This blog is for people who have been asking about how much training is involved in doing an Ironman triathlon. At this point the clock is ticking, I’m almost there. 1st July is less than 4 weeks away and I’m fighting off the nerves. However the vast majority of the hard training work is done. I've clocked about 3,000 kilometres between swimming, cycling and on foot over the last four months and I’m also feeling relieved that there isn’t much left to do at this stage.
(Image above is a screen shot of where I track my trainng on mapmyrun. I tend to work off a pretty casual programme. We'll see how that works on the day!)
The last 3-4 weeks before Ironman, much like a marathon, is primarily a time of tapering down from long distance training sessions. I’ve been looking forward to these few weeks for months! I plan to do the Wicklow 200 cycle this Sunday as my final long cycle and I’d like to get one or two long runs in before I drop all distances for the last three weeks.
For the last three weeks I’ll do some work on posture, core strength, flexibility and swimming. This will be my third official Ironman event but I’ve done dozens of shorter triathlons over the years. My first was a full distance Ironman was in 2005, my second was a 70.3 (or half Ironman distance) in 2011 and I’m doing the full again in a few weeks in Austria. A full distance Ironman Triathlon is 3.8k swim, 180k cycle and 42k run.
When I first heard about Ironman I didn’t think that was possible for me but a coach challenged me on it and I gave it a go. In 2006 in Austria a 77 year old man beat me by over three hours which amazed me at the time and has done every since. I'd love to match his time this year!
Now that I’ve done Ironman I think that most people could do one if they have a strong desire to do so. The things that I’ve seen cause problems are pace and nutrition. If you go out too fast then you can spend a long time suffering unnecessarily later in the day and if you make too many mistakes on nutrition then there is a hight cost to energy levels, stamina and mindset.
(Image above was from the 2nd last day of our Mizen-Malin cycle this year which was a huge part of my bike training)
I’m in good shape at this point. My resting heart rate is around the 38 BPM mark which is as strong as it has ever been. I can do the three distances individually but I haven’t had a very long run since the marathon in October. Thankfully I noted the distances I’ve covered using Mapmyrun and I’ve done clocked about 3,000 kilometres between swimming, cycling, running and walking over the last four months and I’m feeling especially strong on the bike which is the best place to save time on the day of the triathlon.
My physio told me to ease off on running and do core work to take pressure off my IT band and therefore my knee. The result is that although I’m running quickly and well, I’ve done very few brick sessions (running after a cycle) and I’d have liked to have a few longer runs under my belt at this stage. My long distance run feels a bit unknown and untested. I’ve also been training at a very high intensity so I’ve been eating mountains of carbohydrates for energy. With all the eating and training I’ve put on a few kilograms of muscle mass but also some surplus fat. During the taper period I hope to strip back the surplus weight because on 1st July the leaner I am the less baggage I have to carry for 140.6 miles!
(Crossing the line at Ironman Austria in 2005)
During the last three weeks of the taper down I’ll do more swimming, physio work, stretching and I’ll be very careful about not overeating carbohydrates because my body has become accustomed to consuming huge quantities of food daily to fuel all the exercise. The danger is that when I slow down the exercise that I don’t slow down the carb intake and surplus weight starts to pile on. I aim to eat plenty of protein, minerals and to nourish my body with food that is easy to assimilate. I’ll do this primarily using a plant based diet of and fresh fruit, leafy green vegetables, nuts and seeds to keep my body nourished, hydrated, light and fresh.
Like any endurance event, Ironman is about building a strong foundation of fitness. I trained for the Dublin marathon training at the end of 2011 and put in a personal best which was a good start, I walked regularly and commuted on my mountain bike to build my base level of fitness generally. Then about four months a
go I started to add in long slow sessions at the start of the year. For the first two months of training in 2012 I focused on slow, steady sessions but more recently I’ve been upping the intensity which is more fun but it can be exhausting and creates more lactic acid in the muscles which means more pain the next day.
(This video is Fauna from Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind welcoming me home after a long cycle!)
For this event I’m fundraising for Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind. Cara and I have been raising a puppy in training - Fauna - for IGDB for the last six months. We are impressed and inspired by the organisation itself and by the impact the dogs have on the lives of the visually impared and Autistic dog owners. To read more about Fauna and how you can support click here to read more.
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