Zero to Ironman in 10 Months: My Journey Starts Here | Ironman 70.3 (Ep 1)

[@dudefromlaveenaz]

You need to be sure to progressivly overload for training. Dont go from 30-45min to 3hrs. You need to build up to that.

[@tobiaskoch8018]

Congrats on getting started! I am three weeks away from my first Ironman 70.3 I’m sure this will be a very rewarding experience for you. I’m interested in what has caused you to not do any sort of shorter distance triathlons in the lead up to your long course race? In terms of any feedback, I noticed a lot in your video you refer to the race you’re competing as an Ironman and although you are considering an IRONMAN branded race. People can get very particular about you using the word when describing a half Ironman. In the same vein that people don’t call themselves a marathoner or say they are training for a marathon when in fact, they are completing a half marathon. I would keep that in mind because I don’t want you to receive any hate on your videos for what I think is an awesome journey you are going on!

[@fitin30challenge]

Good luck on your first 70.3 Tobias! Are you in the tapering phase of your training now? I'm not doing any shorter distance triathlons in the lead-up to the 70.3, but I am doing smaller, individual events. For example, a few days ago I participated in an Oceanman 5km, I have a half-marathon in 2 months and a full marathon in 3 months. Also, I just received my first road bike a few days ago (video coming soon!), so I'm only really getting started with bike training. I appreciate the feedback too - I'll take all the feedback I can get!

[@PatrickDelorenzi]

Hi! My personal opinion is skip the oceanman race, if you are doing an ironman 70.3 you don't need to swim 5k at all, all you need to do is get comfortable enough to swim the exact distance required. Swimming 5k is a lot to train for. I would focus at the task at hand, the 70.3, which is already a lot, and skip all the other things. Probably doing a test olympic distance tri would be really useful just to get used to the race feeling, getting all your gear ready, getting to know the rules, transition zones etc There are not many IRONMAN70.3 races, so in my experience once you sign up for one, it is very important to get specific (especially when starting from zero) with the training. How is running a full marathon in training going to help? Marathon training is bery high impact and high injury risk. In my opinion, do the 70.3 first, which will build your general aerobic system up like crazy, then pivot to marathon training for like 1-2 months and do the marathon Brody searle's videos are good, but he got to the race injured, which is the number one thing to avoid in the build up to the race Good luck and have fun! It's a great journey

[@PatrickDelorenzi]

Also change the title to ironman70.3

[@forgetful212]

I agree with this. Swimming full ironman distance is already tough but in 3 months a 5K swim? Should just downgrade that to the "sprint" distance for 2K that's more manageable and actually prep for the 70.3

[@brodysearle]

best of luck mate!

[@fitin30challenge]

Thanks Brody 💪🏼

[@andylewis4726]

Go for it mate, good luck! Will follow along 🙌

[@fitin30challenge]

Thanks, I appreciate the support

[@aaronmatthies6236]

Good luck with it and enjoy the journey. I strongly disagree with your friend suggesting to go for the full marathon instead of a half. If your main goal is the 70.3, focus completely on building up to a 70.3. Leave the marathon for a future goal you can focus on separately. You significantly increase your risk of injury trying to cram training in for a marathon along with your 70.3 training. You won't enjoy training for your 70.3 if you get injured on your marathon. Rather than try to overshoot your running ability (and risk injury), try to build up your cycling ability. Being strong on the bike makes for an easier run in a 70.3. I'd also skip the 5k swim as that's overkill. Focus on the distances you need for the 70.3. I did as Patrick suggested (his videos are fantastic) and only switched focus to training for a full marathon after I completed a 70.3. My progression from zero over 18 months was: 5k, 10k, half marathon, sprint triathlon, 70.3, full marathon. Other people have done far more in less time, but the more you compress your training period, the higher your chance of injury and sitting a race out. Do everything you can to avoid injury and leave the marathon for your next goal.

