Minimum training to finish IM (Page 4)

nice...

This type of training for an ironman is like doing only enough to get by at work without getting fired.

To each their own.

I wouldn't say it's that extreme.  There are a lot of things in life that I don't put a lot of importance on, and don't give much effort.  I cut grass and pull weeds only enough so that I can walk around the house.

Then you go on to say that you have entered and completed a race that makes IM look like a stroll through a field of daisies 5 TIMES.... but to all you other folks that have not trained for a extreme event, but want the t-shirt... "Go get your dream girlfriend"... well that just seems irresponsible.

And in total 100% sincerity... congrats on your finish. You did it. Good for you. Really.

Okay,  now I'm really want to know what he said...

me too.  This thread just took on a whole new life!

My training definately was subpar for my last IM, but it wasn't really by choice.  I think I did maybe 18 miles running in the final 6 weeks and couldn't even cycle the final 2 due to severe shin splints.   My base and real conservative racing got me through, but I consider myself lucky. 

My IM prior to that was the same, trained as much as I thought I could without reinjuring my torn achilles and it cost me.  I ended up not finishing and it was a lesson for me that heart doesn't always get you to the finish line.

IMO,  Training is not something you want to mess around with.  If you get hurt in the middle of the cycle (which was my case both times) do what you can and see if you're ready to go.  However, out of pure not giving a damn, I don't recommend the even signing up. 

Grats on the finish, at the end of the day the numbers dont really matter if you cross the finish line!

Thanks....I read five damn pages before I finally got to something that made sense. 

I disagree that anyone can finish an Ironman on minimal training.  When I started training I was averaging 12 MPH on the bike and through sheer effort and training I'm up to 13 MPH 4.5 months later.  I have one year to make it up to 16 so really hoping it's one of those things that will shoot up eventually.  Up to running six miles at a time.  Still swim 3:00/100m.  I've averaged 7 hours a week since the beginning of the year, including base building.  Before I started training I used to take 15-20 hours a week of group classes at the gym.

Doesn't bother me that someone else can do it with less training, we all have different athletic abilities.  Unless you're F30-34  

I have to train my behind off, with a coach, for a year and a half, and I'm still not sure that I can make the cutoffs (and if I don't I'll just keep going until I do, I'll finish one eventually, hopefully this one 8 days before my 35th birthday).

At the beginning of the year I was very group oriented and could not work out alone and have grown to love the training and I can train for hours by myself now and I think that mental furtitude is a great by-product of Ironman training.  I consistently do 30 MPH+ on the bike on downhills now which scared me before.  I did a tough bike loop that I never thought I could do.  I learned to use clipless.  There are so many fears I have gotten over and continue to get over.  I have been forced to start considering myself an athlete and that I have a force and power inside of me.

And I love starting something that I can't do, training, and accomplishing it.  It is such a great feeling to train yourself to do something you can't do at the beginning.

For me the Ironman is the whole journey of the dream, all those things I had to give up, the hours of working towards something.  Racing is just the icing on the cake, the real meat of it all is in the journey and the transformation.  I miss Zumba and TurboKick and spin so much and I view sacrificing that as part of the personal strength that it takes to accomplish a big dream/goal.

In short, Ironman is whatever you want it to be, and depending on how you approach it, you get something different out of it.  For me it's a life-changing experience, physically, mentally, emotionally.

I've been reading this thread with interest, since I have found myself in a parallel situation, though not as extreme.

I'm the poster child for the guy who started in triathlon with no background in endurance or fitness, extremely overweight. I confess I get annoyed by people who can just hop up and go run 6 miles on no training, and still be very much faster than me after I've been running a year and a half. Today I was happy to be sub 14:30/mile on a 5 mile run.

At the same time, I can't honestly say my training has been optimal. It's not minimal, but it's not enough for the races I've been doing. The big target was the a half-marathon in January. I finished it, beaten, bloody, and almost 4 hours. It was ugly. The next day I saw people even more obese than me, finishing the marathon.

It occurred to me that it could be done at that weight. But why would I want to? Different question than training, but not totally unrelated. No way would I attempt a marathon at 285 pounds.

