Ironman in a Month?

Anyone think I can complete an Ironman triathlon in one month's time? That's a 2.4 mile swim, a 112-mile bike ride and a 26.2 mile run.

Even though I'm training for the Mission Man Sprint Triathlon scheduled for later this month, ramping up my training to do an Ironman seems a little (OK a lot) ambitious and unrealistic. After all, the Mission Man is a half-mile swim, 15-mile bike ride and a 3.1-mile run.

But what about completing the cumulative Ironman distances in each discipline over the course of one month's time? I think I can do that, and I'm making that my personal fitness challenge for the month of July.

I actually got the idea while at the Freedom Run 5K in Oakboro over the weekend. A fellow runner was wearing a T-Shirt from an area YMCA which hailed "Ironman in a Month" as its fitness challenge this past April. So the idea was born.

I'm fairly confident I should be able to complete the running and swimming distances. It's the bike I'm concerned about, since I don't ride as much as I run and swim.

While 112 miles on the bike in a month seems like a lot to me -- especially since I don't ride a lot -- the distance works out to 28 miles a week, which seems do-able. So I'm taking on the "Ironman in a Month" challenge in July. I'll post updates here to track my progress and keep myself accountable.