[@Ectional1]

Holy gatekeeping about the distance in the comments. Don’t get so butthurt about calling a 70.3 an ironman. Nobody normal cares

[@fitin30challenge]

I didn't know it was such a sensitive subject 🥲 I don't want to have to say "70.3" EVERY time I say the words "Ironman". I mean, surely once is enough at the beginning of the video is enough 😆

[@RelentlessDH]

No one cares as much as much as those weirdos!! Ironman is a company lol not a distance

[@bas2205]

@1:39 actually, 70.3 swim is 1.2miles.... so 1900m Even 10 months to prepare is short for a full Ironman if you are starting near zero. Definitely plan doing a half (70.3) beforehand. And practice the fourth discipline, nutrition. Your body only has usable glycogen storage (available energy) for about 2 hours. Find a source of calories that you can still easily digest during the race without upset stomach etc. Feel free to reach out, 13x IM finisher...

[@haawnil9707]

The quality of filming, editing and communication skills on this channel is ridiculously good for a channel with such few subs. You deserve way more, and I'm looking forward to following your journey. Im in for a full Ironman in 11 months aswell

[@fitin30challenge]

Good luck with your full Ironman in 11 months! After my 70.3, I'll definitely be doing a full.

[@milansmets7520]

Good luck Mike, good luck beating me at the Saigon marathon ;)

[@fitin30challenge]

I'm actually documenting this in my vlog. Your 5k, 10k, and 20k times are a lot faster than mine. For now ;)

[@junnade]

I did an Ironman 70.3 in June and my advice would be to not compare yourself to others! It was a problem of mine during my previous triathlons, and only at the 70.3 finish line I appreciated my effort and the fact that, bloody hell, I finished this thing (even if I was the last female to do so)!! Also I would suggest to sign up for at least one shorter distance triathlon before the 70.3 to get some practise of the race environment and how the three disciplines feel back to back🙂 Good luck for your journey!

[@fitin30challenge]

Really good advice junnade! As the saying goes, comparison is the thief of joy. Naturally, I do sometimes catch myself comparing my times with others that are far more experienced than me, but I try to stamp that out fast and just compete against myself.

[@javiercarbonell622]

Im preparing for IM 70.3 in Monterrey on march 2025. The best bet for me was to take a coach for the task and it has helped me wonders been training since May this year

[@fitin30challenge]

A coach is maybe one of the best investments in terms of ROI. I hired a coach for my swimming and I went from only being able to swim 2 laps in front crawl, to being able to swim 100+ laps in just over 30 days. I would never have made those improvements without a coach.

[@javiercarbonell622]

@@fitin30challenge go ahead and hire a Tri coach

[@sofiamarinmolina9063]

Im doing 70.3 Victoria CA. I set 36 weeks of training but in last 3 years I have done open water and 2 full marathon distance. But I support the idea from someone that has 0 biking experience

[@fitin30challenge]

Good luck with your 70.3 Sofia! I actually just bought my first road bike a few weeks ago. It's been a learning curve - that's for sure! I'll be posting more bike training videos in the next few weeks.

[@sebcareme4249]

Good luck with your challenge. Based on where you’re at, I’d suggest getting some swim coaching as soon as you can. It sounds like you are holding your breath / not breathing out underwater whilst swimming and that’s why you’re getting tired. Having completed a 70.3 and other longer individual events (5km swim, 200km bike, 50km run) I’d suggest in addition to swim coaching, you build your time on the bike. 90km as a standalone event is not unachievable for someone with a base level of fitness but being fresh enough for the half marathon requires an efficient swim and coming off the bike in decent shape.

[@fitin30challenge]

Really good advice, and that's exactly what I did. I hired a swimming coach, and the video I uploaded after this is titled "I Swam 10 Laps Every Day for 30 Days". Spoiler: I went from only being able to swim 2 laps, to being able to swim 100 laps, in 30 days.

[@mark4motion68]

The ironman swim is a bit further than what you think…

[@fitin30challenge]

In km/distance? Or in months?

[@sologamer9836]

@@fitin30challenge it's actually a 1900m swim

[@AdamMc192]

Don't worry man, those Test levels will definitely come down once you start doing high volume for Ironman prep.. think of it as a nice Buffer. Do you have another channel? (seeing the YT playbutton in the back).

[@fitin30challenge]

I appreciate the support. And I do. Search "Mike Dee".