I committed myself to training better and losing weight. 3 months later I took 44:44 of my half marathon and 30 pounds off my frame. Felt awesome.

But now I'm on the verge of my first HIM. I'm determined to cross that finish, and if I have to use every minute of free time I get from an earlier swim wave, just to make the cutoff, I will do that. But I am seeing a pattern here, and my next HIM will be a huge improvement. I'll be between 240 and 250 for this one, but I'll be a lot leaner for the next, and much better trained.

It wouldn't even occur to me to do a full iron distance until I'm trained. In my first days of dreaming about this whole venture, I did the math on 17 hours, and it seemed feasible. But, I don't want my first IM to be a sufferfest where I'm chasing the cutoff from the starting horn. I think I'll be doing that at Eagleman as it is.

I know I'll survive the half, or at least be fine if I get pulled for slowness. The concept of a full on minimal training? I have done some stupid, ill-advised things in my life - for a guy like me, that would set a record. Not saying anyone else can't do it, but as a representative of the fresh-off-the-couch-club, I'll pass on that plan.

Great post! Great job on the Blog too btw. Congrats on the impressive gains & losses . Keep up the hard work, good luck to you in all that you do!

I would say that is a disclosure you probably should have made up front in your eagerness to provide encouragement to others--for whom which the IM may be the toughest race they will have ever tried.

x2 - yeah, that's why I wrote a book just above here - I think a guy like me might be the target audience for the message, but clearly the whole picture isn't there. By the time I turn 50, I hope to be able to say "well, Ironman was hard, but it was no Badwater." But I sure as heck will have a lot of training between now and then, and will respect all distances.

Just to illustrate the different strokes theory (TM), I feel the same way about potentially attempting an HIM this fall.  I'm also off the couch 2.5 years ago with no previous athletic experience and a sizable weight loss.  However, my definition of trained (for me) for an HIM is starting with a legitimate shot at breaking six hours.  This is completely arbitrary, but that's what it is.  As I sit here today, I don't think I'm breaking two hours on the run (my arbitrary goal for being trained for the run) because I just don't have the volume built up or the long runs in the bank.  I might be able to do something about that in the next few months, and reassess my fall HIM plans.  I'm not too worried about a deadline.  If I end up racing a HIM, great.  If I don't, I don't.  So, one man's trained for an HIM, IM, Oly and so on and so forth is just different than the next. 

I still want to hear about the OP's bike.

X2. You do have a background in endurance sports, whether you want to admit it or not. Sure your IM "training" was minimal, but it wasn't like you were doing the "Texas Water Safari" on minimal training.

Congrats on your IM finish, but your story is like talking to a little kid when you know they are not divulging the full information. The more they talk, the more that spills out. You didn't complete an IM from the couch. Sure there are those "freaks" (for lack of a better term) who can just pick up and finish, but you do have the training in from your other races that you have COMPLETED 5 TIMES!

I was very curious about this thread until I read that you have competed in other endurance races for at least 5 years (5 years completing TWS).

Goodluck everyone in their IM training, best of luck!

Cheers,

Ken

I have not completed an IM, but it is definitely a long term goal of mine. I can't imagine ever wanting to try it on the least amount of training possible. 

As others have just posted, it is clear that you were able to complete an IM on minimal training most likely because of your history of completing endurance events. I doubt that someone who does not have any experience in these type of events would be able to complete it on very minimal training. Possibly if they had an athletic background of some type, but still I wouldn't tell someone to go for it. 

They should lower the cut off to 13 hours so we wouldn't have these threads any more. 

bryancd - 2012-05-21 9:39 PM  Not offended, no in the least. It's just at then end of the day we all have our own motivation and goals and there is not right or wrong. My life became so much simpler when I stopped giving a crap.

Perhaps the most profound and intelligent statement in these five pages of posts!

Funny, that's exactly what was going through my head when I read the race report. Congrats on getting the job done. I'm not sure the experience is transferable as a model to the vast majority of other "beginner" triathletes, though.