You’re Going to Do What?
I’ve always been told I should do triathlons. I’m certainly no professional, but I’m comfortable in the water, can time trial on my bike decent enough, and have run well enough to feel comfortable about what I’m about to train for. As you may recall, I participated in the Mad River Endurafest this past summer. It was a blast, but I’m itching for something a little more challenging. So, instead of training for two or three half marathons this year, I’m training for one event coming on August 16, 2015. That would the the Timberman Half Ironman. This event is located in the beautiful Lakes Region of New Hampshire.
It’s How Long?
As you can expect from the title “Half Ironman”, the event is exactly half of a full Ironman competition. The distances (and my goal times) are below. I have just shy of 10 months from this writing to train for the event. I think it’s quite doable. Essentially, I’ll be shooting for a sub 6 hour Half Ironman.
| Segment | Distance | Estimated Time | Average |
| Swim | 1.2 Miles (2,112 yards) | 00:42:15 | 2:00/100 yds |
| T1 | N/A | 00:04:30 | |
| Bike | 56 Miles | 03:10:00 | 18.0 mph |
| T2 | N/A | 00:02:30 | |
| Run | 13.1 Miles | 01:58:00 | 9:00/mile |
| Total | 70.3 Miles | 05:57:15 |
I currently can swim 1500 yards comfortably at 2:00/100 yards pace, ride 50 miles at 18 mph, and run 13.1 miles at an 8:13/mile pace, so nothing in the goal is outside the realm of possibility. Although I need to do all three disciplines in one day, back to back to back.
The Training Plan
Many of the training plans are 16-20 weeks long (4-5 months). I will likely utilize a combination of plans but the primary training will be this one. That essentially means I won’t “start” the plan until the end of April. Between now and then, I’ll be focusing on maintaining my existing aerobic base and:
- Improving swim form
- Improving swim endurance
- Improving swim arm turnover
- Swim twice a week
- Getting comfortable with the fit on my bike using clip on aerobars
- Increasing cadence on the bike
- Bike twice a week
- Improving leg turnover on runs
- Maintain minimum weekly mileage of 20 miles or more
- Run 2-3 times per week
More Documentation Coming
I plan on posting updates about the training (hopefully weekly) here as a log of what is working and what isn’t. Should be a fun 9.5 months!