I guess I’m getting faster then because this is my year away. ;) probably not as this is my fun and relaxed year after my first IM last year and really 4 straight years of progressively more structured training. I have a handful of sprints scheduled this year and some gravel bike events but my training has been pretty relaxed. Add some intensity when I feel like it. Or just keep it relaxed when I don’t.

I've done 2 halfs and 1 full a year for the past 4 years. I just enjoy the training...well, at least biking and running. Swim training for a full tends to beat me down.

I'm planning to do IM Boulder next month, which will be my 17th IM in 15 years (and I missed a few years due to a serious illness) and 5th in 25 months. I think I'm just now starting to reach the point of being burnt out on the long stuff and starting to think about going back to shorter distances for a while. I have a VERY supportive SO and no kids, so that's made it doable for me, even throughout the 13 years when I had a high-stress job that involved long and inflexible working hours and a lot of travel.

are you a fast swimmer? I'm a MOP at best for HIM/IM and the swim training doesn't bother me. I guess I've resigned myself to the fact that in order to improve my swim by any significant measure, I'd need to spend a lot more time in the pool in the offseason and it's just not where I want to spend the majority of my time. I don't mind swimming 2-3 times per week but I don't think I'd enjoy swimming 4,5,6 times a week.

for me, I've been fortunate to always live places that at least have a handful of sprints/olys nearby and they're inexpensive and fun. I wouldn't want to drive a longs ways to go to a race of that distance. And IM distance training is really a lot of time. I would break if I did those every year. I did a 2.4 swim event, a 10k run, 5 sprints, 1 Olympic, 1 HIM, and 1 IM last year and it was just a ton for me. For me, it was just all one big leadup to my first IM but no way I would do that volume again. That's not a lot for some people but for me it was a lot of racing. I'm definitely not IM focused for sure.

Not a fast swimmer, although I guess it's all relative. 0:34ish for HIM, 1:08ish for IM (assuming wetsuit). I swim 2-3 times a week, although I try to make it 3 during primary HIM or IM training. 3500m 3x a week just gets very old to me. And when I need to make a training sacrifice, it's usually swimming.

I've done one so far. Cost is prohibitive so I have to take off this year. But next year moving forward I would like to do one a year until I start getting close to the magic number for Legacy. Then I'll start doubling up. MAYBE, and it's a long shot. I could do one year with 3. But that would require some cash windfalls, a lot of sweet talkin' the SO, and a total beat down on my body. That would only be reserved for padding my legacy time.

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I still lapped everyone on the couch!

This...and more of this.

My 2018 schedule:

2 Sprints
2 Oly
2 Half IM

mix in some 10k and 5k foot races...as well as doing some serious speed training and you have my year.

Not to mention I have set new PR's for my Sprint Tri (1:01:21), 5k (17:26), and Open Half Marathon (1:24:56) times so far this year...1 attempt each. But I am new to all of these sports...so PR's should come often.

At one point, my wife raced 5 full Ironman races in 25 months. Looking back I don't think she would recommend it.

About 1x a year, although I took a break last year due to some life stuff. I have done 4 so far, and once I get 6 in, I'll accelerate to 2-3x year.

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Next races on the schedule: none at the moment

Can we please stop using the term 'full'? a full triathlon is one that you do the entire swim, entire bike, and entire run, regardless of the distance. The term full can scare away new comers as they think the 140.6 is the ONLY distance triathlon - thus easy to blow off tri that they have no time to train for it

OK. I stand corrected. To this date, I have completed 4 WTC branded Ironman(â„¢) distance races, and planning to do 8 more until I get into Ironman Hawaii also known as the Ironman(â„¢) world championship via the legacy program. My lawyer has approved of this statement.

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Next races on the schedule: none at the moment

I’ve one a year for 11 straight years. The thing that enables me to not burn out is to treat it as a lifestyle. If you listen to all of the experts here on ST, they’ll tell you that you have to have x volume, x number of shorter distances races leading up to the IM, etc etc. I think doing those things, though may make you a lot faster, is the best receipe to burn out over the long haul. You focus so much on racing and being at x heart rate that you don’t get to enjoy the process like a hobby should be enjoyed.

I’m sure there are folks on here who are bad ass full time training and doing IMs for longer than I have who would disagree with my method ... but it’s just different strokes for different folks.

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My marathon PR is "under three, high twos. I had a two hour and fifty-something."

I always try to do the full distance but I've DNF'd a few times.

I did IMFL each of the last 11 years. For some reason, I have not signed up for it (or any IM) this year. Not sure if I will. If I do, that will lead to the legacy thing and probably 3 more races. I'm 58 and just not sure I want to continue doing that distance.

