lot of new toys.
Living in Hawaii you will get to wittness one of the most epic Ironmen there is. It takes a lottery to get in, that is besides all the qualifications! I highly recommend attending it as a spectator. The vibe during those events is amazing! And yes it's worth every penny and all the suffering in the world.
Lance Armstrong started as a thiathlete. When he went back to it, he complained and whined about the marathon leg like a pansy.
P.S.
It does not hurt if you get kicked by somebody's foot ( think shooting bullets in water, and you have your leading hand to shield your head). What really hurts is getting wacked by somebody's hand in your ear! Oh boy, it can sent your equilibrium off! What you do is stay on periphery for the first 5 minutes then find the fattest dude and Draft that baby till he either freaks out and flips on his back thus slowing down significantly, then you pick another one to Draft off....do that till you are ready to sprint out of the water feeling fresh and ready to jump on your bike.

Evan Riley wrote:Its actually stupid easy.

I dont think I have heard anyone call an Ironman easy. Typically when I ask about an Ironman the words "fucking hell" come up a lot. I'll take your advice and not pay $900 to live a day in hell though. I train 7x a week for it, and from what I have gathered so far I think it's going to make my trips up El Cap feel like sport climbs comparatively.

I do the tread wall at the gym. That's kind of like an ironman.

Mtn. Dumass wrote: I do the tread wall at the gym. That's kind of like an ironman.

Those things are still around? Dident that company go out of business like 10 years ago?

Never did an Ironman or a half Ironman, but I've done a few sprint Triathlons - the Clear Lake International Triathlon.

sharkfin has it down! I would just add a few comments.

Swim - On the swim try to stay out of the front/middle if swimming is not your strong event. Be prepared to be kicked, smacked, and pushed under by the faster swimmers if you are in the way. Put your cap on OVER your goggle straps. This will help keep them from being yanked off. I would take time to get in the water before the start if the exit is nearby, just to check the bottom so you know what to expect coming out of the swim.

T1- Be careful coming into transition with bare feet. As sharkfin said, "organize your transition area". A small mat or towel laid out helps. Bike stuff at the front and run stuff behind. Don't rush this part too much. Have everything that you will need on the bike section on the bike: water, energy whatever, helmet, glasses, tools, etc.

Bike - On the bike I tape some energy packets, usually use "GU", to help give me some pep. Make sure you have tools/stuff for tire repair. Pass on the left, and do not draft.

T2 - Be careful coming off the bike... your legs will feel weird when you take those first steps. Rack your bike put on your shoes and go.

Run - You should be hydrated and feel good because you have been eating and drinking during the bike section. Take your time getting your stride because your body is still in the pedal frequency which will be different than your running frequency. Try not to push yourself and race up to the next person. Stay your race!

As stated by sharkfin, work out in bricks as well. I scuba dive a lot so swimming was my strong point. I worked bike then run more than swimming. Some of the workouts, at the last month, were more than two hours long. Started on the bike for 10K and then right to a one mile run. After a few days I would build onto this... 12K bike and one and a half mile run, etc.

Yeah, it will take over your life too. This is where I should say, "YER GONNA DIE" , well at least if you have a significant other in your life. They will not be happy with you taking so much training time away from the XOXO time.

From what I have gathered so far I think it's going to make my trips up El Cap feel like sport climbs comparatively.

No really, its way easier than the cap'n, not that I've done the cap'n. I think its equivalent physically to a long day in the alpine, but a bit easier. The thing with IM is that as it gets harder, you can just go slower (not a luxury you have in the alpine). The IM is also supported so you can eat and drink all you want (again not the situation in the alpine).

Like the alpine, its really just a state of mind thing. If you say this is going to be awesome and easy, it'll be awesome and easy. If you dread it and fear it, it'll crush you, but you'll still finish. I mean how can you not finish? You could always walk the marathon.

^ This!

