Ironman Boulder 2014:

1:20/5:08/5:07 for 11:50 at age 34.

Lead up:

New to tri about 18 months before the race. No coach, just heard of some local guys doing IM, got inspired, and got caught up in the sport after getting started at a sprint. I was also going through a divorce so training and tri was both a escape, obsession, and burden at times but was really my life for a good two years looking back

I did Boulder 70.3 in top form about two months before the IM in 4:43. Best race of my life and I let my guard down after that. Went on a drinking bender for a few days around 14 days out and basically showed up for race week trying to regroup. Enough said.

Swim:
I started swimming at a tri class about 18 months earlier and the instructor called my starting form controlled drowning. So a 1:20 was a smoking time for me. I actually did a 41 the Boulder half doing a lot of backstroke that day so I was thrilled with the days effort.

Bike:
Let it rip like I did in the Boulder half which I biked a 2:18 and ran a 1:38. Lack of understanding of the Ironman effort, poor race prep with the drinking, and generally being an idiot and over-biking for #'s netted me a 5:08 with some subtle cramping staring around mile 40 and being really noticeable around 95+.

Run:
Took off like a normal 6 mile training run after a 112 bike prep session chatting with other people and trying to ignore I was falling apart. Running 7:30 to 8:00 miles for the first handful...starting to feel cramps around 10, getting really rough around 15 and totally shutting down at 18. At that point I could still move but it was walking with effort at best. Even at the finish chute I couldn't jog at all. I tried but knew I'd go down if I went into any sort of stride.

Overall, I was pleased to empty the tank and knew I had work to do to nail a race. I had no idea that was my swan song of sorts and would never care to work that hard again.

The next year I ended up doing two more IM's in the 14 hour range and quit racing after that. I still have all the gear but it's hard to motivate myself to get back knowing how fast I was and what it takes to be even moderately good at the sport.

Still follow all the pro action religiously though.

Ironman Frankfurt 2010.

Preamble:
I started doing Triathlons as a year off from the longer (and still unfulfilled) target of running a sub 3 marathon. I could barely swim 400m - I remember the accomplishment and sheer joy of swimming my first ever continuous 400m. I had real issues with open water swimming - panic attacks etc, had never ridden more than about 30 miles but nevertheless signed up for IM Frankfurt with a year to sort all this out....

I trained like a demon, read everything - it was the unplanned, unstructured panic training of a real novice, but I loved it. 3 mates had also signed up as novices and we worked though everything together. For some reason I became utterly fixated with 'sub 12' as a target for the race. THis was ok, but things like getting notified that the course was going to be extended by 5k due to roadworks and a heatwave in the last 2 weeks which brought the possibility of a non wetsuit swim caused massive panics.

Out in Frankfurt it was the World Cup and the Germany-Argentina quarter final was the Saturday evening before; Germany won 4-0 and the night was filled with the sounds of celebrating, drunken Germans, cars honking etc. That didn't make the slightest difference: I wouldn't have slept a wink if it had been quiet as a church. As well as all the usual first IM nerves, the swim had been declared non wetsuit and the race day temperatures were going to be around 40deg. I had my first ever non wetsuit open water swim was a warm up the day before, and it hadn't gone well...it was the longest night of my life, lying there terrified, watching the minutes tick by on the clock, wishing I was somewhere else, wanting a way out.

Swim:
Pre race the nerves were there but a welling of pride and emotion - yes I cried a bit - as I realised all that I'd done to be there. Swim was tough, and I exited after 1:34ish tired but so so happy that the worst part of the day, the thing I'd feared, was over and done.

Bike:
Loved most of the bike, more emotion on the well supported parts. I was in awe of the faster guys, but working away steadily. I'd done so many century rides that the distance was not an issue and I coped with the heat OK. Hopped off the bike and a timecheck showed 7:53 race time - just over 4 hours to get the sub 12. Easy....

