Ironman to fat man - reverse plan needed

[thenortherner]

I'm in my mid 30s and managed to complete an Ironman in 2015 and 2016. The times were nothing spectacular at around 14 hours though.

Fast forward over two years and I've done zero exercise since the last IM and my weight's gone from 11st 4lb to 14st. Work had taken over, motivation was totally lost and I've suffered from low mood for a good while coupled with a habitual couple of cans of beer a day.

I'm 6ft so carry the weight reasonably well and I'm not exactly obese with a 34" waist. But the once fairly visible abs and muscle definition in my arms and legs have gone. Other than my stomach I'm still oddly skinny, especially my arms.

Anyhow, I've just signed up for an IM in August this year as I'm determined to get back to where I once was.

Given I was comparatively moderately fit a couple of years ago - 100 mile rides were averaging around 18-19mph, 20 mile rides around 21 mph and half marathons maybe 1h 35m - how long do you reckon it'll take to regain the fitness given the 2 year absence?

And as for the weight, hoping to shift around 5lbs a week by calorie control and getting back into training. From my training days I seem to remember at least 1gm of protein per KG of body weight was the guide to maintain muscle. Now I'm looking to lose fat and retain/gain muscle, would you have any advice on diet? I'm going cold turkey on alcohol - I've done this before and 18 months so no problem in doing it.

I'm confident enough with how to train and training plans etc having done the distance before, but haven't started from such a bad position as now before.

Thanks in advance.

Edited by thenortherner on Tuesday 1st January 20:39

[Europa1]

OP, have you read "Fat man to iron man"?

[thenortherner]

Europa1 said:

OP, have you read "Fat man to iron man"?

I've not, no. Just looked it up on Amazon and it gets lousy reviews. I'll read the blog though.

[ian in lancs]

I’m 59 and it’s taken me 6mths to loose 14kg running 5k 4 times a week and a 10k 4-5 times a month. I was 101kg and at 186cm just in the obese bmi bracket. I am now 25.1 entering races getting the bike out and on course for loosing another 5-7kg. All good but a million miles away from how fit I was late 30s early 40s.

The real challenge is available time and weather to train vs calorie control and injury/illness disrupting the plan. Focus, motivation and commitment is aided by a Garmin smart watch and Strava.

Good luck but I’d say 6mths or so minimum

[thenortherner]

Thanks.

The previous training regime was around 10 hours a week. I reckon on 600 calories an hour burned on average. I remember the rule of thumb being 1lb loss takes 3.5K calories burned. I definitely need to reduce the calorie intake too if I'm going for net 4-5lb a week loss!

[ian in lancs]

3-400cals/hr for running. I largely gave up carbs, eating protein and salads/vegetables for main meals, muesli for breakfast and few treats. No sports supplements. Miserable existence!

[So]

thenortherner said:

I'm in my mid 30s and managed to complete an Ironman in 2015 and 2016. The times were nothing spectacular at around 14 hours though.

Fast forward over two years and I've done zero exercise since the last IM and my weight's gone from 11st 4lb to 14st. Work had taken over, motivation was totally lost and I've suffered from low mood for a good while coupled with a habitual couple of cans of beer a day.

I'm 6ft so carry the weight reasonably well and I'm not exactly obese with a 34" waist. But the once fairly visible abs and muscle definition in my arms and legs have gone. Other than my stomach I'm still oddly skinny, especially my arms.

Anyhow, I've just signed up for an IM in August this year as I'm determined to get back to where I once was.

Given I was comparatively moderately fit a couple of years ago - 100 mile rides were averaging around 18-19mph, 20 mile rides around 21 mph and half marathons maybe 1h 35m - how long do you reckon it'll take to regain the fitness given the 2 year absence?

And as for the weight, hoping to shift around 5lbs a week by calorie control and getting back into training. From my training days I seem to remember at least 1gm of protein per KG of body weight was the guide to maintain muscle. Now I'm looking to lose fat and retain/gain muscle, would you have any advice on diet? I'm going cold turkey on alcohol - I've done this before and 18 months so no problem in doing it.

I'm confident enough with how to train and training plans etc having done the distance before, but haven't started from such a bad position as now before.

Thanks in advance.

Edited by thenortherner on Tuesday 1st January 20:39

5lbs a week is a lot; you'll feel rubbish and quite possibly open yourself up to infection. Lose it more slowly and concentrate on remaining healthy.

[johnwilliams77]

ian in lancs said:

3-400cals/hr for running. I largely gave up carbs, eating protein and salads/vegetables for main meals, muesli for breakfast and few treats. No sports supplements. Miserable existence!

I thought it was around the region of 100-150cals/hr for 70-80kg man. A decent club runner will cover 7-9 miles depending on intensity. For a chap 14 stone, he will burn a little more than this.

OP - the key is to arrive at the start line fit, injury and free, so look after yourself.

[thenortherner]

johnwilliams77 said:

I thought it was around the region of 100-150cals/hr for 70-80kg man. A decent club runner will cover 7-9 miles depending on intensity. For a chap 14 stone, he will burn a little more than this.

OP - the key is to arrive at the start line fit, injury and free, so look after yourself.

Thanks guys.

My Garmin watch coupled with heart rate monitor showed I was burning at least 500 calories an hour when running, even when I weight much less than I do now.

100-150 calories an hour seems far too low I'd say?

[johnwilliams77]

thenortherner said:

Thanks guys.

My Garmin watch coupled with heart rate monitor showed I was burning at least 500 calories an hour when running, even when I weight much less than I do now.

100-150 calories an hour seems far too low I'd say?

Apologies, per mile. Strava shows I burned 720ish calories today for 6 miles run, I am 77kg at the moment. You will burn slightly more as you are heavier. Concentrate on keeping healthy and enjoying it. Try not to chase your old times too much, you're asking a lot of yourself.

[thenortherner]

johnwilliams77 said:

Apologies, per mile. Strava shows I burned 720ish calories today for 6 miles run, I am 77kg at the moment. You will burn slightly more as you are heavier. Concentrate on keeping healthy and enjoying it. Try not to chase your old times too much, you're asking a lot of yourself.

Thanks,

Definitely won't be chasing down the times in the short/medium term but I'd like to equal the time I got in the last IM. I hadn't done enormous amounts of training for it - this time I'll have almost 9 months.

We'll see how things go. There'll be a lot of run-walking for the first month I'd have thought!

[ian in lancs]

johnwilliams77 said:

ian in lancs said:

3-400cals/hr for running. I largely gave up carbs, eating protein and salads/vegetables for main meals, muesli for breakfast and few treats. No sports supplements. Miserable existence!

I thought it was around the region of 100-150cals/hr for 70-80kg man. A decent club runner will cover 7-9 miles depending on intensity. For a chap 14 stone, he will burn a little more than this.

OP - the key is to arrive at the start line fit, injury and free, so look after yourself.

Yesterday a 31m run was 406 cals on my Garmin- I’m 87kg

That implies c800 for an hour of running? Correlates with my Garmin data.

Edited by ian in lancs on Tuesday 1st January 22:19

[johnwilliams77]

thenortherner said:

Thanks,

Definitely won't be chasing down the times in the short/medium term but I'd like to equal the time I got in the last IM. I hadn't done enormous amounts of training for it - this time I'll have almost 9 months.

We'll see how things go. There'll be a lot of run-walking for the first month I'd have thought!

I would highly recommend focussing on a lot of walking/hiking initially as a means of building strength with the odd mile / two run included. This will really help your aerobic base without putting enormous stress on yourself. Walk as much as you can, often underestimated IMO.