Cork Ironman with 8 months training

5CHULZY · 30-10-2019 3:03pm #1

Was hoping to take part in the Dun laoghaire ironman next year but it has been cancelled so was thinking of doing the Cork ironman instead.

Only started training 5 weeks ago after buying a bike and managed to complete a 72km ride and 60km last week. 5 big bike rides and 10km commutes to work 2 times a week

Now I have not swam or ran for about 5 years, back when I used to play semi professional football.

I ran a 5km in 27mins the other day just to set a benchmark

I would consider myself in good shape and keep myself fit but is a full ironman too much to take on with just 8 months of training. I have no children so can sacrifice my spare time to training however working 12hr shift work, will it be too much in too little time.

I have a friend that's doing it as well and he has already completed the dun laoghaire iron man twice , so will have a good training partner.

Thanks for any advice

Marty Bird · 30-10-2019 4:45pm

5CHULZY wrote: »

Was hoping to take part in the Dun laoghaire ironman next year but it has been cancelled so was thinking of doing the Cork ironman instead.

Only started training 5 weeks ago after buying a bike and managed to complete a 72km ride and 60km last week. 5 big bike rides and 10km commutes to work 2 times a week

Now I have not swam or ran for about 5 years, back when I used to play semi professional football.

I ran a 5km in 27mins the other day just to set a benchmark

I would consider myself in good shape and keep myself fit but is a full ironman too much to take on with just 8 months of training. I have no children so can sacrifice my spare time to training however working 12hr shift work, will it be too much in too little time.

I have a friend that's doing it as well and he has already completed the dun laoghaire iron man twice , so will have a good training partner.

Thanks for any advice

8 months is more than enough time for you to train for it. Buy get Iron fit by Don Fink and use one of the plans. I can't recommend this book enough. Happy training and good luck.

EC1000 · 30-10-2019 9:11pm

Why not take your time and enjoy the journey as opposed to rushing straight to Ironman. If you do a standard distance next year to the best of your ability that would set you up for a half or full distance the following year.

The reason I suggest this is what are you going to do in two years time if you do an ironman in your first year. I would suggest there is a strong possibility that you would not complete any races at all in year two if you do an ironman in year one (from having seen a few people go this route). I guess it depends on your goal. If you want to tick the ironman box, do it asap. If you want to enjoy the journey and form good and long lasting habits, take your time and get faster before going longer.

reidman · 31-10-2019 10:11am

Enough time, you need a solid training IM plan and to build up gradually from a base fitness level to the longer stuff and not go nuts training now. Plenty of advice on here but also speak to someone who has done IM and start looking at the plans and work around that, see if there’s a local club you can join. Good luck

Chris871 · 31-10-2019 1:06pm

I'm in a similar enough position to OP, but I've signed up for Barcelona. I've a few sprints behind me the last few months. IM has been a long term goal and ive bit the bullet while my life still has few commitments and i can invest the time. Would anyone recommend getting a coach? or any coaches in particular?

NeedsTraining · 01-11-2019 1:12am

There are a number if questions you need to answer (in my opinion)

Is Ironman the ultimate target for the next year?
Have you considered shorter course first?
Ironman as a long term goal?
You have time to dedicate to training, but what about prehab/rehab, social events, nutrition etc etc
What’s your swim self assessment?
Self trained or coached?

The list goes on.

Everyone has an individual target.

There is lots of guidance here, and guys/gals that have been through it all.

However, by asking yourself a few of these questions, it will point you in the right direction.

As for a coach, if you listen to plans and feedback and have the dollars to do it, then I’d say yes.
Recommendations, shop around, ask questions, find one that works for you.

Lessons I learned over the years

Listen to your body
Make a plan and stick to it
Don’t do something cause someone else is doing it
Did I mention listen to your body?

Best of luck in whatever decisions you make.

Regardless of how they turn out, don’t regret your decision. We all make the call, we don’t all make the right one. But we should all be happy with what we called.

Roadtoad · 01-11-2019 1:38am

5CHULZY wrote: »

....... thinking of doing the Cork ironman
......not swam or ran for about 5 years...... I have no children ....Thanks for any advice

Hang out in pubs or churches or bingo halls.
Get a girlfriend.
Have babies.
Get a house, do renovations, stay up late on the internet etc.
Much more fun than training for 8 months.