[@Yurkevich22]

Best of luck dude! Just watched the video and wanted to share some feedback as someone who just started doing triathlons this year. - Get specific with your race because I was confused by your video - are you doing a full Ironman or a 70.3? Because you keep saying Ironman, I feel like you mean a 70.3 or a half. - Personally, I'd say running a marathon in several months when you said you haven't done any training is almost foolish. Have you at least done any 5k, 10k, or half-marathon races yet? A Full mara is a huge undertaking and it's a big goal in itself. I just don't see how it can benefit training for a 70.3, in which you need to run a half-mara. - You aren't great at swimming and yet you are signing up for 5 kilometer ocean swim??? a 5k swim is NOT like a 5K run, at all. 5K swim is A LOT. Again in a 70.3 you only need to swim 1.9K and that's a solid distance in itself. You just don't need to do that if you real goal is a 70.3. - I highly recommend instead of doing all these huge individual sport races, sign up for a couple of sprint and olympic distance triathlons. This will help you SO MUCH more than a marathon and a 5k swim. I'd bet you be in for a humbling surprise after an Olympic distance. - I would recommend to evenly split your training each month instead of focusing on one sport every month and leaving the other two as an afterthought. Triathlon is one sport and you should train for it as such. - Please don't sign up for a Tour de France as your bike race haha :)

[@fitin30challenge]

Haha, just the other week I was Googling what 'big' bike races there are around my area, but there really aren't many - if any at all. I agree that signing up for an Oceanman 5km when I could barely even swim 2 laps in frontcrawl could have been a bit silly. On the other hand, I need those end goals - I need something to strive towards. Because I signed up for an Oceanman 5km, I hired a swimming coach 3x a week, and I swam every day for a month. Long story short, a couple of weeks ago I swum the Oceanman 5km and - I'm not going to say it was easy - but after I swam the 5km, I could have kept going. I'll have a video going up about that soon. I had the same train of thought with the marathon. It's coming up in 2.5 months. I have a clear goal to aim towards. I can run 21km, albeit at a relatively slow pace, so 2.5 months of training more, and the marathon should be do-able.

[@Yurkevich22]

@@fitin30challenge alright man, that's pretty amazing you can comfortably do a 5k ocean swim now! Maybe you already had a much bigger aerobic base in the first place or a lot of time to train, either way that's pretty awesome. Just be careful not get injured!

[@joesph9748]

A piece of advice, don’t skip the weight lifting days in your training. That strength will be important to keeping some muscle and injury prevention. Two days of full body per week are sufficient. You can go down to one day as the race gets closer. Most every plan has this built in but many people skip this to their detriment. Other than that consistency is the key. Follow the plan and you will do great.

[@fitin30challenge]

I appreciate the advice. I'm definitely not skipping strength training days. I'm still fitting in 3 days a week.

[@kavyapatil2745]

Sleep and recovery is best fro iron man

[@fitin30challenge]

Agree. Not easy to do, but important.

[@kavyapatil2745]

Love from India ❤

[@fitin30challenge]

Right back at you!

[@jxsh9853]

les goooo

[@kommmitraus]

Full marathon? Nonsense ;). U loose a lot of weeks after the race. Just race 2 oder 3 half marathons. The only problem with the 70.3 is the swimming part.

[@fitin30challenge]

I'm not too bothered about my 70.3 time. My main goal is to just complete it. And ideally, tick off as many bucket list items along the way. A marathon is a huge bucket list item I've had for at least 10 years, so it would be amazing to tick that off...while also preparing for the 70.3 :)

[@MauricioZambrano]

Which 70.3 would you be participating?

[@fitin30challenge]

Ironman 70.3 Da Nang in Vietnam

[@Tobypeek]

Dont aim for a half ironman, go for the full distance! Otherwise you can't call yourself an ironman. You can do it in 10 months for sure. Aim high!

[@fitin30challenge]

True. Maybe I can call myself Tinman.

