How hard is an ironman?

Ask Ragen Chastain in 116 days.

As hard as iron.

I hope we're not talking about Robert Downy Jr.'s costume...it's not real and I'm sure it's not even made of iron. Probably a plastic polymer, so not really hard at all.

Now, if you actually mean a man made of iron, OK, that's worth looking into. Iron is an element, Fe, and AN 26. People be like, iron is so hard! But it's not. Iron is in the intermediate category on the Mohs Hardness scale with a score of 4.

But even then, hardness is relative and dependent on temperature. Iron melts at 1,538°C, so if we're talking a man made of iron near the sun, well then he's not going to be hard at all. He'll actually start to become liquified.

Very, very hard.

Iron is between 4 and 5 on Moh's scale of hardness (so, harder than Flourite but not as hard as Apatite). This is not terribly hard in an absolute sense - Flourite being only 21 times as hard as Talc.

One would assume that Ironman's armor is not actually iron, though. It is more likely an advanced steel alloy using some exotic materials. High quality steel can be as high as 8.5 on the Moh's scale, putting it between Topaz and Corundum. The advanced alloys in the Ironman armor will be much harder than that, at least a Moh's 10 (diamond). Ultrahard fullerite crystals are higher than 10. It's certainly possible that the Ironman armor includes that technology.

> But when I look at the cut off times per event..

2;20 swim, 8:30 bike and 6:30 marathon and see the celebrities that finish it makes me less impressed by the effort to "be an Ironman".

If your goal is to finish last it's really not that difficult.

What have you done previously?

Have you done any of the events on their own?

I think the bike is the hardest, longest and most demanding part.

like any distance event, it's as hard as you make it

if you go all out, it's harder than a marathon

if you use it as a training day,its a very long, tiring session that will leave you tired for a few days.

weather is key

If you're a decent runner, you can pretty much walk out the door and do an Ironman any day of the year with no training.

In my experience as a decent but unspectacular runner, occasional cyclist and average swimmer:

The swim is fine, if you were competent as a kid you're automatically in the top half of the field with a wetsuit and if you put in just a little training and practice open water occasionally you'll crack the top third and give up

Pretty Much wrote:

If you're a decent runner, you can pretty much walk out the door and do an Ironman any day of the year with no training.

LOL.....says the 38:00 10K 'runner'

kmaclam wrote:

Pretty Much wrote:

If you're a decent runner, you can pretty much walk out the door and do an Ironman any day of the year with no training.

LOL.....says the 38:00 10K 'runner'

LOL you think 38:00 is decent, hobby jogger.

How hard is an ironman? No different from any other man, it depends entirely on his state of arousal.

You wouldn't make it to the end of the bikeguaranteed

Pretty Much wrote:

If you're a decent runner, you can pretty much walk out the door and do an Ironman any day of the year with no training.

It is an interesting question. I have friends who are solid tri guys. Local elite level. They say that they can recover from an ironman very quickly compared to a marathon. They can do an ironman 6 weeks apart without any worry (other than the massive entry fees). Of course the training for an ironman is way more demanding just due to the sheer number of hours needed. But the actual race is definitely more of an ultra event than an all out race. The effort level at each event is mostly very moderate compared to a single event race. It is really more about fueling and maintaining energy levels than about pushing yourself to the limit in any single event.

By contrast, the marathon is really a race to the limits and leaves you pretty messed up for at least two weeks. The fueling in the marathon is pretty insignificant compared to an ironman. You are just trying to get through the wall by taking in a few extra calories along the way. In an ironman, you have to chow down and take in some serious calories.

The run is without a doubt the easiest part of an ironman. If you just want to finish, heck you can actually just walk the marathon and still finish.

The swim is pretty doable. If you put in the training, it's rather easy actually. Not a lot of effort to swim 2.4 miles at a moderate pace. Again, with training, it's the easiest part.

The bike is the hardest of the 3 disciplines. Just sitting on a bike for 5-8 hours is tough. My back was hurting by mile 60 and never stopped. And I did a 100-mile ride previously.

The overall hardest part is nutrition. It's not easy to eat bars, drink gatorades, for 12+ hours.

My stomach was fried by the time the run started in my first, and only, ironman. Didn't help that I took a big gulp of river water (ohio river swim) accidently.

Then factor in weather. Which if too hot can immediately ruin your day. I did IMKY in 2010 and it was 95 degrees at the start of the bike and my bike temp hit 105.

Factor in forgetting sun-screen for my legs which wasn't pretty later.

My advice for someone just trying to finish an ironman is this...

Learn to swim competently. Do the basic Ironman build-up (usually 30 weeks) and follow their swim tip program. Usually 2-3 swims a week between 1-2 miles. And a few times (can be less than 5) do an open water swim of 1+ miles. You'll easily be able to handle the swim.

For the bike, do a lot of long riders. At least one a week. And do a 100+ mile ride to get used to the feeling of being on a bike forever. You'll be able to finish the bike this way.

For the run....I'm sure you're already an above average runner. Just be able to do a few long runs, but nothing crazy. If you're a good runner you might not even have to even really train much at all. 2-3 runs a week, easy.

Again, you finish the swim with an average pace, you're at under 1:30.

You finish the bike at a slow pace (say 7:30), you're at around 9 hours when you start the run. You then have 8 hours to finish 26.2 miles.

Nutrition on the bike is a very important ( and underrated) part of completing an IM comfortably. I felt good coming off the bike and starting the run, but my poor nutrition on the bike hit very hard soon nto the run. And without the cooercion of friends might have just packed it in. When my wife decided to try an IM, we made sure she didnt make that mistake and she finished feeling fine...tired but not killed.

Pretty Much wrote:

If you're a decent runner, you can pretty much walk out the door and do an Ironman any day of the year with no training.

0/10

This is absolutely not true.

Sean Austin finished an Iron Man.

I grew up thinking IM competitors were super-duper athletes. Then I went to hang out with a buddy that was competing and to watch. Sure, the elite up front were chiseled and able to hammer but seemingly (at the event I attended) everyone else was retired or doctor-lawyer-Indian-chief-types that can afford the entry fees, high priced bikes and time away from work to train. I was not impressed.