Beginner to Ironman

It's absolutely doable. You already know your weaknesses, and areas you need to improve.

A coach would obviously be helpful.

I would recommend getting a training plan (I used Don Fink's "Be Iron Fit" plan). I personally liked the structure, which allowed me to focus on just following the plan. You need to understand that this is a massive undertaking, and will take a significant committment on your part, to sacrifice your free time.

There's plenty of sound advice on this site, so just do some research, and ask questions.

Good luck!

Welcome to BT!

You've got lots of time to prepare for your race, but I would second the advice to find a training plan to help structure your training.  

I've found that frequency & consistency are keys to preparing for a race and having a plan helps me to keep in track.  I'm currently using an Oly plan that I got here on BT and it's working out well for me.

Sounds like you're starting from a pretty good place with your swimming which is great since it's the toughest disciple for most folks.

Good luck with your training.

Mark

I'd suggest you try running the same weekly volume, but split it up into three or four runs/week rather than only two.  If you're not able to recover completely between runs, then you're going either too fast or too far based on your currently level of fitness.  The old rule of thumb to avoid injury is to increase your total distance only 10% per week.

A lot of folks will put more focus on their weakness, but it shouldn't be at the expense of the other two disciplines.  In particular, swimming is more technical and a perishable skill, so you need to maintain the frequency of your workouts to reinforce your technique, even if you need to cut back on the volume.

As I suggested earlier, it probably would be helplful to take a look at some training plans (including the free plans here on BT) for ideas on how to structure your training.

In my experience the biggest thing is consistency; you want to continually build on your level of fitness.  If you're inconsistent or skip too many workouts, then it will be like you're starting over all the time.

Good luck.

Mark

As IRONMAN has now trademarked (!) "Anything is possible"

As previous posters have said- you can do this- but you need to accept that it will be a big commitment of time and energy to do so. And slow and steady building with a specific plan is the safest and most efficient way to get there- starting now ..with building base in all 3 disciplines. Good Luck! keep us posted!