couch --> full ironman anyone?

It is in theory doable, but in order to do it right, you might want to consider devoting more than a year to this goal.

1. what is your current aerobic fitness like?
2. do you have a background in either swimming, biking or running?
3. to go along with #2 - what are your current abilities in s/b/r? if you're literally coming off the couch and need to develop all 3, I think you'll want to look more long term for an IM than 1 yr. I came from a strong swimming background & 2 yrs of running off the couch, and it took me ~18 mos to do an IM.

I wish you the best of luck, but if this is truly your life's goal, I would recommend dedicating a little more time to reaching it. couch-IM in <1 year is extremely aggressive.

hi. you have got to listen to me.

i am 33 and have many medals for drugfree powerlifting, and have even been to the 2006 world champs as part of the irish national team. at 90 kg raw, my best lifts were 200 140 240.
i had a shite base level of cardio, which came from martailarts, bag work and the like.
things were going great for me in the world of powerlifting, untill a longtime training partener and good friend desided that he was going to do the ironman uk last year. i thought, no problem
i spent 6 months trying to learn to run and bike, thinking that my vast strength and training mentality would be enouth for me to pull through. using the john rambo method if youd like.

big problem. i managed to do the swim in 153,breastroking the lot. and i ground to a painfull halt after the bike, no way i could even think of doing the run.
my friends, crossed the finish line, i did not. so much for the 14 years of squatting and deadlifting. i could not even walk, let alone run.


but i couldent leave it there, my ego would not let me. i took 2 months off and resumed training. i gave up all deadlifting and squats. i slowley built up the run to the point were i can now run 20 miles, and have done so 3 times.

same goes for the bike. build it up to 100 milers. take your time.

run bricks.

BIKE BIKE AND BIKE.

eliminate all weights except for the bench, i find this works great for the swim, and at least you get to keep 1 of the 3 lifts right?{and you will look great when ripped}

but a heart rate monitor. find out your zones, get aerobic.
buy a copy of " going long"
l.s.d. long slow distance.

its taken me nearly 2 years, and in 28 days i am doing the ironman france. no doubts this time.


2 years and you can believe in your self.
hope this helps.

LISTEN TO THESE GUYS ON HERE.{ i wish i did}they know their stuff.
2 years ago, my ego would not let me. i thought what do they know about me? im stronger than most people ,anyone can ride a bike.

and i believed it for a while.

foot note. my 1rm max on the bench has actually improved. i think its all the swimming giving me extra shoulder and tricep power. every cloud........



Edited by leo mc cabe 2008-05-25 7:58 PM

I am in the process of right now. I have been a fairly good swimmer my whole life, played water polo in HS and am an ocean lifeguard. But never ran over 4 miles or biked at all prior to January 1 of this year.
I have done 3 tri's so far. One sprint and two olys. Did my last oly in in a respectable 2hr36 min time. Going to Boise this weekend for my first HIM. IM in Aug. So I gave myself 7 months from 'couch' to IM.
With that said I got injured in Feb hich cost me 1.5 months of running and am just building back from another injury that has kept me run sidelined for 2 weeks. I now do not plan on building to over a 2 hour run before my IM. Going from nothing to IM training will probably cause injuries, my first time in PT my therapist said he planned on seeing me back after I told him my plans...he was right.
I am not at the IM starting line yet but know I will be. I actually plan on doing well in the S/B and know my time off of those splits will allow me to walk the marathon if I must and still finish. 17 hours is A LOT of time to finish. You only have yourself in training though so you better HTFU if you're going to do it.