So you want to do an Ironman? Part 1: Things to consider before you sign up and during the training
It is the end of the triathlon season for most in the northern hemisphere and the beginning of the off season. This is a valuable time to rest, recover and recharge and to refocus your goals on the year to come. For many, this is a fairly easy and intuitive process but for others it can be somewhat more difficult. Rather than just thinking about general improvements or metrics related to any or all of swim, bike or run, some athletes will spend the next couple of months with something bigger on their mind; is now the time to make the step to a longer distance?
For many triathletes, their first knowledge of the sport came from hearing about or seeing an Ironman. If you were like me, you may have even thought to yourself at some point “Hell no! I won’t ever be doing that!” And yet, the longer you are in the sport and the more people that you meet who have done one the more the draw to the 140.6 distance becomes increasingly powerful and increasingly difficult to ignore.
This is compounded by all of the effective advertising mixed in with the absurdities spouted by the triathlon know it alls who would have you believe that you HAVE to do an Ironman if you want to be considered a triathlete. To whit, ‘Anything is possible’ and ‘Swim 2.4 miles, bike 112, run 26.2, brag for the rest of your life’. These are great and effective tag lines. Less useful and really complete rubbish are sentiments like this that I got from a book that I actually really like, Triathlon 101. When I first took up the sport this book was instrumental to my understanding of what I was getting in to but early on it established this ridiculous notion (I am paraphrasing but the sentiment is correct): You can call yourself a triathlete for one year after your last completed event but you can call yourself an Ironman for your whole life.
This is patently absurd and makes a distinction that is simply unfair. Ironman is just not for everyone and shorter distances should not be devalued like that.
Nonetheless, like many others I felt the draw of 140.6 and now after 8 Ironman finishes including two on the Big Island I feel well positioned to provide some insight on what is necessary to be able to complete one, what is needed to be able to compete in one (those are VERY different things!) and I have a host of tips and tricks to share should you be signed up for an event or considering one at some point in the future. So grab a gel or your favorite protein bar and settle in as we dive in to this big subject.
Before you sign up, know what you are getting in to
It goes without saying but let’s just say it one more time, an Ironman requires swimming 2.4 miles (3.8km), biking 112 miles (180km) and running 26.2 miles (42.2km). And although I know those of you reading this likely are aware I should point out that yes, this is all on one day.
From the time that you begin this endeavor you have approximately seventeen hours to finish (different events may have different cutoffs depending on location and time of year). The cut off for the swim is two hours and twenty minutes. The cut off for the bike is ten hours and thirty minutes after the last participant starts and some courses will have intermediate cut offs as well.
Before signing up for an Ironman it is a good idea to be realistic about your ability to complete the event within these time cut offs. It is NEVER a good idea to sign up for an Ironman with the goal being to qualify for Kona. Similarly it is never a good idea to sign up with the goal being to just make the cut offs. Still, a realistic self assessment of whether or not these times are achievable is in order.
One way to guesstimate a possible Ironman time is to look at your 70.3 time. So long as the Ironman event is on a course with a similar profile and in similar conditions, it is fair to double your HIM time and add 1-2 hours. This can give you a reasonable starting point.
When considering how much training will be needed to complete an event such as this there are many things to consider. What is your baseline fitness? How long have you been training? What are your goals for this race? Some back of the napkin calculations are still possible but keep in mind that there is a lot of latitude in these numbers. Here are some rough guides depending on athlete type and goals:
Type of athlete Goals Avg/Max hours/week
Novice, BOP Complete the event 10/12
Intermediate, MOP Complete the event without difficulty 12/14
Advanced, MOP Complete the event without difficulty 12/15
Advanced, top 10% AG Race the event, do well 14/18
Advanced, podium finisher KQ 15-16/20-22
Again, these are just starting points and even for the novice athlete these are bare minimums that would be required. To be able to complete the event comfortably I would have the expectation of putting in many more hours than these minimums.
When considering how long one has to train for an Ironman this is again a little flexible depending on where you are coming from but it is best to assume at least eight months to a year with longer duration for less well trained or experienced athletes. The biggest training volumes will all take place during the final four months prior to the event.
Knowing these starting points is then useful for getting your team on board. While an Ironman is an individual pursuit it should not be forgotten how profound an impact it has on those around you. Having an open and frank conversation with family, friends and possibly even employers is a very good idea before signing up for one. Ensuring that everyone understands what is involved and knows why this is important is the surest way to getting the support that you need and avoiding conflict resulting from the commitment necessary for training.
Understanding your why and setting your goals
While it may seem intuitive to know what your ‘why’ is for doing an Ironman it isn’t always that clear. Take some time to really think on this because as you can see from the preceding section, this is a huge undertaking. Your ‘why’ should be commensurate to that. If not, when the going gets tough, and it will, you may find yourself without the motivation to follow through on what is needed to insure success.
