login
Couch potato to Ironman in 30 weeks? yeah right...
-
No new posts
|
 2010-05-05 8:38 AM |
New user  31 |  Subject: Couch potato to Ironman in 30 weeks? yeah right...I can't seem to find it now, but I'm sure I saw a training programme or advert somewhere on the internet that said 'From couch potato to Ironman in 30 weeks'. Please tell me that is absurd... I know of guys who have gone from near couch potato to ironman in two years, but 30 weeks seems to be pushing it. And if anyone does know of programme stated above please send the link. |
| 2010-05-05 8:42 AM in reply to: #2837990 |
Veteran 169  Oak Park, Il (Chicagoland) | Subject: RE: Couch potato to Ironman in 30 weeks? yeah right... Absurd and dangerous. "Couch potato" defines someone who is utterly sedentary. Trying to do an ironman in 30 weeks from that condition would be dangerous and all but impossible for anyone other than a handful of people. |
| 2010-05-05 8:50 AM in reply to: #2837990 |
Master 2404 Redlands, CA | Subject: RE: Couch potato to Ironman in 30 weeks? yeah right... I don't reallly see that happening in 6 months, it took me years to feel like I even had a base in running and cycling to try one. |
| 2010-05-05 8:50 AM in reply to: #2837990 |
Expert 790 | Subject: RE: Couch potato to Ironman in 30 weeks? yeah right... If there definition of "couch potato" is completing a HIM, then sure, Go for it! |
| 2010-05-05 8:57 AM in reply to: #2837990 |
Extreme Veteran 605 | Subject: RE: Couch potato to Ironman in 30 weeks? yeah right... There is a massive difference between completion and competition. 30 weeks, its do able. It's ugly and it depends how much of a "couch potato" you are, but I think if you were only sedentary and not more than 20% overweight. I think you could do it and finish maybe DFL but yes finish. |
| 2010-05-05 9:24 AM in reply to: #2837990 |
Expert 1461 Sarnia, Ontario | Subject: RE: Couch potato to Ironman in 30 weeks? yeah right... maybe they meant 30 months? |
| 2010-05-05 9:27 AM in reply to: #2837990 |
Extreme Veteran 590 Sioux Falls, SD | Subject: RE: Couch potato to Ironman in 30 weeks? yeah right... I'm pretty sure if I wasn't diligent I could go from Ironman to couch potato in 30 weeks.  |
| 2010-05-05 9:33 AM in reply to: #2838076 |
Master 2406 Bellevue, WA | Subject: RE: Couch potato to Ironman in 30 weeks? yeah right... MNGopher - 2010-05-05 6:57 AM There is a massive difference between completion and competition. 30 weeks, its do able. It's ugly and it depends how much of a "couch potato" you are, but I think if you were only sedentary and not more than 20% overweight. I think you could do it and finish maybe DFL but yes finish. It's possible depending on how badly out of shape you are, your time goals for the race, and your preparation and training. I've talked with a couple people at races who say it's their first IM and they started training only six or eight months before, which is about that time. They're aiming to just finish, and they didn't started out with an utterly sedentary background. IIRC, both of the people I'm thinking of had been athletes of some kind in high school and lost it over the years, and now were in their mid-30s trying to get their mojo back. |
| 2010-05-05 10:10 AM in reply to: #2837990 |
Champion 10154 Alabama | Subject: RE: Couch potato to Ironman in 30 weeks? yeah right... Not absurd at all. If someone sets their mind to it and trains 6 days a week with many of those being 2x a day, then 30 weeks is enough time to condition the body to finish an IM w/i 17 hrs. |
| 2010-05-05 10:56 AM in reply to: #2838311 |
Expert 1116 Thornton, CO | Subject: RE: Couch potato to Ironman in 30 weeks? yeah right... Rogillio - 2010-05-05 9:10 AM Not absurd at all. If someone sets their mind to it and trains 6 days a week with many of those being 2x a day, then 30 weeks is enough time to condition the body to finish an IM w/i 17 hrs. It may be "possible", but the risk of injury to that person is far to high. Even the aggressive 'couch to 5k' training plan on BT is 16weeks. 30 weeks for Couch to Marathon is pretty aggressive, but IM? you might as well not bother getting a hotel room and just reserve a bed at the local hospital and med-tents. Here's a good article about going from couch to marathon in 6months. http://walking.about.com/od/marathontraining/a/marathonnot.htm |
| 2010-05-05 11:14 AM in reply to: #2838311 |
Champion 8540 the colony texas | Subject: RE: Couch potato to Ironman in 30 weeks? yeah right... Rogillio - 2010-05-05 10:10 AM Not absurd at all. If someone sets their mind to it and trains 6 days a week with many of those being 2x a day, then 30 weeks is enough time to condition the body to finish an IM w/i 17 hrs. Gotta agree with Mike... It really depends on how you define "couch" from a physical standpoint, but the mental is more important. going from zero workouts a week to 12hr+ is going to hit them mentally more. Like he also said, I'm betting a high percentage of the people that sign up just to do an IM, and it's their first race are doing something similar. 17 hrs is a long time to finish |
| 2010-05-05 11:29 AM in reply to: #2837990 |
