Sprint to Ironman?

considering the fact we have little information on your previous results, your workouts, and or experience in tri's its hard to say.

I'd say GO FOR IT!  If you have a group to train for then yeah sure.  I would definately schedule 70.3 prior to the IM.

GOOD LUCk!

Umm the best way to "get through" ironman training is to have a group that keeps you accountable.  A year is plenty of time to get ready and if you got a good group to train with then DO IT! I personally couldn't do all the training without my partners...Go for it!  Getting to the line is the hardest part and training partners make it easier.

Terrier Tri would be a good team to go with "judging by your jersey."

I did all sprints in 2005 and signed up for IMFL in 2006. I got a coach so I didn't have to freak out about what to do to get me there. Worked out pretty well. It's totally do-able you just can't slack off!

Shanks

Yep, you can do it.  I did.  I did my first ever sprint in July of 07 and did IMFL in Nov 08.  I was in no way close to IM ready when I decided to do mine.  Just started swimming and had only been on a rode bike for a month.  You have plenty of time to train and you have a support from your tri group and BT.  The only thing left is to decide if you want to do it.  Like everyone said before me, you've got to want it.  Good luck and let us know what you decide.

Ironman is all about the training.  If you can put in the time to train properly (and a training group will definitely make those hours go by faster), then the race is a fun day.  Miss the training and you can still finish, but it'll be a pretty miserable experience.  Train too hard and you find yourself injured and unable to even start the race. 

People suggest the sprint>OLY>HIM>IM progression mostly for mental reasons (it seems "natural" or "logical")  If you're more suited for long-course training/racing (you'd rather run half-marathons and marathons than 5K's) then feel free to skip the short courses and sign up for the IM. 

I was running in a 50-mile trail run this spring and talking to some fellow runners.  This was our first ultra (and apparently not an easy ultra).  I completely skipped over the half-marathon,  marathon, and 50K as "intermediate" steps.  My longest running only race was a 15K although I did do a half-ironman.  Did I miss out?  I don't think so.  I still haven't run a stand-alone marathon (my second marathon distance was the third leg of Ironman Coeur D'Alene last month). 

What have I found out?  I'm probably much more suited to long-course events.  I struggle to finish mid-pack in a 5K (my fastest 5K was 24:40 51st out of 125).   I finished the ultra 21st out of 85.  Sprint tri's?  Same thing.  I'm often in the 1/2-2/3's range even on my best races.  I was about 2/3 with IMCdA, but that was with a crash and broken collarbone during the race.  Someone asked me why I wasn't racing a sprint tri 2 weeks prior to IMCdA, and I told them it wasn't worth it.  The risk/benefit tradeoff just didn't make sense as nothing on the sprint was really going to help me with the Ironman. 

What is the timeframe to sign up?  Do you have time to do some long runs (2 hours) and long rides (3-4 hours)?  Do you enjoy that kind of training?  How quickly do you recover?  This is really the key to an IM, so if you can do this before commiting to race fees and travel, it makes sense. 

IMO, doing the race with friends after a year of training together is probably better than following some arbitrary progression.