KSH, you can certainly be ready for an IM in '08- really. I know your running was stalled for a whole season, but you seem to have all the athleticism and drive to complete it! Last March I did my first duathlon, then did one sprint, one oly,one half and a full IM all in a matter of 9 months. Don't sell yourself short- I know you can do it.

And, yeah, you want to train to run as much of the marathon as possible. If you go into it thinking you'll be walking it all- it'll seem like an eternity. I did run/walk intervals for the marathon and ended up with a 6 hour run leg. I had trained like it would take me 5 hours, but compounding fatigue and muscle soreness can do wonders to the body when trying to run a marathon after 114.4 miles, eh?
Anyway- not to try to talk you into anything, but I just know you could do it! You've come so far this season. Just focus on your running in '07, then start training at the start of '08 for the Redman in late Sept. '08.

As for the Redman (yes, that was my IM). It was the BEST race! Granted, it's in my hometown and I know all the people running the event, but that's only a little (ok- LOT) of partiality on my part. This year was so much better than last year and next year they're planning to make it even better!! It was a fantastic event, with a lot of support. Granted, the field is pretty small, so there are no crowds of thousands cheering you on, but then again, there are no athlete crowds of thousands that you're trying to swim/ride/run around. If your cousin's considering it, please tell him to seriously consider it. It's a very athlete friendly race (after all, the race committee is made up of all athletes- many are IM veterans), and with the added flexibility of having no finish line time cut-off, you'll be able to finish your race no matter how long it takes you (this year the last runner came in somewhere around 1:30-2 am). The swag/goodie bags are incredible,and the volunteers were the best. AND, you don't have to sign up a year in advance. You can sign up at the end of May (before the price jumps up) and by then you pretty much know if you'll be able to do the event. Plus, you're welcome to spend the night at my house if you do Redman- I'm literally half a mile from the start line.
Ok, enough about Redman. sorry I got carried away. My love of the event and people is tremendous.