Am I crazy or not...

yes you are crazy- yes it is doable- get a plan going there are ironman  plans in this site. .I say once you confirmed you are entered your  planning and training starts. Oh by the way we are all crazy for particpating in an Ironman. suggested reading Going Long By

Byrn and Friel. Good luck!!!! 

I do think you're crazy.

I don't think it's undoable... however, it's a huge time committment to train properly. Ironman is all consuming. Have you run a marathon? Sign up for one ASAP. Do you have a family? Kiss them good bye for a year. Friends? Not unless they're training with you too! The news? You'll never make it to the 10 o'clock news.

I'd wait a year. What's the rush? Do a half and see if you even like the swim/bike/run combo. Training for a half is pretty consuming in and of itself. You have the rest of your life. IMO, rushing into these things without the proper background or knowledge is just setting yourself up for frustration and failure. At this point you don't even know what you don't know!

Gain a little experience first. Then go nuts. 

The voice of reason......

Whizzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

You can do it! It will take dedication from you to do the training but if you will commit you will not have any problems finishing the race. That being said, i could not agree more with doing some shorter races to learn HOW to train. I waited 3 years to do my first HIM and still got hit with lousy weather in April (hey, you live in NC too) that affected my run training greatly. I would have been very happy with my HIM time had the legs not started going away during the 2nd 10K of the run. You WILL NOT cheat a long course.

If you can, get a coach. IF you can, get Sonni Dyer at Studio 7 Multisport in Valdes. You will not find a better guy or coach in my opinion than Sonni. If I can swing it he will be my coach for my 2008 IM.

 BTW, hold out for a NC Iron distance race in 2008. Details should be posted on Setup's site in the next month or so. PM me sometime!

Welcome to the madness!

Fred

Not trying to be pessimistic... but trying to be realistic. An 18 hour training week is HUGE. On top of work, family, housework, other responsibilities, children, pets.... etc etc...

My thought is to test the waters first with some shorter races. THEN move toward something all encompassing.

I see nothing wrong with doing a year of HIM races. Or two years. See if you really even WANT to commit that kind of time/effort/energy. THEN decide.  That's the route I've taken... not that it's right for everyone... but when I do my IM (which will most likely be in 2008...after I see how the Chicago Marathon goes...) I want to be fully prepared and fully aware of what I'm getting myself into.

And don't get me wrong... I'm not looking to WIN these races... I'm looking to finish knowing I've done all the prep work I could have done, and knowing I put forth the best effort I could have. And not get injured.

I agree you should do a tri or two this season..understand what you are getting into before signing up for IMFL.

I have to agree with Whizz...folks are in such a hurry to do longer races like shorter ones are less important or less difficult. All tris are difficult it is just how long you do them and the intensity you race at. The training is different and more time consuming when you do longer races.

Clearly you have the cycling skills which is a huge advantage. 

I'm on the 5 year plan...started in '04, doing my first HIM this year, and planning on IMFL in '08. I've had a coach for 3 years and have improved, developed, am faster and finally I think I am for ready. I'm in a much better place to tackle the task than I would have been last year or even this year.