Run:
Scorched out of T2 and started laying down sub 8 minute miles....but after 20 minutes or so I somehow managed to work out that in 40 deg heat, with a heart rate that usually comes when pushing hard in the last mile of a 10k I was heading very rapidly for a DNF. I did get things under control, settle down and start to tick off miles off steadily. Tough but I loved it, loved the support of the families of the guys we'd travelled with and the crowd generally. I could feel a massive blister building on the sole of my foot, it felt very cushioned for a few miles until it exploded...

Slowed up and had to battle hard in the last 6 miles but always stayed ahead of the pace needed for sub 12 and crossed in 11:53.

Magic, magic day. I've done 12 since, but the first was special.

Great thread. Nice to see it revived. I really enjoyed Karl's and Monty's posts.

But somehow, I was expecting something from Mae West...

Mine went remarkably well.
Clearly beginners luck.

Much better than my last one, 5 years later.

Here’s the RR, settle down in a comfy chair w a large beverage, it’s a long read....

https://forum.slowtwitch.com/forum/?post=907478

... you have been warned.

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float , hammer , and jog

Currently training for my first IM this summer. Great thread!

Cozumel 2014

My wife did Florida 2014 as her first. They cancelled the swim. She was bummed. About a week later we decided to head to Cozumel and race it for our 15th wedding anniversary. We were three weeks out. I was in 70.3 shape and had done some of her long rides with her. I ramped up my running and swimming for a few weeks then got a one week taper.

Her wave started before mine (and she is a faster swimmer) so it took me most of the first lap on the bike to catch up to her. From there we went stride for stride for the rest of the bike and all of the run. We crossed the finish line together, both completing our first full Ironman.

I tell folks our marriage lasted 140.6 miles. I'm not sure if it would have lasted 141. :-)

IMFL 2011.

Paid the piper in training and figured I had a good grasp of what was going to happen. No powermeter so I told myself to bike a 5:30 and I'd be in good shape for the run. Ended up biking a 5:32 and then ran a 3:56. I remember just enjoying the first 18 miles of the run and having a blast. Some walk/running happened the last 8 miles but I remember that last mile feeling like magic and one of the best feelings in the world.

I've done 6 more since then and there just isn't anything quite like the feeling of hitting the red carpet of an ironman finish line no mater how many you've done.

Nothing too exciting but here's my summary for my first full.

To celebrate my 50th I did my first full at IMLOU in my birthday month of October.

Finish: 11:53
Swim (the Good): 59:24 I was hoping for under an hour since the river current would help the pace
Bike: 5:36 I thought I managed my effort pretty well
Run: (The bad and the ugly): 4:56

Came in under-trained for the run due to injuries earlier in the season which caused me to back off the bike, which I did. But it wasn't enough, I cramped up pretty badly around mile 16. Then I walked pretty much most of miles 17 through mile 24, then my legs came back with about 2 miles to go! Mile 26 was my fastest split so finished strong to come in under 12 hours.

My transitions totaled 20 minutes because I really wasn't "racing" so I changed into a bike kit in T1 then changed into a Tri kit in T2.

Ironman Arizona 2005, signed up the week before because everyone was doing the inaugural. Wanted to go sub-9:00 and place top-10. It was super windy and fairly hot. Swim was uneventful and easier than expected, I recall maybe a 55? Biked super-conservatively and just tried to stay aero and hydrate, maybe went 4:50? Off the bike I had a chance still with a 3 hour marathon, which got VERY hard around halfway at which point I started walking the stations and just tried to get to the finish. I finished in around 9:20-something finishing maybe 15th with the only age-grouper to beat me being Molina, or maybe I beat him by seconds, I don't remember. Faris won overall, and I was hooked. I do recall having no nutritional problems in this race, I even ate half a pizza within 20 minutes of finishing!

IM Switzerland in 2014 was my first.

I had always been interested in Triathlon, but am an awful swimmer so never really considered doing one. The London Triathlon was coming up and I thought I will just go ahead and do it despite how bad my swimming is. As expected I had a terrible swim 48 min, was happy with the bike as I did not do any specific training for it, getting 1:22 and then 41 min on the run which is by far my strength.