"Like the alpine, its really just a state of mind thing. If you say this is going to be awesome and easy, it'll be awesome and easy. If you dread it and fear it, it'll crush you, but you'll still finish."

Train the right way and do it for yourself and nothing can stop you. The first one I did was out of a dare... I was hooked after that.

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/ This place should help.

I've done two of them, and several halfs. The question is, are you going to race it or just do it. If you just do one, and have a basic level of fitness, it is not that bad (any grandmother can do one). Your main problem will be boredom. If you race it, it is really hard, and requires a stupid amount of training (forget about climbing).

Evan Riley wrote: I mean how can you not finish? You could always walk the marathon.

Well, you could mix walking rests with mostly running. Legit Ironmans have time caps that prevent you from taking your time too much. If you go to slow in any component they will DQ you, and it happens. I have seen pretty high failure rates at some Ironmans. Some Ironmans have hundreds of people drop out. This is especially true for Ironmans in rough water/ waves. Some of those guys drop out in the first hour.

wave3.com/story/23316626/fa…

I agree that anyone with the mental commitment required and willingness to really work for it can do it though.

Brassmonkey wrote:Some really ignorant (lack of knowledge, no negative connotation) responses so far I would say. I've done 3 fulls and a half as well as lots of other shorter races. For the guy that compared it to el cap, I've also climbed that. I think the first point is how fast do you want to do it? 17 hours and just finish or 10 hours and place in your age group? They are practically worlds away in my opinion. NIAD or nose in 5 days? Not exactly the same thing. A full alpine can also be really easy or super hard. So we are already comparing apple to oranges. I personally feel like an Ironman as well as el cap can be done by anyone. All you need is the knowledge and experience as well as a enough mental fortitude to get the job done. ^clueless It is a great challenge in some of the same ways that climbing is. Mentally challenging and physically challenging with a lot of knowledge to be gained. In a lot of ways its clearly different.

I should have clarified what I meant by "way easier". What I meant was "less complicated", and thus easier from my view point. Long aid routes (captain) require lots of technical expertise, knowledge of systems, thoughtful gear use and placement, route finding, and team work. Completing an IM requires much less if any of those items making it a more straight forward task. In fact during an IM team work is banned, route finding is non-existent, and the largest extent of technical expertise that may be required is the ability to change a flat on your bike.

I agree with the above post that there is a ocean of difference between finishing an IM and placing in your age group. You can finish an IM as I did in a respectable time with moderate prep and without giving up climbing or your social life, to place in your age group you can kiss climbing and your non- tri related social life good bye. That said, based on the experiences of friends who have placed in their age group, it is well worth it if you want it and can afford the time required to do so.

In another life, I've done 2. Maybe a dozen halfs (sub 4:30 for the half but never under 12 for the full). I did all this crap in my early 20's. Never past 22 actually. I was a baby.

I was a n00b climber at the time, so it's hard to really say but it certainly kept away from climbing and I got way way stronger once I stopped racing.

In terms of difficulty, they were never that hard because they have a clear cut start and stop. You only need to tolerate some pain in the middle. On some epic climb, it's less defined.

Both are hard. Both are different.

I like the friendships better among climbers. I also like to have a well oiled, clean, and not sticky bicycle, so tri's aren't for me.

I always had an easy time at it but in my early 20's it was no big deal to swim 5 hours a week, ride about 250-400 depending on the road races I did in between, and run 35-50 a week. Of course a 21 year old can handle that in terms of time and recovery. I would suggest anything but that for an adult.

I overprepared to the point of insanity though, I enjoyed it. When you are in that good of shape, race day isn't so bad.

Honestly, riding a pedicab for 17 hours on St. Patty's day or New Years Eve is much harder. The Tour of the Gila as a Cat 3 or better is also. Half Dome in a day or moonlight (haven't done el cap) is much easier physically but there is a lot more going on than exertion on a climb.

