So after mentioning to a few friends & relatives that I'm doing an Ironman the question always comes up...What exactly is an Ironman?
First, let's start with a triathlon. What exactly is a triathlon? A triathlon is a race that consists of 3 different segments: swimming, cycling, and running. While technically, these can be done in any distances, there are four common distances: Sprint, Olympic, Half Ironman (or Ironman 70.3), and (to answer the question above) a full Ironman. There's also an International distance that's just a bit shorter than an Olympic distance.
The following is a table of the distances:
| Name | Swim | Bike | Run |
| Sprint | 750 m (0.5 miles) | 20 km (12.4 miles) | 5 km (3.1 miles) |
| Olympic | 1.5 km (0.93 miles) | 40 km (24.8 miles) | 10 km (6.2 miles) |
| Half Ironman (aka Ironman 70.3) | 1.9 km (1.2 miles) | 90 km (56 miles) | 21.09 km (13.1 miles) |
| Ironman | 3.8 km (2.4 miles) | 180 km (112 miles) | 42.2 km (26.2 miles) |
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triathlon)
So far, I have completed 2 Olympic distances, 1 non-standard distance (a mountain bike course), and I finished my first Half Ironman this year! =)
As you can see, Ironman is considered the top of the standard distances (there are longer races, but those people are insane!). And at a total of 140.6 miles for one race, you can see why there could be chance that this a once in a lifetime event. ;)
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