You'll thank me for it. OK, its not technically possible to do all of the above in 8 months, but fail smiling.
(off the drink for November, its been 38 minutes, sfsg)

Edit:
Do 4x Olympics in 2020.
Do 2x Halfs in 2021
Think about the full again half way through 2021.

Yermander · 01-11-2019 6:22am

Probably stating the obvious here but Dun Laoghaire is/was a Half Ironman distance 70.3 miles whereas Cork is a full Ironman distance 140.6 miles. Just to distinguish between the two distances as you refer to them both as Ironman above.

I think going into an Ironman without a season or two of learning from shorter races could throw a lot of obstacles in your way. That said, I’m sure people have done it successfully.

Take the swim for example, if you are not used to open water and getting bumped and kicked in a group, this could upset your race from the very start. Knowing what gear to include in transitions and how it works would be of benefit too before the Ironman. A few shorter races as prep would be required.

Worth mentioning you’ll be training through winter for Cork so you’ll need to brave the elements for a lot of sessions. Injury prevention would be key also, starting without a solid base in 3 disciplines, mostly running.

Always good making a start with training and best of luck with it

mossym · 01-11-2019 9:57am

Yermander wrote: »

That said, I’m sure people have done it successfully.

yup, there have been plenty of the one and dones, seen lot of them here.

the mold is pretty typical

some sport background, but ironman has always been a goal
manic effort for a year, struggle their way around an IM.
bike is sold a month later, but the tattoo means they wear shorts a lot more than they used to. and the pub talk over the pints usually comes around to "and the time i did an Ironmman"

if the op wants to do one just to tick the box and get the tattoo there is nothing wrong with that, it can be done, it's not pretty but it gets the job done

i think most of the folks that are saying build up over a couple of years come from a background of being interested in the sport, of having it as a multi year pastime rather than just ticking a box, and want to really give an IM their best go rather than jsut do whatever it takes to get around.

so if you want to do it go for it. need to adjsut your thinking a little, your 5k time doesn't matter a plod, train for 11 days in a row and then wake up the following morning ready to go again, that's fitness. i know lots of folks that do zero training, could run 5 minutes faster right now than 27 minutes and wouldn't think of doing an IM. teh long term approach to getting to IM is to get the body used to training day in day out so you can train hard for an ironman. that will be your biggest issue. not your 5k time

griffin100 · 01-11-2019 1:04pm

If you want to do it then go ahead. You'll get lots of opinions, but life's too short to be putting stuff off (there's my opinion :pac:)

But............there are some things you will need to consider.

You may have all the time in the world to train, but consider the load this is going to place on your body. You will have to very careful and disciplined in your training to avoid injury. This is a real risk as you don't sound like you are coming from a current background of endurance training. Fink has 30 weeks plans in his book which works out at about 8 months. Week 1 of his competitive plan has 6hrs training, ramping up to 10hrs by week 7. Could you do that now?

You will need to train over the Winter and Spring for Cork. The weather will be sh1t at times but you will need to get out in it. You can use a turbo for the bike but plan for 4hrs plus in the cold and wet.

Cork is also a tough bike route, you will be on the bike for over 6hrs I'd say, so get used to long rides over hilly ground.

There is also the risk of a swim cancellation in Cork that would be higher than some other IM's.

But the big issue for me would be the swim. Can you get to being able to swim 3.8km in the pool in 8 months? Yes it's doable, but it's a challenge if you are coming off no swimming background. Can you currently swim, and by swim I mean actually swim, not splash 25 down the pool with your head out of the water? You will need to be getting into the pool 3-4 times a week and upping the distances whilst avoiding injury. Because Cork has a sea swim, you are going to have a very tight window of a few weeks at most when you can be swimming in the sea before race day to get experience (due to water temperature). The OW season doesn't really start until May. Being able to cover the distance in the pool is not the same as being able to cover the distance in the sea, you will need to get that OW experience asap I would suggest. This is going to be your biggest challenge I think.

If you want to tick the box and complete an IM coming from a non training background, 8 months is tight, but doable, but in Cork you have picked a very tough race. Someone else mentioned Barcelona, that gives you 11 months and an 'easier' bike.

