Hi from Norway

Hey from America!  Welcome to BT. 

Ummmm....your question is common.  I'd start out with some smaller goals, like a sprint tri and see how you like it.  Maybe borrow some equip. as this can be an expensive sport. 

Here is a great thread to get you started:  http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=18656&posts=135&highlight=newbie%20bumpable%20thread&highlightmode=1#M970739

Enjoy! 

Welcome to BT, from Wisconsin. I hope you find this community as fun and supportive as I have.

I echo the comments about "expensive sport", it surely is. But, heh, I can think of far worse ways to spend some money....

I'll be attempting my first HIM distance this next summer. I completed an Oly distance as my first race this past August, with about 4 months of semi-serious training. Not knowing your overall fitness level, I would hestiate to comment, but I think it is pretty common for people to reach HIM distance within one year of serious training. There are training plans on this site that get you conditioned to be able to COMPLETE the HIM distance, not necessarily WIN.

To my understanding, most every Ironman (branded) race, as well as the non-branded (same distance) events can be entered without official qualifying. Given the popularity of the Ironman races, the trick is to get registered - many events fill within hours of open registration. IM-Wisconsin opens registration for the following year either the day of or day after the current year race, and fills within hours for about 2000 slots - I think they changed this rule this year, so don't quote me.

Hope this helps...and welcome again.

Welcome to BT! 

I spend 2 months in Norway (in 1982) and the people were very friendly.  Hope we can return the feeling. 

If you do a web search on triathlon or multisport, you should find some races in Norway.  You can see whether there are qualifying races or can you just sign up for the full Ironman distance.  If you're willing to train, they can be lots of fun. 

Juhuuu, another Scandinavian

I am from Denmark but now live in Iceland. So I guess we have the same problems biking in the winter time

Like others said, the best and smartest way is to start at shorter events and then building from there. This dose not mean that you can not do an IM next year, if all you want to do is finish it, but the risk of injuries are a lot higher.

If you already did a marathon, the odds are that you can do a HIM.  You do not, however, tell us how much time it took you to run your marathon nor do you give us any information about your swimming and cycling.  Therefore we cannot even hazard a guess as to how long it will take you to get to the level where you can do a HIM.  As for signing up for an IM camp, anyone who can afford it can!

Take a look at the HIM training program available on this site and see if you would be comfortable training with it.