Ironman: The Beginning

Ironman….wait for it…140.3 miles - a 2.4 mile swim, followed by 112 miles on your bike and let’s not forget the small matter of running a marathon too, so that’s another 26 odd miles!!!


Now if you’re an elite athlete you can look at a sub 10 hour time… If you’re in great shape, you’re looking for a sub 12 hour time… and for everyone else, the aim is sub 17 hours (This is when they take down the finishing line, the flags and bunting - close up and go home.) No medal, no glory!


I am an Ironman (IM) virgin, so what I know about IM I have read or heard from friends who have done a few (and some very quickly as well.) I’ve also taken on a coach who has over 10 years IM experience. He has a PB of 9 hours 15 minutes - His wealth of experience has been invaulable and even more so with the IM next year. Check out Steven Lord at his website

So Lordy’s advice is that I have to be so proficient on the swim and the bike that I feel fresh in myself and my legs to then go on and run a marathon. So that means, a 112 mile bike ride should feel like a ride down to the local shops – nothing - merely a quick spin! So how do I achieve that, you may ask? Become one with my bike? Well, something like that…My normal training ride during winter should be 6 hours, but I need to be covering many more miles in the same time period towards Spring (A long ride can go from 6 to 9 hours) Now you understand, becoming one with my bike.

Just to add - I am not a cyclist! This is my weakest discipline. So how do I turn a weakness into a strength? Bike, Bike, Bike and then Bike some more.

So with my season over with injury, I have an eye on my IM races next season and I’m thinking about how to prepare with my Winter Training. With the key being more than proficient on the bike, most of my training will evolve around this. When I am able to run and ride again, I’ll be working within a heart rate range (so my muscles are working aerobically and not anaerobically) You may have heard these terms before – they relate to the different ways that muscles produce energy. So working within the aerobic zone means your muscles will be become more efficient at producing energy. The idea is that you work within a certain zone, over time you can get faster working within it. This specific training is MAF (Maximum Aerobic Function).

What lies ahead? Apart from a lot of training - I have a training camp in Lanzarote in April, IM Lanzarote at the end of May and IM Austria in June… I am also looking maybe for a 3rd in the UK towards the end of August. Some people say I’m a little crazy attempting 3 IM in a year when I’m an IM virgin, but I say BRING IT ON!