At the end of the year I decided despite my very limited history in Triathlon I wanted to do an IM before turning 30, so signed up. Did IM 70.3 Luxembourg as a warm up. Improved on the swim but was still one of the slowest swimmers doing 47 min and was pretty tired after that. Really struggled on the hills on the bike with 3:44 and despite being exhausted put in a decent run of 1:34.

By the time I got to Zurich I was not overly confident, but knew if I made the swim and bike cut-offs I would easily make it under 16 hours (you have one hour less in Zurich to finish) with my run. The day before when I went to the bike drop off didn´t go to plan, I got my wheel stuck in the tram tracks and came off my bike (at very low speed) and all my lollies (hairbo, jujubes, candy whatever you call them where you´re from) that I was going to use for nutrition fell on the ground. I picked up whatever I could find in the supermarket to replace them and relied on what was on course for the rest. It did not really matter too much, I had no idea about nutrition then.

Back then they only had 2 swim waves, I positioned myself near the back of the 2nd one. Freestyle had been leaving me exhausted and I would zig-zag a lot in open water, so I decided to just do breaststroke for the entire 3.8km as I thought it would not make much of a difference. It turned out to be the most relaxing swim I have ever had in a Triathlon, I was shocked to see had badly a lot of freestylers go off course, I saw a lot of people who would be on my left and then zig-zag to my right and then back to my left. I came into T1 in 1:44 well below the cut off which I was very happy about.

On to the bike, the first of 2 loops was not too bad, but did find some of the long hills tough. I was living in Amsterdam and had not done one hill in training, only at IM 70.3 Luxembourg 6 weeks prior. Lap 2 was a big struggle, I remember while going up the beast (a very long uphill section that never seems to end) wondering if it would be quicker to walk up as I was going that slow, then I saw someone walking up. I was going faster than him, but not by that much. I was still not that confident with bike handling so did not take advantage of the downhills and usually had my hand on the brake the whole way down. Eventually I got to T2 in 7:43 and about 25 minutes before the cut off.

I was very happy to be on the run course and thought I could post a reasonable run split as I had in the 70.3 even I was pretty tired after the bike. I realised IM is completly different and I ended up walking large parts of the course getting 4:58. It would take until IM #4 before I was finally satisifed with my run time. I think my feelings were relief more than anything while coming down the finishing straight. When I first started training for this race I thought I would have done a lot better than 14:40, but if you asked me the day before the race I would have been more than happy to take it.

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instagram.com/42pointtwo

IMWI 2007. Did "more is more" training, unscientific, focused on getting to large volumes of distances that could be done easily, targeting race pace. Threw caution to the wind to go for KQ, which IM-experienced friend and I calculated at 10:15 range for M35-39 (I was 37, more spots then...think it went to about 7?).

My targets: 1:05, 5:30, 3:30, with 10 minutes of transitions total.

Was awesome. Raced within myself all three disciplines, all felt relatively easy.

Swim: 1:04. Bike: 5:31. Run... ran consistent 8 min miles until the back half... and started a bit of fade. Came in 3:36. Transitions: 8 minutes total

Ended up 10:19 and change.

And missed Kona by a couple spots if I remember (I still blame cheap dollar at that point in time for luring unprecedented number of fast Euros that year). But came to find out it Kona wasn't really the driver for me.

N=1... but you can race to a time the first time and actually execute.

The first IM California 2000. DNF

Swim was measured in nautical miles so everyone swam farther than we thought we were going to swim. I got out of the water with a time MUCH slower than I anticipated and everyone was shouting "It's OK". WTF are you talking about! We didn't find out about the discrepancy until later.

Bike was ok to start, but then I couldn't hold anything down on the second loop, plus, we were going from cold/hot/cold/hot/cold from the ocean to inland, and the wind. I kept throwing up and stopped around mile 90 on the inland of Camp P at one of the aid stations where a nice lady doc was there and her 6-8 year old son was really hoping I'd keep throwing up so he could "help". And the Marines who where helping at the aid station were having lots of fun checking out my bike. I was there a couple of hours until I got a ride back in the rapidly filling sag. At least I had it better than a friend who came out of the water with hypothermia and went straight into the med tent wrapped like a baked potato.