[@mikhaelsilveira1370]

Nice, I'm in preparation for IM 70.3 in 2027 and IM 140.6 in 2028

[@fitin30challenge]

That's some preparation! How come you're doing the IM 70.3 in 2027? I was thinking about how much preparation I need. The shorter the training period, the less prepared I'd be, but the more likely I'd actually follow through and not run out of steam half way through training. So for me, it's a balancing act of not rushing the training, but not leaving it too long either. But at the end of the day, everyone has a different starting point. I was relatively fit when I started training for IM 70.3, so I thought 10 months was about right.

[@mikhaelsilveira1370]

@@fitin30challenge Actually, I think 10 months is a good time for training. The only reasons Im doing this estimative is money and time. Im from Brazil and the IM cost is very expensive to a college student and I also dont have a bike haha. I'll graduate in 2027, so I think I'll be able financially and also in terms of time.

[@mikhaelsilveira1370]

@@fitin30challenge IM WC in Kona is my goal and I'll have a lot of time training.

[@fitin30challenge]

@@mikhaelsilveira1370 You're right about that - IM is very expensive. When I first started training, I started my running training, so I bought running shoes, a running belt. I thought, this isn't very expensive - I don't know what all the fuss is about. Then I started my swimming training - bought some swim trunks and goggles. I thought, this isn't very expensive - I don't know what all the fuss is about. Then I started my cycling training, and it was only then that I realised how expensive this whole IM thing is! But huge respect to you for having the vision and tenacity to compete in 2027!

[@fitin30challenge]

@@mikhaelsilveira1370 Wow, that's ambitious! My goal is just to complete IM 70.3, and then a full IM. Maybe my goals are not ambitious enough 😆

[@Mario-vv9jl]

It´s not a sprint it´s not a marathon it´s an iroman 😂

[@fitin30challenge]

Indeed! Wise words ;)

[@stevengtv]

Do a full. We are all invested in the journey of a full. I just did my first full a few weeks ago. 9 month prep. I was prepared and did pretty well.

[@fitin30challenge]

Nice job on the full Ironman! I'm doing everything 'half' over the next 12 months - half Oceanman, half marathon, half Ironman, and next year will be the year of the 'fulls' ;)

[@joesph9748]

No rush, many people rush into the full and have long term issues as a result. It takes a long time for your tendons and muscles to develop. In our club we suggest 1.5 to 2 yrs minimum before doing a full. Just because you can doesn’t mean you should. Play the long game.

[@sofiamarinmolina9063]

@@fitin30challengeso wise!!! And many congrats

[@stijndeklerk]

Sorry my friend but a 70.3 distance triathlon is not an "Ironman".. But the Ironman company organizes 70.3 (half distance) events as well as 5150's, which is a a 1/4 distance event. A Ironman full distance event is a 3.8 swim/180Km bike ^& a full marathon run.. & don't worry, if you live a sensible lifestyle you can still do these at a much older age, (I'm 55..) Better to spend another year conditioning yourselve & learn the correct biomechanics, then to overextend. You can do permanent damage from poor technique at any age.. If anything, enjoy the process.

[@Jameslindley123]

Amazing - but dont call it ironman, was excited for the video but this is misleading. not a 1200m swim either... cool video but please be a bit more clued up before posting.

[@fitin30challenge]

Thank you James, I appreciate the feedback. I'll make it clearer it's a 70.3 for future videos. I'm also okay with, messing up, making mistakes, even being unintentionally "misleading" when training for the 70.3. I am a relative beginner when it comes to anything fitness-related, and when documenting the process, no matter how "clued up" I try to be, I'm going to make mistakes. I didn't even know the distance of a half or full marathon until 2 months ago - it's all just part of the learning curve. We all have to start from somewhere ;)

[@joesph9748]

Get a life, he’s just start out, maybe offer some encouragement or tips vs chastising him over something stupid

[@edseely2282]

Ironman 70.3 still is an Ironman

[@Pbjammytime]

A half ironman swim is 1.2 miles or 1.9km (1900m). It is fine to call it an ironman (it is), but 1200m is not the correct distance.

[@99cya]

Oh this is a 70.3. well thats entirely different to the long distance. A 70.3 you can do any weekend with some decent fitness. A full ironman you cant.

[@fitin30challenge]

Your definition of "decent fitness" is very different to mine lol