Thanks, Joe.

My decision to train for a triathlon is a lifestyle choice. I met a very fat man in the gym who exercises for 45 minutes twice a day and has for years. I realized that his problem is that he doesn't have a goal, and then I analyzed myself and realized that I don't have a goal either, even though I'm in good shape and go to the gym regularly. Last week and I decided to run a marathon, and I found a plan and started training for that. Then I realized that I don't want to look like the guys who run marathons, even though they're in great shape. I would much rather look like a triathlete, so I changed my goal from a marathon to an ironman triathlon. The swimming will initially be difficult for me because I've been a runner my whole life, but I want to build my upper body so this is good.

I'm following the marathon training schedule until I find an ironman plan to replace it. I have not yet chosen a specific triathlon in which to compete. As I said, this is a lifestyle choice. The actual triathlon is a marker, not an end in itself. I don't know how long it takes to prepare for a triathlon. My marathon plan is for 18 weeks, so I assume it will be longer than that.

Thank you for the links. I'm looking for an ironman plan like the olympic plan here http://www.trinewbies.com/tno_trainingprograms/tno_10wOly.asp. On the other websites (http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/beginnertriathlete.com/Beginner%20IM%20Plan/pdf/Week01.pdf, http://www.trifuel.com/triathlon/ironman-workouts/weekp05.htm) they say how long to train but they don't say how far I need to go. Do you know of a plan formatted like the trinewbies plan, but for an ironman?

Thanks again,
Karim

That's a great article- thanks for the link. I'll be in the states in a few weeks, so I'll stick to my marathon schedule and work on swimming technique until I can get a real schedule and the books you recommend. The time-based plans are common enough that they must be functional, I just don't understand how.

Salam
Karim