| 98 | Subject: RE: Couch potato to Ironman in 30 weeks? yeah right... Put yourself in a situation like they do on "Biggest Loser" and I think it's very doable, but not for anyone that has a normal life. |
| 2010-05-05 11:30 AM in reply to: #2837990 |
Champion 7595 Columbia, South Carolina | Subject: RE: Couch potato to Ironman in 30 weeks? yeah right... I did it in 15 months -- significantly longer than 30 weeks, but I think my experience is relevant here. I was definitely a potato (did no form of exercise at all, have a sedentary job, etc.), but not grossly obese -- I was about 30-40 lbs overweight (on a 5'7" frame, so not insignificant). I had tried a few times before to get into running but never lasted more than a couple of weeks, if that. When I learned about IM I was pretty much instantly enthralled and because of that and some kind of mid-life crisis when I turned 40, I was very motivated, and this motivation got me through the initial mental challenge of ramping up volume. |
| 2010-05-05 11:30 AM in reply to: #2837990 |
Veteran 297 horseheads | Subject: RE: Couch potato to Ironman in 30 weeks? yeah right... i think if said couch potato knows at least how to swim. then i think they could FINISH an IM in 30 weeks! considering that in order for someone to do an IM they would have needed to sign up a YEAR in advance. thus they have had 22 weeks to get their head wrapped around what they are about to undertake! if you can make it through the swim i don't see why you can't finish in 17hours. |
| 2010-05-05 11:34 AM in reply to: #2838562 |
Master 1558 Pensacola, Fl | Subject: RE: Couch potato to Ironman in 30 weeks? yeah right... Gaarryy - 2010-05-05 9:14 AM Rogillio - 2010-05-05 10:10 AM Not absurd at all. If someone sets their mind to it and trains 6 days a week with many of those being 2x a day, then 30 weeks is enough time to condition the body to finish an IM w/i 17 hrs. Gotta agree with Mike... It really depends on how you define "couch" from a physical standpoint, but the mental is more important. going from zero workouts a week to 12hr+ is going to hit them mentally more. Like he also said, I'm betting a high percentage of the people that sign up just to do an IM, and it's their first race are doing something similar. 17 hrs is a long time to finish Gonna have to agree as well as it "can" be done. I completed IMAZ in April 2007 and I had just over 30 weeks to complete my training after I was hospitalized for a severe (yet still unknown) illness in late August of 2006. It goes without saying that I was advised not to do it. My training for the month of September....less than 2 hours total...as I was still too weak from the hospitalization. Only 14 hours total in October. Now, I will caveat this with the fact that I had been a MOP triathlete for a few years prior to this, but I had start completely from scratch all over again after that illness. So, my view is that it "can" be done, but probably NOT recommended. And some will ask...so my time was 14:39:53. Not what I wanted, but it was my first Ironman, and the FINISH was the true goal, which I achieved. |
| 2010-05-05 11:38 AM in reply to: #2837990 |
| Subject: RE: Couch potato to Ironman in 30 weeks? yeah right... I think it's possible given certain circumstances. |
| 2010-05-05 11:43 AM in reply to: #2838623 |
| Expert 701 Boise | Subject: RE: Couch potato to Ironman in 30 weeks? yeah right... Photo Mike - 2010-05-05 11:29 AM Put yourself in a situation like they do on "Biggest Loser" and I think it's very doable, but not for anyone that has a normal life. The people in biggest loser are closely medically tracked to prevent injury and other health related dysfunctions. They're far from going it alone. |
| 2010-05-05 11:45 AM in reply to: #2837990 |
Extreme Veteran 605 | Subject: RE: Couch potato to Ironman in 30 weeks? yeah right... I'm still firmly in the, "It can be done," camp. But, I'll also agree that even with the constraints that they someone wouldn't have to be too over weight, would probably already need to know how to swim and bike, that this really isn't a one size fits all type of thing and would require a lot of mental work as well as physical work. You can't just mail out the program to 1000 couch potatos and 30 weeks later get 1000 Iornmen. |
| 2010-05-05 12:48 PM in reply to: #2837990 |
Master 2621 Almaden Valley, San Jose, California | Subject: RE: Couch potato to Ironman in 30 weeks? yeah right... From the couch, with RA. Some swimming history many years ago. I signed up for IMWI in September of 2008. Ran for the first time the next day. Raced my first 1/2 mary in 3 weeks, first mary 5 months later. Snagged a bike from my son, changed out the seat, bought bike shoes - learned how to clip in/out in January 2009. Did first tri at Wildflower in May 2009. First Oly in June 2009. IMWI 9/13/09 in 14:12. Boston last month.....IMCdA next month. I'm in my mid forties, have 3 kids - and a very supportive, athletic husband. Wasn't much overweight. It was HARD, but fun. Many sacrifices in terms of time - but that was my call. BT was an incredible support and resource, still is. Start slow - stay consistent. Don't stop. Listen to your body. I believe for most people, if you REALLY want it, you can do it. Edited by velcromom 2010-05-05 12:50 PM |