I spent 4 years doing tris before doing my first one. Then I did one per year for a couple of years, but the last 3 years I have done two per year. While I could certainly squeeze in a third, my performance would suffer. I kinda like doing one early season, and one late season. I mostly enjoy the build up to it, with the exception of maybe the last 3 weeks of the cycle.

I am up to 9 so far, with IMTX a few weeks ago being #9. I'll probably be doing #10 at IMLOU later this year but I haven't decided yet. My fitness is in a place that I can make that decision in early September and then just build up some long work over the 6 weeks before the race.

Basically if you are in a good place fitness-wise, and injury-wise, you should be able to do multiple IMs in a year if you want to.

I did Chattanooga in 2016 and thought I'd be one and done at the 140.6 distance. Last year I intended to race a bunch of short stuff and finish up the year at NOLA 70.3, but every race I signed up for was either cancelled, weather shortened, or I had to skip because of real life stuff. After the cancellation at NOLA, the peer pressure of a bunch of my teammates going to Texas got to me and I registered for IMTX this year.

Somewhere around mile 10 of the marathon, I pretty much decided I'm not doing another full until I turn 50 (four more years) and that'll be the end of doing 140.6s. I'm also doing two 70.3s this year (Honu and Augusta), and possibly NOLA depending on how I feel after Augusta. I want to get back to chasing a BQ again (I'm a runner that does triathlons for fun, not a triathlete), and just race shorter stuff next summer.

Full Distance Triathlon??? aren't all triathlons full distance.... Sprint, Olympic, half and Ironman????
so maybe not IM Texas!

27 Full (really full) distance since 1990, with 28 on the horizon. Usually one a year. I few years with 2, and a few with 0. For me it is a lifestyle and I really can't relate to being burned out . . . I really enjoy the training and the events themselves.

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David
* Ironman for Life! (Blog) * IM Everyday Hero Video * Daggett Shuler Law *
Disclaimer: I have personal and professional relationships with many athletes, vendors, and organizations in the triathlon world.

synthetic wrote:

Can we please stop using the term 'full'? a full triathlon is one that you do the entire swim, entire bike, and entire run, regardless of the distance. The term full can scare away new comers as they think the 140.6 is the ONLY distance triathlon - thus easy to blow off tri that they have no time to train for it

While you may disagree, full distance is the common term for 140.6 and is corroborated by wikipedia which refers to a 140.6 distance triathlon as "long distance", "full distance", "140.6" (total miles traveled), or "Ironman Triathlon". Wiki further states that "Triathlons longer than full distance are classed as Ultra-triathlons." Completing a sprint, oly or half does not make those distances a full distance triathlon.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triathlon


Edit to add this article on "full distance" finishers and they aren't talking about short course. https://sports.abs-cbn.com/...ome-walks-life-39251

wikipedia is user maintained content and not authoritative. i guess you dont care about the growth of the sport if you want to maintain this ideology.

^ this all day long. Adjusted my race schd to this last year (2 x HIM + 4 x Oly, lowest distance load ever), and made a real difference. That came after burnout two years prior on schd of 4 x HIM + 1 x IM and my slowest run splits in years (ever, actually). Backed off of that load and took three years off the IM distance after doing 1/year and saw a BIG jump in performance/improvement.

+1 to the comments "I would do more IMs if I were single" but don't tell milkman :)

You had better write RDs around the world about their incorrect use of the term 'full distance' triathlon if you are going to try to change the accepted colloquial usage. Wiki may not be authoritative but it does represent the common usage of the term whether you like it or not. Meanwhile, instead of telling everyone on ST they are wrong here's a recommended first target for your worldwide campaign to change the definition: the Michigan Titanium which they advertise as "Michigan's only full distance triathlon." http://www.mititanium.com/
RACES
Full Tri – 2.4 Swim, 112 Bike, 26.2 Run
Full Relay – 2.4 Swim, 112 Bike, 26.2 Run
Full Aquabike – 2.4 Swim, 112 Bike
Full Duathlon – 112 Bike, 26.2 Run
Half Tri – 1.2 Swim, 56 Bike, 13.1 Run
Half Relay – 1.2 Swim, 56 Bike, 13.1 Run
Half Aquabike – 1.2 Swim, 56 Bike
Half Duathlon – 56 Bike, 13.1 Run
Olympic Tri – .93 Swim, 24.8 Bike, 6.2 Run
Olympic Relay – .93 Swim, 24.8 Bike, 6.2 Run
Olympic Aquabike – .93 Swim, 24.8 Bike
Olympic Duathlon – 24.8 Bike, 6.2 Run

One and done... for now... like you the training time was the killer, the wifey wasn't too happy about that. So back to olys and halfs next year...

Ugh. Probably can blame IronBrand for trademarking Ironman and 140.6.