Iron Man

FB33, I'm not going to try to be negative. But, to do the Hawaii Ironman you have to qualify for it. Since you are younger you'll have lots of competition. Here is a link about it...
http://www.ehow.com/how_2099383_qualify-ironman-hawaii.html

I've never done a Triathlon, but I used to cross train in all 3 heavily. I had the running and the cycling made, but my swimming stroke needed A LOT of improvement if I would have wanted to compete. Have you thought of maybe doing one of the "smaller" triathlons instead? I think it's like 1.5k swim, 40k bike ride and a 10k run?

 

I'm in the same boat as you I'm a college student and the triathlon bug has bit me so at the beginning of the summer I started working out and trying to get into shape to start training for a tri. If you're thinking of an iron man you're going to be working out 6 days a week minimum. I've read through some training programs for iron man tri-athletes and they're averaging 150 miles on the bike 60 miles on foot and 20k yards in he pool a month.

On top of that tradingguy is correct you have to qualify in another iron man triathlon to even be allowed to compete in the Hawaii Iron Man. Considering you're in college you'll be in the younger age group which normally only the top 3 or 4 times in a qualifying triathlon will qualify to make it to Hawaii so I'd get crackin as soon as possible on the training if you're serious about getting to Hawaii.

Also just FYI it gets expensive a triathlon specific bike will run you at minimum $2k and entry fees for iron mans are around $500 and don't forget to add on top of that running shoes wetsuit and any other of the bike accessories that can add up.

Good luck! my goal is a half iron man fall 09'

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/ There's a specific section for iron man in the forum section
http://www.trinewbies.com/
http://www.slowtwitch.com/

 

my aunt has done one and is doin another. except she hasnt done hawaii. One of her "toughest" friends did hawaii once and said it was absolutely brutal. its pretty difficult to qualify for in its. My aunt trains nearly every day of the week. today we ran 10 miles together, tomorrow shes going for a 3 hour bike ride. huge time commitment. shoot for doing an ironman somewhere besides hawaii to begin with, especially if your only working out only 3 or 4 times a week and needing time to "rest"

 

Here use this to look for triathlons in your area.

http://trifind.com/

Once you find one that looks like a good distance for you and when it is there are tons of training plans on those other sites that I posted that will list out what kind of training you should be doing and how many weeks out you need to be at certain levels of fitness. If you're serious about the iron man distance there are races that you can do more for fun that don't require qualifying for.

 

The 2000 survey on Hawaii Ironman participants has the average athlete doing 11,300 meters swimming, 232 miles cycling and 48 miles running per week.

 

Take into account the ones that are in Hawaii are the ones that had to qualify to get there usually having to finish their first ironman of the year in under 10 hours.

 

I think you, me and Rob could do it. If we start training now, we could be ready for the 2010 season!

 

Funny I just saw this thread. There was an article in the local paper today about a 60+ year old man from St. Cloud, MN that qualified and is going to compete in the Hawaii Ironman. He began running 30+ years ago to control his alcoholism and now is a fitness nut. They stated in the article that he bikes from 8:00 AM until 3:00 PM most days and has been training in the sauna at the local gym to get adapted to the heat.

Good luck.

Mike

 

I am a college triathlete, and although I have yet to do an Ironman, I can perhaps give you some advice.

You're right that college is not an easy time to train for a triathlon. In order to get your miles in you have to be willing to make pretty major sacrifices. For example, Saturdays and Sundays become vitally important as training days; I go to sleep before 11 on most Fridays and Saturdays and am exercising before the sun rises. It sounds like you already have the right mindset as far as dieting goes. Good dieting is a must, but don't be afraid to eat a lot. When I am at peak training I probably eat about 5,000 calories a day.

You noted that you were somewhat worried about your swim experience. I can't tell you how important it is to become proficient at swimming as this is the first event and will set the tone for the rest of your race. Part of getting good at swimming is to spend time swimming in open water (i.e. not in a pool), because learning how to sight will keep you from veering off course and making your swim longer than it has to be. I've gone pretty far off course before and it is infuriating.

The bike is by far the biggest investment you will have to make to get into the sport. However, see if you know someone with a road bike that you can borrow. That is how I did my first race. It just needs to be a road bike (with road tires, no suspension, drop bars, etc.). There is no need to get a triathlon bike with aero bars, etc., right off the bat.

If you have not done a tri before, I would say that you absolutely should not consider doing anything longer than an Olympic distance race first. Really you should do a couple sprints, then some Olympics, before you step up to a half- or full Ironman. These shorter races will teach you how to listen to your body, where your strengths lie in the race, how to transition properly, and countless other aspects of race-craft.

Find some people who are willing to train with you. Biking groups aren't too hard to find. Maybe there is a club or something at your school. Finding a group of people with a passion for inflicting pain on themselves makes the training easier.

I hope some of the stuff above comes in handy, and I hope you get to try out the sport. It is the most fun sport I've ever been involved in. As you get in deeper you will get more confidence in your ability to do what some would think is impossible, you inevitably get pretty ripped, and if you're on this board you will probably just enjoy the pure fact that you are racing (road biking can produce some pretty fun speed).

If you have any questions I would love to chat and help you out if I can. Try looking at www.slowtwitch.com for some pretty good articles about how to enter the sport, technique, and other fun reads. For now, I have to go...I'm headed to the pool...

 

I just tried to get in some pool time but they changed the hours so that was a bit disappointing.

If you're posting up websites... www.beginnertriathlete.com great way to track your training and loads of information.

 

Yeah, beginner triathlete is a great site. Are you into triathlon's as well, or just a swimmer?

 

Only done one so far but have a bunch on the schedule for next year. Right now focusing on running for some races in Jan/Feb but trying not to steer too far away from the swim and bike.

 

Yeah, I hear ya. It is kind of awkward in the off-season trying to strike a balance between maintaining your fitness but not getting yourself burned out. My goal is just to swim a lot right now and hit the weights. I get some long bike rides in on the weekend but almost never run. I figure I get enough impact during the season and I'd like to still be doing this when I'm in my 40's and 50's.

 

Picking goal races has been great for me too. Makes it much easier to keep with the routine and continue working out.

 

I need to find myself short-term goals like you were talking about, actually. Right now the next thing I have scheduled is in April, in Lubbock.

 

There is always another way to "qualify" for Hawaii and that is to enter the lottery. Every year, WTC (or whoever recently bought them) sets up a lottery for people who don't qualify at other IM races. You pay a bunch of money and a handful of people get to go race. Of course, even if you get in through the lottery, you still have do demonstrate to the event organizers that you will survive, and you usually do that by completing a 1/2 IM earlier that year.

Personally, I have never entered the lottery. I have done 2 IM races and a bunch of 1/2 IMs and I have never come within a sniff of being in the same zipcode of qualifying, but I don't want to race Hawaii through the back door.

This year is the first year of training seriously with a coach, and while I don't think I will qualify this year (I am racing IM Switzerland in July), next year is a possibility if I continue to train hard. Usually, I train hard about every other year, and haven't been able to keep the momentum and motivation going.

If you decide to get into the game, your success will be partly determined by your genetics and past athletics. If your parents were olympians or you grew up racing (usually swimming), you have a huge advantage, but even regular folks can get there if you train hard and smart.

Good luck.

PS, best IM training investments are a good coach and a power meter for the bike (I like SRM).