It depends on the reason, but it sounds like you've already decided which is fine! And family is probably the number 1 or number 2 (alongside health) most acceptable reason to pull the pin.

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Assuming you qualify for the Flex90 benefits you can defer to next year. Boom. Problem solved.

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Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One

Just bail, it’ll be okay.

Speaking from experience, just don’t lie to yourself and say it’ll be easier next year for a race in 2025. You’ll then have a toddler, be constantly sick from daycare viruses, and still have the same responsibilities and competing priorities at work and home.

Come to peace with that, pick some smaller opportunistic fitness goals, and embrace the amazing season of life you are now in.

When it becomes likely you will fail to meet your objectives for the race. You can always adjust your objectives, but at some point, you reach a point where you do not want to adjust objectives further.

The race fee is a sunk cost.

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Dimond Bikes Superfan

Its a game.

I'll bail up to the morning of the race if the weather sucks, I don't feel like getting out of bed.

I've done so many races and I still like racing. But, as I get older, I find that I want to enjoy the race more than I care about the competition or time goals. So, if there's any chance that I won't have much fun or something else more fun shows up (sick, tired, injured, crappy weather, Wife feeling frisky, etc.), I'll bail on a race with no ragerts.

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

I bailed on my first IM attempt a month before the race. I was hit while riding a couple months prior and training stalled big time. Just felt unprepared, and didn't want to waste that year of training and money on accomodations etc to have a shitty race experience due to lack of fitness.

Went back next year and did the race. I ended up having a shitty race experience anyways, but that wasnt fitness related and was 100% my own doing with a poor execution of my race plan =).

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Long Chile was a silly place.

I've completed more than 15 70.3 and several full Ironman races. Just yesterday I decided not to participate in the St. George 70.3 in 2.5 weeks. Sent an email to Ironman (no refunds/transfers, but that's ok) and cancelled the motel.
Earlier this year my running was awesome. However after a PB in half marathon in February I started feeling pain in my piriformis due to sciatica/disc herniation when doing even easy runs. This doesn't affect my cycling - the bike shape is nearly the best in my life. But I don't want to risk hurting my body more. It wouldn't make sense for me to struggle through the run part, possibly having to walk, just to finish the run in 1:50 to 2 hours.
I'll try to recover and be able to race Morro Bay in a month.

The bolded should be planned for and part of the pre-race routine.

The answer to this question is complex.

1) Is the purpose of doing an IM- to prove that you can do it (again)?

2) Is it a work art that requires a certain degree of executional quality - to be worth completing?

3) Is it an excuse to do some long, hard training?


For me- it's usually 3 and 2.
(I have no interest in doing triathlon badly .
Incompetency is for my job ans family. Incompetency is for the things I "have" to do not the things I want to do).

That said, I have learned to never to quit a race unless I have another race lined up.

Wait, for over 30 years I've been taking Mick's advice that "Women weaken legs"?

Ah ah, here we go:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33795477/

I'm cheap and hate to see money going down the drain. I would just go and race easy anyway. Enjoy the swim, casual bike ride and jog and make sure I finish before cut off time. I would love to enjoy something like that. If this doesn't make you feel good or happy, there's no point. Just not bailing out makes you feel better, go for it!!! It's your life, your money and your happiness.

I dropped out of a race - Coeur d'Alene when the forecast was brutally hot. I went out there and intended to race it only if they shortened it to a half. They didn't, so I walked off. No regrets - I didn't feel like it was safe for me, personally.

Will your marriage survive if you don't bail? My husband and I are both pretty committed athletes. He runs 360+ days per year, used to be 365 / year when he was younger, and I'm a pretty committed long distance athlete as well. I'm not sure our marriage would have survived an Ironman when we had new babies, though. I think once your youngest is 2, maybe 2.5 or 3 depending on the kid, you can really go full-on back into sports and other passions. Our youngest is 4, and I feel like we both are busy and sometimes stressed, but we can do as much sport / exercise as we want (with communication and taking turns, etc.)

I appreciate that perspective. Honestly, yes, the marriage would be 100% fine.
It is me driven, finding it hard to "enjoy" training and struggle to motivate when it comes to it.
Like this weekend for instance, I had to hang 30 sheets of drywall and spackle on saturday and put in a bunch of fence posts on sunday, still want to put the baby to sleep each night and find time to get work on the computer in, by the end of it, I don't really want to get on my trainer for the 3 hour ride I had planned. And even thinking about doing it before I started all that left me not excited... so I am just struggling a bit to find my mojo which in my 15 years of racing has never once been a problem!

I’m signed up for a full and a half this year but for next year I’ll probably stick with 70.3 and under. The always sick because of childcare viruses thing is no joke! Never been more sick in my life! Currently praying I can make it another day to race a half marathon on Saturday without catching the families crud.

I have bailed on a few because I was stressed and didn't want to get on a plane or drive or even go.

It was always the right decision.

Training should be something you look forward to. If it starts being a source of stress (because of other commitments) then I think it is better to bail.

In my mind, becomes a no brainier if you can defer the entrance fee and can recoup the cost (which is a sunk cost).

Normal to not be able to race IM with babies...

Fwiw, I am struggling to find the mojo to train hard (and therefore race hard) with my kids as teenagers. They want me to ski, surf, climb, etc with them. I remind myself much better to spend time with them (before they go off to college) and create memories and bonds rather than another year of training and racing...

When is your race? I'd wait til it is 2-3 months out. If I am not training regularly, then I'd be inclined to wait til better time.

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Next races on the schedule: none at the moment

I'll take weaken legs over foregoing frisky wife ANY day.....

just bail. You don't owe anything to anyone and if you really don't want to go, why pay all the extra money to have a miserable experience. Just suck up the sunk cost. I've bailed on more races than I'd like to admit, but in the end, it saved me money and time and a mediocre to bad time.

It's interesting reading the different responses. If you have to ask, you probably should bail is my take.

I'm not making the sunk cost fallacy of saying you need to get your money's worth or anything. But short of extenuating circumstances, even if I was sick, I'd just make an easier day of it.

Even if I was going to back of pack, slow bike with rest stops, walk/jog the Ironman in 16 hours I'd still think that's "fun".