Best part about that weekend is that I met slowman in person for the first time (after knowing him online for many years).

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clm
Nashville, TN
https://twitter.com/ironclm | http://ironclm.typepad.com

IM Wales and it completely trashed me. If anyone else has raced that course you know what a beast it is and the weather as well.

- Collegiate swimmer who hadn't swam in a few years, but that went well except for still being new about dealing with chop. Overall a good swim. (Side note, for everyone who never swam growing up I now understand your pain. My significant other is a killer bike/runner and despite working her ass off, just has issues swimming. She works damn hard with little improvement. :( Thankfully she is fast in the other two sports)

- I can hammer a bike and hammer it I did. Loved the course and watching people suffer. Split was great considering the course as well. In hindsight I learned that racing a full with a .91 IF is not smart especially when.....(see next line)

- Prior to this the longest run race I had done was a 10k. I have good 5k and 10k times, but I never ran growing up aside for some fell runs and I badly miscalculated. I figured a "reasonable" time I could hold of a bike and go for it. Here is where I get my comeuppance as a swimmer; You lifetime runners have me jealous. I blew apart and it was my fault for lack of training and biking too hard. Turns out running a few times a week wasn't good enough. :) I used the Jack Daniels vdot to extrapolate my pace and died a million deaths. Ended up walking...a lot. Ended up getting so emotional I cried while walking. That was fun!

- Finished 11:40 ish I think. The time was 2+ hours slower than my current PBs.

My big takeaways were important though. I spent much more time learning to run, learning nutrition, learning my bike limits and training with some sort of aim.

For the record…Ironman Gurye 2017 – 13’37”

Started Triathlon in 2011 with a Sprint, a couple of Olympic distances and a 70.3. By 2017, I had done a bunch of 70.3s and felt like a crack at the full distance. Living in Asia, racing the heat is normal, but inevitably sucks the life out of me, especially on the run. So my interest was piqued when I saw the new IM in Gurye, South Korea – new country for me, nice surroundings, decent (cooler) climate, 2-lap lake swim, not too hilly bike course and a flat run.

IM were offering a 24-week training plan with every sign-up, which helped sway my decision, and I adapted this plan to my schedule for a minimal but consistent 5-6 hours per week, increasing to 8-9 hours towards the end.

Went with the family, which was great but adds to the stress with the extra logistics. I always over-think races and didn’t do myself any favours in the build-up. Main issue once on the ground was food options, but I found a local tea-house who sold Club Sandwiches and I ate those exclusively in the 2-3 days before, and even on the morning of the race.

Race morning – as usual I slept badly, woke early and got the 4:30am bus to T1. I thought I could nod off on the bus, but I was literally at T1 by 4:45am. T1 didn’t open till 5 and I didn’t start swimming until 7, so I really messed up my timing. Wetsuit was cold and damp from the practice swim the day before, so after dropping off my spare clothes, it was a pretty miserable two hours waiting for the start. But I got to the start-line in one piece, although suddenly very conscious of never having swam 3.8km and biked more than 101km. I’d run a marathon PB 6 weeks before, but was under no illusions of running much of the marathon.

Lake Swim was surprisingly uneventful after one or two early kicks. Unfortunately the two-loop swim, which would have given me a chance to pause for breath half-way through, was now a one-loop, but I just plugged away and got through in 1’32”.

Bike was a little hilly, but I’d done more hills in training than ever before, so I was okay. Again, an uneventful ride and the main issue I had was sheer boredom. My main fear was mechanical and I was just so bored and fed-up by 100km, that I almost wanted something to happen to bring an end to the race. I wouldn’t say I’m mentally tough, but you need some amount of mental toughness in those moments. I slogged it home in 6’47”.

