Half Pound Not,5

Half Ironman Training

What is a Half Ironman?

In the event you have progressed beyond the realm of short course triathlon, you could be  considering increasing your race schedule and racing experience beyond the Sprint or Olympic distances to the Half Ironman distance.  What exactly does this actually involve and how should you prepare for it?

A Half  Iron is obviously just another type of endurance racing – it’s not meant to be thought of as a Herculean feat just because it has the word “Ironman” contained in its name so don’t let that intimidate you.  In the Sprint Tri, you swim for 1.5km, ride for 20km, and run for 5km – Not too scary of a proposition for a beginner triathlete.  In the Olympic race, you swim just short of 1.5km, saddle up on your bike for 40km and finally you’re on your feet for 6.2 miles.  If all that sounds grueling enough, the Half Ironman involves swimming for 1.2 miles, biking for 56 miles, and running for 13.1 miles (a half marathon).  The next mainstream race that’s tougher than this is the “full” Ironman, which is swimming for 2.4 miles, riding for 112 miles, and running for 26.2 miles. (I call this “main stream” since there are other even longer distance triathlons known as “ultra-triathlons”.

Anyone serious about competing in a triathlon or someone that really wants to test their skills and endurance should consider working their way up to the Half Ironman event.  While competing and finishing a Sprint or Olympic event is a feat in itself, few people seriously consider the Ironman distance – it is truly a large commitment in time and effort!  So, planning for the Half Ironman means really pushing yourself to the limit of endurance without having a goal that’s out of your reach.

When you are ready to step up the training for a Half Ironman, one important thing is to pace yourself in terms of your training.  Simply doubling up on your routine or pushing yourself as hard as possible is not going to properly prepare you.  Any triathlete worth half his salt can tell you that for any race – regardless of distance – you need to not only just improve your endurance but your speed and your strength as well.  Depending on your individual strengths and weaknesses you may need to either work on core and overall strength specific to the swim, bike and run or even trim down so that you can cover the distance without carrying any extra weight.  Weight training specific to the triathlon disciplines is also important, but obviously not pushing huge weight in the gym that isn’t functionally useful for swimming, cycling or running is not efficient use of your training hours – triathletes are not bodybuilders!  To maximize training time, many athletes utilize training aids like heart rate monitors, running pace monitors, bike power meters, and even swim “ergometers” so they can track their training output over certain distances under different types of training load and guage any fitness gains (or even losses suffering from overtraining or fatigue!).  It’s also beneficial to train with a swimming coach or masters swim group to learn how to improve your stroke in the water or a run group to keep you on track and motivated.  A personal coach that specializes in triathlon can also tell you if you need to focus on anything specific that will help your performance during race day – which sometimes include psychological barriers and not just the physical requirements (ie, sometimes people have all the proper skills and have done the requisite training, but the event itself is so overwhelming when they arrive at the start line, panic and fear sometimes set in!)

Training for and competing in a Half Ironman Triathlon could very well be one of the most challenging things you’ll ever embark upon, but when you actually cross that finish line you’ll discover it’s likely one of the most rewarding.

selfrespect 101: Why Nerds should not go outside. (1/2 Pound 5 Layer cheesey Burrito)