I've never understood why people would pay so much money on an event they don't have a chance at winning. Do your own ironman maybe with a training partner or two. It's free.

I did a 70.3 last year while also training for climbing. I had a strong cycling, medium running, and weak swimming background.

It was the first time I had really focused on training for anything and I liked the results. The actual race was okay, but the crowds were not really my cup of tea. I chose a race in Boise, a city I had never been to, and enjoyed the excuse to spend a week in a new place. It was also fun to have folks cheering during the race and to meet other athletes.

The race and training taught me a lot about setting goals, mandatory rest during training cycles, the importance of nutrition on an hourly, daily, and weekly basis, and preparation on big training days and race days (I think the ideal triathlete is probably an engineer or accountant as it pays to be highly organized and meticulous).

In addition to doing well in the race I also managed to push my trad climbing up by a grade.

The physicality of the half wasn't that demanding, but it requires a certain level of focus and dedication to finish without crushing yourself. That in itself was fun and rewarding. I might try and do a full Ironman at some point, but for now my efforts are elsewhere.

If there's a culture subgroup that's more obnoxious than amateur road bike racing, it's triathletes. At least the roadies can keep their bikes upright.

^ +1 for the funny.

I have to believe that there are d-bags in all walks of life. That being said, I felt pretty full of myself after training the way I did.

I know my petty sprint triathlons (900m swim, 18.4k bike, 5k run - 1:31:08 total time) can't compare to you monsters, but I felt awesome after the races and during training. I accomplished something I never thought possible. 39 and a pack a day smoker! When I started I could barely run 100 yards without feeling winded.

Do what you can to make yourself better. Brassmonkey says he "crushes" the approach and I would have to believe him. Training for a triathlon will only make you stronger in mind and body if you do it right.

I just wanted to reply to jaredj, and let him know I've seen the guy who forgets to unclip and falls - never could understand how that happens. Do they forget they are clipped in? Funny stuff!

I also raced as a cat 3 for several years. Once in a while we'd get a triathlete in the pack who had begged to race as a 3 instead of 4 or 5 because he was just so fit that 4 would be easy and unfair to everyone.

I never ever saw one of these guys finish with the pack. In a crit, lapped and pulled, every time. In the road race, as soon as there was the slightest acceleration it was off the back for the triathlete and he never saw us again. Of course during the time trial, with the fully tricked out funny bike, Mr. tri was 2-3mph slower than us on road bikes with clip on aero bars.

Even though I started with tri's, a couple years racing against real bike racers made me loathe them.

The very last 1/2 Iron tri I did was after a season as a cat 3. I hadn't swam in a year and hadn't run in longer. I barely finished the swim, averaged 28mph for the bike (in the rain), and did a run/walk for the finish. Turns out the good bike was enough to put in the top 20 overall. It was funny.

True...When I started road racing from triathlon, I could not cover accelerations. It took about two years to retrain my engine, but there was one race, in the masters 3/4s, where we let a minor pro triathlete off the front, and we never saw him again. Nobody saw him as a threat, and I think we kind of forgot about him. He TT'd solo for about 50 miles.

How do you know someone does triathlon? They tell you.

If a joke works for Crossfit as well as your sport, well, what else do you need to know?

20kN,

I have raced bikes and triathlons professionally. I now make my living coaching elite level and professional Ironman athletes.

In regards to how hard it is depends on your goal. Simply finishing an IM is not very hard. An average person looking to finish their first can get thru with only 12 hours a week of training with about half of that on the weekend. It is a swim, bike and RUN event so if you walk the marathon you didnt really do an IM.
If you are looking at racing or being competitive then thats not so easy. 20-30+ hours per week of training and your climbing strength will suffer big time. Not really any time to climb.

Impossible to compare El Cap to Ironman. They are way too different. In an IM if things get real bad you can just stop. Not so easy to do on a big wall. One similarity between the two is that at some point you'll say "I'm never doing this again".