Delighted to get off the bike with a good 7+ hours to finish the marathon. Main goal was to finish, so the pressure was off. I had a 5-hour marathon in mind, and ran well for the first 10km, only to settle into a run/walk shuffle for the next 20km. With 10km left I started on the Pepsi and it gave me enough of a boost to run it home for a 5’00” marathon. Great having the family there at the end, great to share that moment with them.

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My race site: https://racesandplaces.wixsite.com/racesandplaces

Can't believe you completed a full IM with a max of 8-9 hours a week of training. I've always thought that it takes way more than that. Gives me hope that I might be able to do one. I don't think I could manage 12-14 hours a week.

Love this thread, it's inspiring. I've done many tri's, including several 70.3's, but have yet to get up the guts to do a full IM.

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"The first virtue in a soldier is endurance of fatigue; courage is only the second virtue."
- Napoleon Bonaparte

IMWI 2003 was my 3rd and I puked my way around that second loop on the run barely finishing in '15hrs. It was f'ing HOT that day.

IMUSA '01 was my first. I was totally intimated by the event and the location. Having watched the '80 Olympic USA hockey team win there and having been driven to triathlon by watching the Julie Moss finish and now here I was about to try my luck at the distance. And, race day was on my birthday, and, I had my wife and kids there with me. Pretty darn special!

It was hard

My first Ironman was... foolish.

When I started Tri's, I knew what Ironman was, and I thought... 'One Day'
After I had done a few, and finished my first HIM, I said to myself - Once I can beat 5h30m in a half.
Then IMMelb was announced, and I decided to race that because - there are benefits to racing in your hometown.
My fastest HIM at that stage was 6h37m.

3 months out, and my workload ramped up, my training dropped to maybe 2 hours a week on the bike. no time to run, no time to swim, 70+hours a week at work, 6-7 days every week, and less than 4hour sleep a night trying to fit in everything else. Remember, I am an idiot, I am the guy whose longest run ever was the replacement to the swim leg in a HIM the year before, which was 4km. (run walk is fine, that is where you run for a minute, and walk for 10mins, right?)

Race day. IMMelb 2012
At least I grew up in the water, was never fast, but always comfortable. 1h35m. I had never swum that far in salt water before, my tongue seemed to have swollen up due to the salt.
Time for the bike, not where near enough training, longest ride ever before this day was 120km. and I had not spent enough time on a TT bike before this, at least my fit is comfortable. Just keep the legs ticking ver, was all I could think. Wow this course is boring. wonderful surface, but bored now. I was... wrecked. about the 155-160km mark, I fell asleep. The benefit of the Melbourne course? smooth straight roads, at that point in time, a little elevation drop for the next few km. My Garmin data shows my HR dropped to ~85, my cadence down to 15rpm, and I just cruised while asleep for a km or two. Until I was awoken by another rider passing me, who inquired if I was okay. I nearly binned the bike, jumped sideways, heart rate spiked to 170, adrenaline surged through my body, and I was AWAKE. the lack of feeling in my feet was gone (or unnoticeable), my pace picked up and I blitzed the last 20km. All I wanted to do was quit, get of of these shoes, and cry about not finishing what I had started. (7h11m for the bike leg)
Into T2 and bike handed off to the catcher. It is okay, I told myself, you can get out of these shoes, and rest and quit. nothing more needs to be done, it is now over.
Sitting in T2, take off my shoes and socks, start swapping to the spare pair of socks, and a set of much more comfortable shoes, and my spirit rises. I look at my watch, and spy that I still have 8hours before cut off. And I realise to myself that I am now sort of stuck. While I could quit, I have no way to easily contact family, they will already be up the road somewhere (I last saw them 40km north of Transition), I have no phone, my bike just got stuck on a truck to be taken to the finish many suburbs away, and the expectation that I won't get a pickup until this is done, so very far away in St Kilda. So I do some mental arithmetic, I am feeling better (I need to burn those bike shoes). I have 8 hours flat, I have 42km to go, at 6km/h walking, that is 7hours, and I can hold 6km/h walking for hours. This is doable. I also spy a hat with a logo I recognise leaving the tent, I spy another Trannie. - Maybe I should go and catch up with them, how bad could this be, it is just a long walk, and you can walk for days. So I did. about 3 km later, I caught up with the Trannie (Coffs Pete) and started chatting with him and Dave Orlowski (Ironman legend, right there) for the next little while, swapping stories on how we had got to where we were. And then I felt the need to go faster (after all, there was still 7.5hours of race time, and 38km to walk) So I got into a rhythm and just deathmarched my way northwards. The people you meet at the back end of an Ironman are amazing, from the 'why am I walking, I am a runner, I didn't do enough bike training, and have blown up, how can you walk so fast?" crowd, to those who are just out for a laugh. Great people with interesting stories. and moving slow enough that they can talk and chat. That back end of a race is an experience, and it is long enough that you have time to savour it. One day I might have to wear a wire, just so I can get these stories on tape, and write them up. 'Run' time? 7h01m. total, 16h01m.
A long day, and proof that training is a REALLY good idea.