Your ‘why’ needs to be concrete and crystal clear. You can choose whether or not to share it with others but whatever you decide make sure that you return to it often. It will be your guiding light in the long months ahead and the long miles on race day.
Goal setting is another thing that needs to be done early in this process. I like to always make sure that goals are SMART-Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relatable and Timely. So vague goals like ‘complete the event’ are insufficient. Similarly, ‘Qualify for Kona’ is also not a great primary goal because too many factors are outside the athlete’s control.
Good kinds of goals for an Ironman athlete should be spread over the course of training and the race. For example, goals during training might include increasing your FTP by X%, running a 10K in under a certain time, swimming Xm every week. For the race it might be finishing the swim in the middle third of the age group. Biking X Watts NP with a low VI and consuming X calories and so on.
You will notice that I did not use time goals for an IM. Time goals are fraught and can lead to anxiety and cause an athlete to do things during a race that they shouldn’t. Goals that are not time based are the best ones.
You signed up what do you do now?
Obviously, you need to train. If you are smart, you have a coach to help you sort that part out. If you are smarter still that coach is me 😜 and then you are REALLY all set! Whatever you are doing, I’m not going to get in to the training piece of it here because that part while not straight forward, is at least self evident. Instead, I want to focus on things that you need to get squared away well in advance of race day so that when race day comes you won’t be in for surprises and things will go smoothly because as I am fond of saying, Ironman is a very long day, you want to focus all of your efforts on those things that are in your control and forget about everything else. The best way to do that is to ensure that you have controlled as much as possible!
Nutrition
As early as possible in your training you need to develop a nutrition plan. This can be on your own, with your coach or with a dedicated nutritionist. It doesn’t matter how you do it but just make sure that you do it and that you start implementing it in to your trying early and often. The number one reason why people fail at Ironman is under training. The number two reason is they botch their nutrition and I would wager that those two might very well be reversed. So don’t be either of those people! Train hard and get your nutrition dialed in very soon after you start. This means:
Understanding how many calories you will need to consume
When you will consume them
What form those calories will take
How you will carry them or acquire them on course
What you will do if you need to supplement or substitute
It is not rocket science but it does take thought and planning.
Travel logistics
A lot of people are quick to book travel and accommodation right after signing up for the race. I generally caution against this. The euphoria around what you just signed up for may cloud your judgement a little on what your priorities should be surrounding how and when you will get to an event and where you will stay.
These decisions can be different for everyone and are generally impacted on a variety of things: Individual preference related to ability to handle stress around the race, size of travel party, distance traveled to the race.
My general recommendations are to try and get to an Ironman several days in advance if you are not traveling too far. For a Sunday race I say to get there at the VERY latest on Thursday. If you are traveling across several time zones or to a very different climate I suggest getting there as early as possible. A week in advance at the least.
Traveling with your bike is always fraught so I recommend using a bike transport company if one is available. If not, use a good bike case and do everything that you can to protect the bike and valuable bits and bobs within.
Where you stay at the location related to the start/finish is again an individual decision. Do you enjoy the hype around the race or do you prefer to be away from it? Do you want to be able to walk to or from the start or finish or is it ok to drive? These are personal choices but I definitely suggest staying at least within a short drive of where the race is being held so that there aren’t any unanticipated traffic issues causing you grief on race day.
Learn basic bike mechanic skills
Too often I have met athletes whose strategy for dealing with a flat tire is prayer. Specifically that prayer is that they won’t have one. While this is one way of dealing with this minor mechanical issue, arguably a more proactive strategy would be to learn how to deal with such a misfortune yourself and then have all of the necessary tools with you so that you can be self sufficient.
If you don’t know how or are not comfortable changing a flat, find someone to teach you. Another cyclist or for your LBS with $25 and pay the mechanic to give you a tutorial. Best money you will spend I promise! Because when you are doing your IM and you get that flat waiting for neutral assistance when you could just change the darned thing yourself is no bueno.
Other skills that everyone should know:
Cleaning and lubing the chain. This needs to be done REGULARLY
Adjusting brakes (caliper or disc)
Adjusting gears (mechanical or electronic)
The best part about all of this is that you don’t need to wonder where to find information on how to do any of these things. YouTube is chock full of really helpful videos that will get you started and your LBS can fit in any gaps.
Consider your equipment
The last thing to do in the months before your race is to consider if you need any new equipment for the event. If a bike is in the offing this needs to be obtained as early as possible so that the bulk of your training will be done on it. But other, smaller purchases should be considered early as well just because you don’t want to run in to issues with size availability or delays in shipping etc..
If your race is likely to be not wetsuit legal, consider a swimskin. Think about what you will wear for the event and whether or not you will need to get specific types of gear for the bike and run. Putting that thought in early will save you lots of stress as the race approaches.
In the next entry I will cover my tips and tricks for race week and the day itself. How to make the event as stress free and enjoyable as possible.
