Where to start!

Hi everyone,

Long time reader, first time poster.

I've recently completed a lifelong goal in finishing my first marathon up in Edinburgh earlier in the month.  I didnt feel like I did the marathon as well I could have, but, I digress...

I want to work myself up to a point where I can do an Ironman tri - but I just dont really know where to start in terms of training.  I have a road bike (Specialised Allez) that I love riding, and ride to and from work 20 minutes each day (though I am *painfully* slow on the bike) and I am a comfortable swimmer even if I am a bit of a plodder.

I just dont know where to start in terms of structuring some sort of training plan to get me where I need to go.  I am doing the Ealing Half Marathon in the Spring to keep my mind focussed on a goal, but I'm realistically looking at my first tri next year in the warmer months.

Does anyone have any advice as the best place to start?

Thanks everyone!

a lot of us start poking around this site (LINK) to start sorting out training plans... good luck.  Keep it steady.  The bike is where the focus should be.  Make sure you get the support of your loved ones and your bank manager and get yourself some pirate kit.  Once you've done all that it's just a long slog to stardom.  Have fun.....

just try fitting in a bit of all three at the moment.....if you are marathon fit then thats a great place to start from.......i started in 2008 straight after a disappointing marathon.......and entered a sprint triathlon 2 weeks later just to see if i liked it...i loved it and then had to find a road bike for my middle distance the next month......If you enter a sprint now..it will give you a starting point and then you have something to measure how far you develop over the next year........

enjoy the variety 

Thanks PSC - you're a total star.  That link is brilliant.  I even liked the Pirate kit plug - very nice

I think the hardest thing is going to be finding the time in between raising an 8 month old, working full time, allowing the mrs to train for her half-marathon (followed by a full) and all of the other life stuff.  Thats part of the fun though isnt it.

And finding a place to swim in the UK.  I've spent most of my life in Australia where public lap pools seem to be everywhere, but in the UK it doesnt seem quite so common.  And the ones that do exist are quite expensive for what they provide. 

Anyway, enough whinging - thanks again PSC; I really appreciate it!

Thanks seren - glad to see I'm not the only person who thought along those lines! I just can't comprehend at the moment the idea of running that Edinburgh Marathon after a swim and bike leg though...

I've got my commute rides every day that I push myself hard on, as well as runs three times a week at the moment after those rides, its just finding time for the swim I think.

Thanks for the advice though - you guys are great!

ainsleysdad

sorry i cannot help on this in any way at all

but i do wish you well - good luck always

Mick

So just to confirm; a good way to go is to work a bit of each discipline into your training routine and build distance collectively - rather than for instance, getting the run and bike distance down, maintaining that and then building the swim?

Unsurprisingly - the swim seems the biggest challenge of all.

ainsleysdad - don't think of the end distances at this stage... concentrate on where you are in your training.  For me,112 miles on the bike was just such a considerable distance.. but by race day it's perfectly doable if you get the long training rides in.  (although its still a frigging long way)  And the marathon is not comparable to a road race....  the support is awesome, everyone is bolloxed so you see some comedy running techniques.  The whole thing becomes a bit of a mobile picnic.  Well does for me anyway!