The Good? I proved to myself that this was doable, achievable, and that I am mentally strong enough to deal with this, even when work keeps beating you around, endure.
The Bad - If I can do it, anyone (with the right training and mental awareness) should be able to do this.
The Ugly? So this Legacy thing just got announced - Hmm... If I can do one on VERY limited training, I should be able to keep going, right? 11 to go (#8 is in 6 weeks, and it looks like I just cracked a bone in my foot...)

I wish we still had the Melbourne race on the calendar, the bike leg is boring, but a point to point run just works (for the solo competitor - There is the target, just keep going, and it will be yours, no turning back) Even with 4 finishes, I still never manged to get that course to like me.

First and only (thus far) was IMLOU 2017

Swim was uneventful, except for the guy ahead of me that was wearing a bright orange wetsuit that I kept thinking was the buoy ("Why isn't it getting closer?")

Bike started great. Weather that year was cold, rainy and windy (though not as bad as 2018). First 40 miles went great, I was feeling like a rockstar, everything going to plan. Then I hit a water bottle and went head-first over my handlebars, felt a pop in my left shoulder, and was covered in road rash. Got up, hands skinned and covered in blood, jersey torn, and looked for my bike. Fortunately, the bike was fine and not damaged. Found I couldn't raise my left arm above the shoulder. Decided that I didn't want to have the DNF hanging over my head for the next year, got back on the bike. Rode the next 72 miles, but hurt like a bitch whenever I switched from aero to hoods. Finished the bike

In the transition tent, switched to my run gear, used my ruined bike jersey to fashion an arm sling, and wore it around my neck throughout the run. Actually had a great run of just over 4 hours, and finished the race over an hour faster than my goal.

Later found out I had a Grade 3 AC separation of my shoulder, and my Ortho guy still can't believe I finished the race with it. Also, lots of road rash totally ruins the post-race shower, FYI.

Still one of the greatest days of my life.

I did the Challenge Roth back in 2005. I trained only long slow distance; I felt I didn't need doing intervals for a race that maybe I would not finish. I didn't even own a heart rate monitor, my war horse was an aluminum road bike (with aluminum wheels). In training I did a lot of hills both on the bike and running, in the hope that the race would feel "downhill". The race went just fine, not particularly painful, just a long day.
Finish time was 9:48 (55/5:09/3:36)

How'd it go? bad, as many are. Because I didn't train properly. Like many do.

The Good: I finished

The Bad: Swim, T1, Bike, T2, Run

The Ugly: Because this was the 2nd time EVER on a TT bike (rented, first ride was two days before to ensure I could ride the thing), at mile 85 I tried to roll my sore neck in aero going slightly downhill, crashed (solo) and spent 1hr20m waiting for then getting tended to by medical. Wrapped me up, helmet was not cracked and I was coherent so he let me go on. Post-race day got checked out and the elbow road rash was so deep that the muscle was exposed, they put me on antibiotics and had to do a most painful deep clean. I bear the scar and will so for the rest of my life. I should have covered the scar with the m-dot tattoo

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808 > NYC > PDX > YVR
2024 Races: Taupo