Anyone done an Iron Girl?

Hi,

I am going to do an Iron Girl in June 2010.  I ran my first 5K in August 2009.  It was great.  What a feeling of accomplishment.  I work out 3 times (at least) a week and feel great.  Has anyone done an Iron Girl and when do you think I should start training for it?  I've been told it's too early right now, but to cycle a couple times a week and run at an easy pace on the treadmill.  I bought a gel seat to help with my "sits bones".....polite way of saying butt bones and now they don't hurt as much.  

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Tammy :-)

I haven't done one but I've done 7 triathlons and 2 running races.

IMO it's never too early to start training. The more you train, the better your experience will be.

My advice is to start out slowly. If you swim and bike once a week to start, do strength and conditioning 2x a week and run 2-3x, you can build from there. (I've found that I can't make progress with running only doing it 1x a week. You'll figure out how many times you need to run to make progress, but I wouldn't do it more than 4x, no matter what. It's hard on the body.)

Thanks for the advice.  I didn't think it'd be too early either...I'm not a speed demon, but do have endurance...so that's probably my biggest asset.  What do you mean by conditioning?  What should I do for that and what is it for?  I have 6 different weights I do twice a week (if I'm luck....I do not like weights.)  I've pretty much been running 2 times a week and doing Zumba once a week.  It varies a little.  Sometimes I workout more, but usually at least 3 times a week.

 

Congrats on setting your sights on doing this!!! 

Hopefully you will get lots of answers from the ladies, we have a bunch of them that are accomplished athletes.  It's great to read their race reports.  Take a look through some of the old posts and see what they have done.

I think you will find that a lot of the Triathlon training plans call for 5-6 days a week, with 1 day off for rest/recovery.
Often you will see multiple workouts on those days.  One in the morning and one in the evening, or back to back.

Even on my non running days, I end up having some run scheduled.
A running day would be either maintenance(same distance all the time about 4 miles), speed(1 mile trying to run it faster each time) or distance(increases every wee****il I hit my desired distance.)

A non running day might be 1 1/2 hours on the bike immediately followed by 20-30 minute run.

My weeks is generally at least:
1 day of swimming
3 days of running
2 days of biking with short run to follow

I'm on the light end of what a lot of people do for their triathlon training.

But a lot of that is going to depend on what distance you have chosen for your triathlon.

Good luck and best wishes.

Scott

Thank you for the helpful information.  Looks like you are doing great.  How many triathalons have you done?

The Iron Girl is 1/2 mile swim, 3 mile run and 20 mile bike ride.  Seems doable. 

Tammy

 

I have done 5 races right in there with the distance you are working on right now.

I have 2 races next year, an Olympic distance and a 70.3 distance race.
For me the running hasn't been the issue, it's the swimming.  I just don't seem to be getting any better and that's one thing you just can't fake.
If I can't climb a hill on the bike I could walk it up.  I have seen people do this.  If I get tired running, I can always slow the run down, or take a short walk break and then pick up the running again.  But when out in the deeper water, you have to keep swimming.  Yeah you can flip over on your back and float, but when you are beat, even that feels iffy.  Plus it makes the rest of the day hard.

I have started getting some 1 on 1 lessons from a local swim instructor.  It seems to help, but the endurance building for the swim is coming along slowly.

You can absolutely do that distance.  You could probably do it right now with the amount of training you are getting.  The only thing I would suggest is you get used to running after getting off of a bike.
If you haven't experienced that feeling, it is one of a kind.  It's almost like your legs forgot how to work.  If you ride 18-20 mph on the bike you are looking at being on the bike for at least an hour, then get off and try to run.  It feels weird.

Best luck to you.  You will do great.  Jus****ch out for the addiction that comes along with it.  Even though my first race was less than stellar, I was already planning to sign up for my next race before I crossed the finish line.

Scott

For that distance, I was working out 5 days a week. I need more days off than some people, probably because I'm older.

I would swim 1x a week and bike 2x and run 2-3x. For running, I started out with the Couch-to-5K plan and followed that until it ended. Then I started doing some interval training 1x a week and that really helped with the speed.

For swimming, I do a coached workout my triathlon club puts on. Plus I signed up for a swim clinic. I found out I was doing EVERYTHING wrong (okay, I didn't windmill my arms... but everythign else). So working with a coach really helped with that.

Biking I just got on my bike and road. I did group bike rides with my tri club too. I found out then that I wasn't doing enough hill work. So I did more and that helped too. I also got a bike fit and learned to ride with clipless pedals. That helped as well.

Strength and conditioning would include lifting weights. I also do Crossfit stuff. I love it because every workout is different and we do a lot of exercise that work multiple muscles. If you dont' like the plain weights, you might want to look into Crossfit as it's not as boring as just doing weights.

I also do a group power class sometimes. That's lifting weights in a group to music. I like it a lot more than moving from machine to machine.

Tammy,

The Iron Girl in Syracuse was my first triathlon and it was an amazing event.   About 60 percent of us were 1st timers.  I felt it was well organized and we were really treated like queens with a medal, tech shirt, bag and full breakfast after we crossed the finish. 

Typically, I run year around at least 3 days a week and cycle or spin  2-3 days a week.  When I started training for the Iron Girl, I had to put greater emphasis on swimming because I only knew how to dog paddle.  I took a few lessons to get me going in the right direction.

I have a copy of the 12-week training program I received when I registered.  Just message me your e-mail address if you want it.

Which venue are you doing?

Cassie