You could of course for a fraction of the cost of either Cork or Barcelona come to Killarney for the 10th Hardman IM. It's in August so an extra few weeks for training, a lake swim that's unlikely to be cancelled and a medium difficulty bike on the Ring of Kerry

5CHULZY · 01-11-2019 3:43pm

griffin100 wrote: »

If you want to do it then go ahead. You'll get lots of opinions, but life's too short to be putting stuff off (there's my opinion :pac:)

But............there are some things you will need to consider.

You may have all the time in the world to train, but consider the load this is going to place on your body. You will have to very careful and disciplined in your training to avoid injury. This is a real risk as you don't sound like you are coming from a current background of endurance training. Fink has 30 weeks plans in his book which works out at about 8 months. Week 1 of his competitive plan has 6hrs training, ramping up to 10hrs by week 7. Could you do that now?

You will need to train over the Winter and Spring for Cork. The weather will be sh1t at times but you will need to get out in it. You can use a turbo for the bike but plan for 4hrs plus in the cold and wet.

Cork is also a tough bike route, you will be on the bike for over 6hrs I'd say, so get used to long rides over hilly ground.

There is also the risk of a swim cancellation in Cork that would be higher than some other IM's.

But the big issue for me would be the swim. Can you get to being able to swim 3.8km in the pool in 8 months? Yes it's doable, but it's a challenge if you are coming off no swimming background. Can you currently swim, and by swim I mean actually swim, not splash 25 down the pool with your head out of the water? You will need to be getting into the pool 3-4 times a week and upping the distances whilst avoiding injury. Because Cork has a sea swim, you are going to have a very tight window of a few weeks at most when you can be swimming in the sea before race day to get experience (due to water temperature). The OW season doesn't really start until May. Being able to cover the distance in the pool is not the same as being able to cover the distance in the sea, you will need to get that OW experience asap I would suggest. This is going to be your biggest challenge I think.

If you want to tick the box and complete an IM coming from a non training background, 8 months is tight, but doable, but in Cork you have picked a very tough race. Someone else mentioned Barcelona, that gives you 11 months and an 'easier' bike.

You could of course for a fraction of the cost of either Cork or Barcelona come to Killarney for the 10th Hardman IM. It's in August so an extra few weeks for training, a lake swim that's unlikely to be cancelled and a medium difficulty bike on the Ring of Kerry

Just had a look at the Hardman events and think I will give the bantry bay a go next year. It will give me something to work up to and see where I go from there. Quite like the idea of doing one abroad.

peter kern · 01-11-2019 4:33pm

5CHULZY wrote: »

Was hoping to take part in the Dun laoghaire ironman next year but it has been cancelled so was thinking of doing the Cork ironman instead.

Only started training 5 weeks ago after buying a bike and managed to complete a 72km ride and 60km last week. 5 big bike rides and 10km commutes to work 2 times a week

Now I have not swam or ran for about 5 years, back when I used to play semi professional football.

I ran a 5km in 27mins the other day just to set a benchmark

I would consider myself in good shape and keep myself fit but is a full ironman too much to take on with just 8 months of training. I have no children so can sacrifice my spare time to training however working 12hr shift work, will it be too much in too little time.

I have a friend that's doing it as well and he has already completed the dun laoghaire iron man twice , so will have a good training partner.

Thanks for any advice

can i ask how it is possible for an ex semi profesional fotballer to be a 27 min 5 k runner if you consider yourself fit ?

EDit · 03-11-2019 12:03pm

5CHULZY wrote: »

Just had a look at the Hardman events and think I will give the bantry bay a go next year. It will give me something to work up to and see where I go from there. Quite like the idea of doing one abroad.

Did the Bantry one earlier this year. Lovely course, but you will need to include lots of hills in your running training as the run has 2 serious ascents (unless they have changed the course for next year). I thought I’d done enough hill running in my training, but still ended up walking a chunk of it.

topcat77 · 04-11-2019 1:48pm

Go for this plan, very doable.

This plan works on the premise that you can do the following before starting the plan. the plan is then only 12 weeks

1 Can you already ride at least 112km?
2 Can you run at least 26km?
3 Can you swim at least 2.5km?

Cork Ironman with 8 months training

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