I tried running once before, in 2023, in college, at more than 300 pounds. It felt like hell, I quit by summer, and I went back to lifting. So when my coach sent the first week of Ironman prep in August 2026 I was about 250 pounds and fully expecting to hate it.
Week one
Nothing heroic. The point was getting used to training every day: a 30-minute swim with as many breaks as I needed, a 45-minute run, a one-hour ride. I cancelled my powerlifting gym membership and joined the local YMCA, because the YMCA has a pool.
The first run averaged a 16-minute mile, stopping and starting the whole way. The first five minutes hurt everywhere and nothing felt right. The swim was worse. I was gassed within minutes and had genuinely forgotten how to swim.
One month later
I now hold a 13:30 to 13:40 pace for more than six miles. My last long run was 11.2 miles in 2 hours 40 minutes, a 14:17 average, and it felt easy. Across the first four weeks I covered 38, 50, 51 and 51 miles a week across swim, bike and run. I can feel my heart getting stronger from week to week, and I love the grind more than I expected to love anything about running.
What went wrong, and what fixed it
- Chafing. My shorts were bought for a bigger body. Every sweaty run they rubbed me raw. Half tights that fit like a glove ended it in a day. If you are losing weight, your old shorts are the problem, not your thighs.
- Side stitches. Bad ones. My coach gave me a breathing pattern: two short breaths in through the nose, one long breath out through the mouth. Within a couple of weeks they were mostly gone.
- Heavy shoes. I started in the Nike Vomero Plus. Comfortable, but heavy, and late in a long run they felt like bricks. I switched to the ASICS Superblast 3 and the ASICS Megablast: a wide toe box for wide feet, light, and I put 30 to 50 miles on them in the first two weeks. The 11-miler was my first run in the Megablast and I felt fast.
- The pool. No fix yet except showing up. Two swims a week: intervals on Tuesday, easy on Friday.
The week, as it stands
| Day | Session |
|---|---|
| Monday | Rest |
| Tuesday | Swim intervals, then a 40-minute moderate ride |
| Wednesday | Base run |
| Thursday | Base ride |
| Friday | Easy swim, then a moderate run |
| Saturday | Brick: a long ride of a couple of hours, then a short run straight off the bike |
| Sunday | Long run |
What is next
A 10K on October 31, 2026. Then a long winter of base miles toward Ironman Jacksonville on May 16, 2027. Every month I report the pace, the mileage and the weight in The Journey, whatever they say.
I am 5’9” and 24. I started this program after losing about 70 pounds earlier in the year; that story, including the medication I used, is in What losing 71 pounds actually changed. None of this is advice. Get checked by a doctor before you start.