How long prep for a half Ironman?
emmab0902
Posts: 2,338 Member
Confession - I have never even done a sprint triathlon lol. But seriously, if someone wanted to do a half ironman, how many months of training would be required to complete it without dying. I am a swimmer who could probably do the swim part easily, and have gone from zero running to running 10km yesterday (admittedly on treadmill) in 6 weeks. The biking daunts me the most largely in terms of the hours entailed but it is a goal I would like to achieve (one day)
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With that amount of fitness already under your belt, I would say 12-16 weeks. Right amount of time to get your running up to 1/2 marathon and build on bike to get in distance and some brick work outs.0
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My first triathlone was a HIM. When I began training I was already completing half-marathons but had needed work on both the swim and bike. I'd recommend 16-20 weeks, There are a plenty of free plans on beginnertriathlete.com that can give you a better idea of what a training week would look like as you progress.0
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Agree with Drew. 16-20 if you don't have a significant bike base. Being able to ride at a controlled HR so you can get off and run is imperative with longer distance tris.0
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I would definitely be more on the conservative side. If you already had a good base in either the bike or the run then I think you could follow a more aggressive timeline but since you have to develop both areas you'll need to stretch out your training plan to minimize injury risk and allow your legs to get used to the higher work volume they need to take on. Unfortunately, the bike and the run are where you are going to be spending most of your time and effort in a triathlon so that's where the bulk of your preparation will have to be, especially on the bike...0
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I am using this plan http://www.trinewbies.com/tno_trainingprograms/tno_HIM.asp
I have no expertise in this area but it seems to me that given your fitness level you may be able to follow such a plan. I would use a lot of CAUTION though that if at any point you don't feel up to doing the biking and running components you back off.
While the early weeks of the plan are very doable for someone with your fitness level, it does ramp up fairly quickly and injury from stress and fatigue is a real posibility. You don't want to go down that road as it could set you back months.
Maybe do a couple International distance tri's this summer and plan for an HIM next year.0 -
Maybe do a couple International distance tri's this summer and plan for an HIM next year.
I am guessing international distance is olympic distance tris??0 -
That's right. Olympic/International events ususally have about a 1500 meter swim, a 40K bike and a 10K run. Still plenty of opportunity to have fun and challenge, and much more reasonable to train for...0
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That's right. Olympic/International events ususally have about a 1500 meter swim, a 40K bike and a 10K run. Still plenty of opportunity to have fun and challenge, and much more reasonable to train for...
It's also more of a sprint than a measured effort. If you're trained right you should be able to redline your effort almost the entire time. I find Olys to be the most painful distance because of the amount of time spent above threshold.0 -
If you've never done any tri and want to shoot for a half, I'd give yourself at least 5 months. It does sneak up on you pretty fast! I did my first half in September. For this year, I started training halfway through December for a half at the beginning of June. I have just over 2 months left and I'm worried I won't be ready on time! If possible, I'd DEFINITELY recommend doing a couple sprints and olympic distances first
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