| 2010-05-05 12:58 PM in reply to: #2837990 |
Extreme Veteran 821 | Subject: RE: Couch potato to Ironman in 30 weeks? yeah right... if you are not heavely overweight I think is posible. very very hard but posible. |
| 2010-05-05 1:13 PM in reply to: #2837990 |
Champion 7036 Sarasota, FL | Subject: RE: Couch potato to Ironman in 30 weeks? yeah right... Possible, but not advisable IMHO. Obviously the wildcard is what you consider to be a couch potato: say a morbidly obese person with no athletic background whatsoever, versus some former world-class athlete who's been on the couch watching TV for the last couple of years. I agree that a person in reasonable shape would probably have a good chance of completing an Ironman race with 30 weeks of focused training. Mark |
| 2010-05-05 1:58 PM in reply to: #2837990 |
Veteran 129 Chicago | Subject: RE: Couch potato to Ironman in 30 weeks? yeah right... I had a friend that actually did this program, or something similar. He was my roommate at the time. Neither of us had done any triathlons yet, but were both weekend cyclists and had several friends from college that had completed IMs. Long story short, on a snowboarding trip in Colorado, said three friends made a bet that he couldn't finish an Iron Man within a year. Being the stubborn type, he set off to do it. I don't remember the exact name of the book he bought, but it was something along the lines of couch to IM in 30 weeks. He was slightly overweight at the time, and definitely out of shape, but not a couch potato by any means, and he did have swimming in his background. Anyway, he got stress fractures early on due to 1. going from the treadmill to pavement and running 10+ miles first time out, 2. running on crappy shoes he bought at Wal-mart, and 3. pretending he was Forest Gump and running twice as far (on the pavement) than he had ever run before.... He ended up biking and swimming hard core for several weeks while the stress fractures healed, and then he eventually finished his first IM in about 14 hours. And he never did a sprit, oly, or half before that.... I, on the other hand, have been taking a more traditional route....did my first sprint last year, doing Oly's this year, and depending on my ability to schedule the necessary training around my business travel schedule, I hope to do a HIM next year, and hopefully a full IM in 2012. |
| 2010-05-05 2:03 PM in reply to: #2837990 |
Master 2426 Central Indiana | Subject: RE: Couch potato to Ironman in 30 weeks? yeah right... In my 2nd yr of tri & hoping to complete 1st HIM this year. Last yr went from fit (6'/168#) avid middle aged cyclist (4-5k mi/yr, some prev club-level MTB racing) to sprint x2, Oly, 1st mile swim, & 1st marathon. No previous run or swim background, but plenty of experience nursing overuse leg injuries over the years. IMHO- me bridging up to IM last year would have been (ahem) problematic at best. For poor newb swimmers the difference between 1mi & 2.4mi swim is huge, esp OWS. I enjoy endurance cycling, and just getting a casual cyclist from "couch to century" in a season can be tough. And many folks around here train hard just to go "couch to mini-marathon" in 6 mo. I'm sure there are some non-obese "couch potatoes" who could persevere in a well-designed 30 week training plan, advance quickly in their swim technique, get lucky enough to avoid injury, and follow proper pacing to complete an IM. But except for prior athletes working themselves back into shape, I think those people would be few and far between. Edited by Oldteen 2010-05-05 2:09 PM |
| 2010-05-05 2:15 PM in reply to: #2837990 |
Veteran 812 | Subject: RE: Couch potato to Ironman in 30 weeks? yeah right... Triceratops - 2010-05-05 6:38 AM I can't seem to find it now, but I'm sure I saw a training programme or advert somewhere on the internet that said 'From couch potato to Ironman in 30 weeks'. Please tell me that is absurd... Honestly, I think that you just misread or misremembered it. It is absurd, though not completely impossible. I did a quick google search and found nothing that resembled that time frame. |
| 2010-05-05 3:09 PM in reply to: #2839239 |
Champion 10154 Alabama | Subject: RE: Couch potato to Ironman in 30 weeks? yeah right... mrcurtain - 2010-05-05 2:15 PM Triceratops - 2010-05-05 6:38 AM I can't seem to find it now, but I'm sure I saw a training programme or advert somewhere on the internet that said 'From couch potato to Ironman in 30 weeks'. Please tell me that is absurd... Honestly, I think that you just misread or misremembered it. It is absurd, though not completely impossible. I did a quick google search and found nothing that resembled that time frame. Absurd is in the eye of the beholder. To many people, the idea of a 140.6 mile race is, in an of itself, absurd. I have no problem with the length of the race....but for someone to do it in 9 hrs....now that is absurd! ~Mike |
|
|
|
|
View profile
Add to friends
Go to training log
Go to race log
Send a message
View album
CONNECT WITH FACEBOOK