Anyone ever done an Ironman?

[worth]

Yeah it comes first. Running 42km at the end sounds pretty terrible as well haha.

[Oling_Roachinen]

So anyone with experience how does everything 'match up'?

I've been told an Ironman 70.3, despite taking longer than a marathon, is far easier in terms of the mental aspect and certainly the recovery afterwards. While the difference between a marathon and an Ironman is equivalent to the difference between a half-marathon and a marathon. I.E. completeling a marathon is nothing compared to a full Ironman.

Would this be a fair representation for someone half fit?

Half marathon - breeze
Half Ironman - requires some effort
Marathon - difficult
Ironman - insane

I just can't seem to justify paying the $750 to do an official Ironman. Seems exceedingly excessive for something that will be excruciating.

[BloodFetish]

Spoiler!

[mrkajz44]

Originally Posted by worth

Yeah it comes first. Running 42km at the end sounds pretty terrible as well haha.

Fixed your post for you

[Cowperson]

I haven’t done an Ironman but I did the Maui Marathon a few years ago - in January - and running in that heat and humidity is a killer. Wailea to Lahaina. It started in the dark but was still about 24 C before the sun came up.

There were fit young people puking up colours you wouldn’t believe framed by beautiful Pacific rollers coming in next to the road.

I’ve seen lotsa cyclists practicing on the Ironman route on the Big Island but couldn’t imagine spending all day blowing my brains out in that weather.

[manwiches]

I know a couple people that have done the full Ironman Triathalons. They are in phenomenal shape, and getting ready and staying ready are a lifestyle.

I did a mini-ironman (Kids one) when i was 13. It was at the University. Not sure of the distances, but I remember destroying the swimming, being quite far ahead in the cycling part, and then completely and utterly dying at the last leg of running. I went from leading my heat to near the bottom 1/3 in my heat because the running sucked. haha.

It was a lot of fun from what I remember though, and I've always wanted to try a full one, one day.

[OMG!WTF!]

I am ironman

[Nandric]

I’ve done 2 back in the day when I left my competitive sport and was lost on how to stay fit. All I can say is swimming sucks, thank god for wetsuits.

[Ironhorse]

I may be doing Ironman Calgary 70.3 next summer. Will see what the training brings this winter.

[Tinordi]

Ran a bunch of marathons but never after a 4k swim and 180 km bike. Shudder.

I'm a really good swimmer, but 4 km straight sounds icky. That's like an hour of straight swimming. Yuck. Would definitely rather do a 50 meter sprint any day of the week. The biking may not be bad. But a full marathon after? Not likely. Maybe 10-20 years ago.

[GGG]

A half Ironman is pretty easy. The swim sucks but it's a relatively easy bike ride followed by a relatively easy run. So from a completion stand point doesn't take to much training time. (Less hours than a marathon). I can't envision doing a full.

[Ironhorse]

I wouldn't call a half Ironman "easy". I know plenty of people who DNF'ed them, primarily by not making the cutoff times for each discipline.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by Ironhorse

I wouldn't call a half Ironman "easy". I know plenty of people who DNF'ed them, primarily by not making the cutoff times for each discipline.

Easy isn't quite the right word. But it doesn't push the body relative to a Marathon and the training schedule to complete isn't life consuming.

[TheSutterDynasty]

Originally Posted by GGG

Easy isn't quite the right word.

You don't say, GGG...

[wwkayaker]

A friend has done several ironmen(women) events. The commitment she puts into the training is impressive. Often her bike training is paired with family trips. She will start several hours earlier than her family and ride her bike 200kms. Her husband and kids will time it to meet and pick her up at a designated spot. She works full time and has two kids so her swimming is often down in the early mornings. If I recall correctly, she mentioned swim training sessions of something like 100 laps. In the first Ironman event she finished in just over 15 hours.

[puffnstuff]

I dont even do anything I like for 15 hours.

I did do the Vulcan Tinman a few years back. Short swim, 15 k bike ride and a 5 k run. Was fun.

[Simon96Taco]

I'm also contemplating the 70.3 Ironman in Calgary in 2018, and I've never done a triathlon or even a 5k run. Will see how training progresses over the next few months!