An Ironman race is consists of the following one after the other and all to be completed in under a total time of 17 hours.-
2.4 mile swim
112 mile cycle
26.2 mile run
Sounds kind of crazy and daunting doesn't it? Well, it should as it is a long way. A very long way in fact! It is a hell of a lot of exercise and you are going to miss a proper lunch and dinner to fuel your race. You eat on the move and usually gels and bars.
If you get your training right though it need not be that bad although it will still hurt! Here is what you need to know about training for it:-
You need to do a lot. I would suggest a minimum of 10 hours a week for at least 6 months to a year if starting from scratch, less if you are very fit already. But this will only get you around the course, not get you a good time unless you are an amazing individual. You must train in all 3 disciplines and everyone has a different strategy to do this. It will also depend on what your goals are for the race and your confidence levels. Lets look at each discipline individually :-
Swimming - I am not a natural swimmer. My technique is far from adequate and I am hugely inefficient. But I can swim and this year have done 38k meters of swim training. It sounds a lot but really it is minimal. My race was on Sunday which is approximately the 200th day of 2017. Most serious swimmers would do at least 15km a week in the pool so 120km putting me at less than 1/3rd. I managed to swim a 1:15 putting me in position 448 out of 1013. Not bad.
If you break it down then that is hardly any swimming each week. The key is consistency (which I was lacking) and taking lessons to improve your technique. This is really important. You can spend hours in the pool trying to be 10 mins faster but unless you are a really good athlete that 10 mins can far more easily be gained on the bike or run. So my advice is to do what you can to come out of the water feeling ok and having not expended too much energy. You must also practice in open water or the sea as all swims take place in one of these. It can be scary so get used to it. In addition the chances are you will be hit, kicked and maybe swum over such is the nature of mass swims. This need not be a problem. Stay calm, breath and you will be fine. Practice it with your friends. If you are nervous then start at the back or too the sides where others in the same position as you will be located.
Cycling - this is the longest discipline and arguably needs the most work. Start training as soon as you can with regular rides, either on the road or indoor trainer. Consistency is key here. It is far better to go ride 20 miles five times a week than one 100 mile ride. I am no coach but would suggest that trying to ride 150miles a week is a good basis building up to 300 on a big week. These should consist of at least one long ride of 70-80 miles and sporadically doing a 100 miler.
It is really important in my view to do this long ride as it provides you with an opportunity to practice your nutrition (the subject of another post). It is also a very long way. I suggest going onto Google Maps and finding a town 100 miles away to put it into perspective. You have to race this and another 12 miles! Also, try to do it solo. Ironman is a non-drafting race so good to do it alone. Drafting can save you 30% energy and lull you into a false sense of security.
Don’t just go out and cycle for cycling sake. Try to make each session have a purpose. It might be a long steady ride, a 25 mile time trial where you really push yourself, a set of hill reps or intervals. Mix it up and try to ride with faster people so you are being pushed. You will get dropped but friends should wait for you.
Run - having swum 2.4 miles and cycled 112 miles you then have to run a marathon which is 26.2 miles. It is one hell of an ask! There are of course many schools of thought about this but my preferred option is to train for a marathon in winter to race in spring and then race in the summer or fall. Once the marathon is complete you can simply maintain your run fitness. Your cycling will provide the endurance for it. By doing a marathon in the spring you will sacrifice some quality training sessions for your Ironman but I think that unless you are going for a very fast time this is worth it.
Run consistently 4-5 times a week. Do a mixture of long slow runs, tempo and intervals. This will really help you. Your Ironman marathon will be around 30-60 minutes slower than your stand alone time but do not decrease your training pace to reflect this.
This is very much broad advice from myself who is not a qualified trainer but has completed 5 Ironman distance races having once been obese and not able to run 100 meters.
The most important element is to enjoy your training. There will be moment when the last thing you want to do is train, but when you start you generally get into it. Don’t overtrain though and if you can feel (genuinely) that you are tired and it is not going to be a good session then stop. Rest is vitally important. I try to have 2 full days of it every week.
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Happy racing!