Fitness 2014

[mongers]

I got a bit shown up today. I set out to do 10.6 miles. About the time I started running, two guys also set out, and we had about the same pace. They didn't quite go as far--10.0 miles, but they ran just a bit faster. I was talking to them after we finished our runs, and they said that before we started running they had just finished biking 40 miles in 2 hours. They do full ironmans.

Not too shabby on your part at all. If what these guys say is true, then they're like in what percentile of the population, top 0.5% ?

Frankly I'd ignore what other people do, it's about you own targets and what's perhaps sometimes forgotten, having fun.
If you exercise regime isn't proving to be a good positive thing in life, then change it or do something completely different.

[alfred russel]

I'm pretty sure it was true. They looked the part, and I doubt they drove bikes to the trailhead to convince some random person that they both ran and biked that day. 

I don't feel bad at all about getting beat. Where I run it is very rare to have people pass me, especially when they are also going a long distance. We didn't quite run the same distance, but if we had I guess they would have beat me by ~2-3 minutes. So I went to talk to them thinking we were in the same ballpark, and they dropped on me that they had biked 40 miles before. I think the only way I'm getting in their ballpark is to buy a ticket. 

Also, guys that do full ironmans have to be a lot better than 0.5%, right? (assuming they put up reasonable times)

[mongers]

I'm pretty sure it was true. They looked the part, and I doubt they drove bikes to the trailhead to convince some random person that they both ran and biked that day. 

I don't feel bad at all about getting beat. Where I run it is very rare to have people pass me, especially when they are also going a long distance. We didn't quite run the same distance, but if we had I guess they would have beat me by ~2-3 minutes. So I went to talk to them thinking we were in the same ballpark, and they dropped on me that they had biked 40 miles before. I think the only way I'm getting in their ballpark is to buy a ticket. 

Also, guys that do full ironmans have to be a lot better than 0.5%, right? (assuming they put up reasonable times)

Indeed, could be what 1 in 10,000 for all I know.

[Zanza]

One in ten thousand would mean like 30.000 people in the US doing full ironmans. It's probably less than that. The Hawaii Ironman has 1600 amateur starters, but that's from the entire world.

[alfred russel]

One in ten thousand would mean like 30.000 people in the US doing full ironmans. It's probably less than that. The Hawaii Ironman has 1600 amateur starters, but that's from the entire world.

The number of Americans that do full ironmans is probably very small. But how many can do them?

A coworker has done some full ironmans. I looked up her results from one race:

swim (2.4 miles): 1:42
bike (112 miles): 7:43
run (26.2 miles): 5:44
Total Time: 15:36

I would think that many serious endurance athletes would probably be able to beat that. Assuming they don't drown, I would think your really good cyclists or say sub 3 hour marathoners could do it if they were told they had to.

[mongers]

One in ten thousand would mean like 30.000 people in the US doing full ironmans. It's probably less than that. The Hawaii Ironman has 1600 amateur starters, but that's from the entire world.

The number of Americans that do full ironmans is probably very small. But how many can do them?

A coworker has done some full ironmans. I looked up her results from one race:

swim (2.4 miles): 1:42
bike (112 miles): 7:43
run (26.2 miles): 5:44
Total Time: 15:36

I would think that many serious endurance athletes would probably be able to beat that. Assuming they don't drown, I would think your really good cyclists or say sub 3 hour marathoners could do it if they were told they had to.

Lets see, I could do 2/3 of the biking, I used to be able to do 1/8 of running and only ever could do 1/80th of the swimming. 

[Eddie Teach]

That's a long way to float on your back.

[alfred russel]

Lets see, I could do 2/3 of the biking, I used to be able to do 1/8 of running and only ever could do 1/80th of the swimming. 

If you could shave an hour plus off the bike, you could walk most of the run.

I can't vouch for this being true, but I was told how the ironman got started. Apparently there were some US military guys that were big fitness buffs at a base in Hawaii. Some focused on swimming, some on running. They argued about which was the better way to stay in shape. So they decided to compete in a race that would combine the ultimate race from each sport. First there would be a 2.4 mile open ocean swim (that was the big swimming event in Hawaii), followed by a marathon.

But then before a race, one of the guys read an article that the best way to stay in shape is to bike. So they decided to add a biking component to the race. There was also a 112 mile bike race on Hawaii, so that is what got added. What the guys didn't realize, because they weren't cyclists, was that the bike race they were adding was done over 2 days.

[PDH]

The longest I have ever biked in one go was 85 miles.

I am not a complete idiot.

[Maladict]

swim (2.4 miles): 1:42
bike (112 miles): 7:43
run (26.2 miles): 5:44
Total Time: 15:36

I once swam to a Greek island about 1km off shore, and back again after a short rest. It must have taken ages, I'm a terrible swimmer.
Not too keen on trying 2.4 miles.

The biking part shouldn't be a problem. It's a pretty decent average speed actually, especially after a 2.4 mile swim.

The running average, however, seems to be no more than jogging speed. But given the state of my knees I doubt I could match it. 

[Maladict]

Apparently the cut-off times are:
3.9 km swim: 2 hours 20 minutes
180 km bike ride: 8 hours 10 minutes 
marathon: 6 hours 30 minutes

So that's 17 hours for the whole thing.


If you have 7+ hours to spare for the marathon you could walk the whole thing 

[mongers]

Apparently the cut-off times are:
3.9 km swim: 2 hours 20 minutes
180 km bike ride: 8 hours 10 minutes 
marathon: 6 hours 30 minutes

So that's 17 hours for the whole thing.


If you have 7+ hours to spare for the marathon you could walk the whole thing 

We should really try that.

I could sit in a bath for 2 1/2 hours, do 120km on the bike, run 5km and be pushed in a wheelchair for the remaining 35km of the marathon. 

[alfred russel]

The running average, however, seems to be no more than jogging speed. But given the state of my knees I doubt I could match it. 

She was a marathon runner converted to doing this. She considers the running her best event. I doubt that she was in top form after swimming and biking for 9+ hours, and probably walked a good bit of that marathon.

[Maladict]

Apparently the cut-off times are:
3.9 km swim: 2 hours 20 minutes
180 km bike ride: 8 hours 10 minutes 
marathon: 6 hours 30 minutes

So that's 17 hours for the whole thing.


If you have 7+ hours to spare for the marathon you could walk the whole thing 

We should really try that.

I could sit in a bath for 2 1/2 hours, do 120km on the bike, run 5km and be pushed in a wheelchair for the remaining 35km of the marathon. 

The cut-off time for running seems to be easier than for cycling. Can't really tell for swimming, but it would make sense if it gets progressively more lenient.
That means the swimming is the really hard bit and you'd be lucky to make it in 2:20, then somehow gain an hour in cycling even though you're exhausted and then manage to walk for another 7.5 hrs straight.

Of course, I'd drown before actually having to face any of those problems.

[alfred russel]

If you have 7+ hours to spare for the marathon you could walk the whole thing 

There was a gentlemen I met recently on holiday. He did an ultra marathon last year. It took him 10.5 hours.

He told me his normal marathon time is 3 hours 50 minutes. He told me he walked without any running the last 10 km of the race, but I'm sure he did quite a bit more walking than that (assumming he did radically slow down his pace).