You'll be just fine.

You'll be just fine.

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Eliot
blog thing - strava thing

You will be fine! Plus with only 2 weeks to go there is nothing more you can do!! Get plenty of rest, stay calm, and get ready to enjoy the journey. Plus if you try to cram in extra miles at the last minute you will only do more harm then good. Best of luck!

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Owner of Dream Big Triathlon Coaching LLC
http://www.dreambigtriathloncoaching.com/

Everyone freaks before their first IM.I certainly did.

Yup, you'll have a great day. Enjoy the swim as a nice long warmup, then enjoy the scenery and crowds on the bike and run. Think about how great you'll feel crossing the line.

quit being a nancy you big baby. show up and go to work. it's just like all the other tris you've done, but with better support.

Once you step in the water I find the nerves go away and the smile comes out as you will be ready for whatever the day brings. Just remember, it's about your best that day and nothing more. A lot of things can happen on such long days and some out of your control. Just go and have fun. That's why you signed up right :)

You might not believe it but these messages are helping already :) And, yes, I'm not known for bravery.

It's a long way on a long day.

Have a little patience.

I quit my first IM after a 1:10 swim and a 6:15 bike on a miserable rainy cold day when I thought if I went on I would die.
With over 8 hours of time available to do the marathon. One plate of spaghetti later I realised what a fool I was.
Had to go back the next year and do the whole thing. Have gone back many times since.
To remind myself what a fool I was that day.
Get it right the first time.

Good luck.

I can barely stand to watch an IM swim start, but when I actually did one, I was perfectly fine. Pick your spot to start and come up with a plan on where you want to swim and go with it.

And most importantly, do the practice swim. I did IMAZ in 2012 and the water temp was 65 (I think) and I just didn't know how that was going to feel, but after getting in and swimming a bit during the practice I knew I was going to be fine. Despite the cramping, I enjoyed the swim. It was by far the easiest part of the day.

Take a freakin' number. Get in line. However you want to phrase it.

All us newbies are scared sh!tless. If you weren't, then you don't care.

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Proud Member of Chris McDonald's 2018 Big Sexy Race Team "That which doesn't kill me, will only make me stronger"
Blog-Twitter-Instagram-Race Reports - 2018 Races: IM Florida 70.3, IM Raleigh 70.3, IM 70.3 World Championships - South Africa, IM North Carolina 70.3

Runner Rick, SEE YOU AT NOOG :)

Just think of all the beautiful people in scantily clad outfits prancing around for your viewing pleasure. The endorphin rush from that alone is worth it.

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Take a short break from ST and read my blog:
http://tri-banter.blogspot.com/

I recall the overriding feeling I had waiting for the swim in my first IM was hilarity. Hah ha, what the fuck am I doing here?! Didn't help that it was announced as a non-wetsuit swim the day before, on a course where they had never before had a non-wetsuit swim, and I'd never swam open water without a wetsuit, and my longest pool swim was 1500m. And I've never ran more than 18 miles before, let alone a marathon. Etc etc. But then all those fears just melt away, and you've just got to enjoy it because this is where you are, and more's the point you remember that this is where you have chosen to be. And you bloody earned it; with sweat, and sore muscles, and cold, and blisters, and sacrifice. Hardly any of your friends will ever know what this feels like, to have poured so much of yourself into an activity that you are about to start doing RIGHT NOW!!! So many people live relatively mundane lives and never truly put their necks on the line, to dream big dreams and actually step out of normality and reach for them. But you are about to do something exceptional, that only a couple of years ago you probably believed would be impossible. Even the limits you set for yourself have crumbled. And actually, no matter what happens on the day you are already proud of yourself for getting to a point where you can even toe the line.

And then you do a wee down your legs and get on with it.

I'm excited for you just writing this!! GO GET EM'!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Your first IM is like the best book you ever read. You can read it again, but never read it again for the FIRST TIME. I am very jealous!

Scared you won't finish, scared you haven't trained enough, or scared you won't be able to hold the pace you want to finish in the time you want.

Don't worry about the 1st at all, unless you haven't fulfilled the second one of course. The last one? Well that's everyone.

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Ian

Perfectly normal....I was pretty keyed up all week before IMWI. As someone else said, it really is just like every other race you have done, just longer and with better support.

Take a deep breath, focus on all the training you have done and not on the race ahead. Once the cannon goes off, it all goes away and you just execute.

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Chicago Cubs - 2016 WORLD SERIES Champions!!!!

"If ever the time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin." - Samuel Adams

Fear is a good motivator. The work is done where you are two weeks out so it's normal to be jumpy/nervous during your taper. Just relax and take in everything that the day brings, you'll likely experience every possible emotion at least once on the race course during the day but that is normal - the payoff comes when you are about a half-mile from the finish and can hear the noise. Best feeling ever.

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"You can never win or lose if you don't run the race." - Richard Butler

Don't look at the big picture. Just get through each segment. Half way thru the bike, you won't even remember the swim. Approaching T2, you'll cherish the thought of getting off that bike and getting on with the run. That'll feel good for a little while, then suck. But, you're nearly done! The day goes by super fast, you wont believe how fast as the sun starts setting and you think that you started as the sun rose. As hard as the last few miles are, you'll be smiling... Or sobbing, but it's a happy sob.

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Proud member of FISHTWITCH: doing a bit more than fish exercise now.

I'm tapering too...and reading this just got me jacked. WHOO!!!!!!!!!

The day goes by super fast

^This. The one thing that always amazed me each time I did one was how quickly the entire day seemed to go by.

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"You can never win or lose if you don't run the race." - Richard Butler

Normal to feel this.

My story, signed up just to see if I could register. Heard they sold out. Happens that it sold out in 12 minutes or something.

I didn't own a bike. I didn't know how to swim. I ran a bunch of marathons, but not fast, and was a chain smoker.

I hated going to the pool, because I couldn't swim without standing up midway in a gym pool. I took lessons, religiously got to the pool. Had a bike routine based on distance. Ran little.

Against best judgement, woke up the day before hungover. Almost didn't do the race. Finished with a respectable 13:28, maybe add more since it was down current.

Believe it that you can do it and all the time put into training, assuming that you committed to it, will all be in your favor. Just have fun. I didn't. It is a long day, but not something impossible. You are more capable than you are giving yourself credit for.

There is only one first Ironman....it will be memorable, you will do more than you ever dreamed. The FEAR you are feeling stands for "false evidence appearing real". In other words, you are worried about things you shouldn't be. Just have a positive attitude, keep moving forward and you will get it done!

You are so screwed.

The beating you will take during the swim is like nothing you have ever experienced. Having a mechanical on the bike will ruin your whole day because when you replace the tube you will pinch the first one and break the valve stem off the second.

And did I mention the run? Good grief, when you aren't wanting to yak you'll have to poop. Once you get that straightened out you'll figure out that you haven't drank anything in over an hour. The dehydration and lack of fuel will slow you to a 22 min/mile pace for 21.7 miles of the marathon.

Good luck, you're going to need it.

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I'm beginning to think that we are much more fucked than I thought.

all damn day
remember

"it will be hard. I can do it."

.

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RayGovett
Hughson CA
Be Prepared-- Strike Swiftly -- Who Dares Wins- Without warning-"it will be hard. I can do it"

I think its a good thing to be a little nervous, but not to freak out about it. If you put in the time training it will come together for you. FWIW my first IM is in 11 weeks, so I am going to keep telling myself that anyway :)