[reply]it appears you have a terribly guilty conscious - now get off the trainer and go read to your kids ;-)[/reply]

Yeah, but he has good taste in pitchers! I just threw my rugrats in the bed and can't believe this thing is still rolling. I'm never starting a thread again. This is embarrassing. Kinda like scoring 70 points in 30 minutes of a conference championship football game...did I type that? Sorry OT.

Hookem

hey hookem,

i found this thread a delightful and humorous read. keep up the good work. this sport and site is filled with many insecure personality types who take everything just a bit too seriously. now off to have a guiness and a bag of peanuts...and keep racing short course. anyone can do an IM anyway. no big thrill.

I'll admit to having very little desire to do an IM, but if I do, it will be more for a feeling of obligation more than anything else. It's just not normal for anybody my age (54) to actually enjoy doing something like this. I do enjoy endurance events on the bike and could see myself something like a double century or one of those mountainous centuries, but long distance running has very little appeal to me.

I really enjoy the short course stuff because it feels like you're genuinely racing. In an IM I'd be surviving.

Also I can race a sprint or oly on almost any weekend during the season. To do an IM at my age I'd have to regard it as my one race of the season. Imagine training all year for one race and then getting the flu or something just before the race. If I do one it'll be just that - I've then done one IM and am unlikely to do any more.

I could do an IM on the same hours per week of training that I do now but the nature of the training would have to change. This would mean giving up group rides, etc and getting on a more structured program which I'd enjoy less. Plus I have other hobbies, such as scuba diving, that I'd probably have to give up during the IM training.

I suppose it's a kind of an AG accomplishment to finish an IM, but not in the sense that it will make you famous, get you a promotion, pay off the mortgage or put the kids through college.

Some people on ST seem to be very one dimensional and define themselves and their lives thru IM even though in reality, it's only just a hobby that they're not getting paid to do.

it appears you have a terribly guilty conscious - now get off the trainer and go read to your kids ;-)

Likely ... but a quick perusing over my training log says it isn't b/c I am training too much. =)

I just wouldn't want to see someone not do an IM race if they wanted to b/c they are under the impression that it takes an avr of 15h/week ... nor do I want to see anyone cast as a bad parent b/c they do long course races (not that Hookem was doing that). As with most threads, the topic comes up from time to time, so a response here is not solely based on what is written in this one thread.

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-- Every morning brings opportunity;
Each evening offers judgement. --

I've enjoyed this thread too, and what it has grown into.

Like many I wonder about why I *really* have to do this IM thing, indeed there is a bit of insecurity. All of the criticisms that could be imagined about an age group triathlete are also manifest in me as doubt - and self-doubt is one of the things that endurance sport helps me to manage quite well.

Parenting, for instance - I feel that taking on big tasks, and seeing them through to completion, *is* good parenting - at least for my school-age kids. I want to set them an example, not just by amateur athletics, but but all the other - arguably self-involved - things I do. I compose and perform a great deal, mostly not for money. I want them to be independent, and somewhat daring and not to feel my eyes are always upon them.

And the thrill - way down in the mid-pack - of passing someone you know can run a little faster than you, so it comes down to determination, and pain management. Sure, it might seem almost a parody of what is going on at the front of the race, but it's pretty real.

When I was a child, growing up in Scotland, athletics was encouraged only in those who already showed talent and only when they were young. Coming to North America allowed me a paradigm shift - old people (i.e. over 21) could have lives too! But I can remember the pursed lips of disapproval from those who woul have us think that responsibility was (and ought to be) joyless, somehow its own straight-faced reward. One sees this still at any small triathlon, where all the non-triathletes and many of the first-timers snicker at obviously grown-up people sleek in spandex. But unless you spend all your life under a bridge somewhere (but don't ask difficult questions)you will invariably get up someone's nose.
Speaking of which, I'll stop now.

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"I'm going to stick to my sardines" - Cassidy
"Others took their lemons and stood up and walked." - Kestrelkerri
"I will never know quite why I set out on the run. I guess because it was next." - Nachocheese
"No, just to people on the Forum. My athletes are the control group." - Paulo Sousa
" Actually, I am naturally an Asshole....not unlike the way you are naturally an idiot." IRONLOBO

I've thought about the original post and had similar thoughts through my tri 'career'.

When I became a runner, and started to specialize in 1 mile, and 5k events, that was the end of the road. I spent all my time training for those events and they were the end all and be all of running. I never felt like I had to do a marathon, because that was totally a different sport. But some people around me, runners mind you, were always wondering why I didn't "take it to the next level" and do a marathon. Even Runner's World is very 26.2-centric. I blew them off because that wasn't my pripority. I wanted to go short and fast.

But I feel differently in Tri for some reason. I started with Sprint, and progressed to Oly very naturally. And though I have hovered there, I still feel a natural progression towards the longer lengths. Maybe it's because I grew up watching the HIM on NBC, but Ironman to me feels like the end all of triathlon. I know that most people won't do it for <insert personal reason>. But I personally feel more of a draw towards the length in Tri than I do in running.

It might take me another few years to work up to Ironman. I'm just ekeing out enough hours to feel good about my Half iron in '06. I still haven't done a marathon after running competitively for 15 years. And my first one, will probably be after a nice warmup swim and a 112 mi bike.

The next book in Velo Press' "Training Guide for Triathletes" series is titled "The Perfect Distance", and deals with the half iron. To date, I have done twelve 1/2s and 2 irons, with the first iron coming after the 9th half. It is tempting to continue doing the irons, but for this coming year I am sticking with 1/2s for my focus. Right now, this feels like a great decision.....although it is tempting to keep working on the irons, with a 12:57 in my first ('04) followed by an 11:54 in my second ('05). But I'll seek my improvements at the 1/2s for '06....and maybe well beyond.

Kate allen -Sui

Loretta Harrop-Aus

Mens

Hamish carter- NZL

Bevan Docherty- NZL

some danish guy

Hawaii- some hairy guy!

Pinnacle shminnacle. Is Ironman the same sport as Sprint and Oly dist?

Nice. what about a Deca-Deca iron man. now THAT would be the pinnacle ( oh wait.. there i sno marketing for that event so it cant be the pinnacle)

<Add to that the fact that Ironman is a glorified duathlon >

that is awesome.. can i use that?

Erin Baker?? never heard of him.

The Kiwi's have TWO Ironman!!! oh man.. now they wuill both want to come over here (OZ)

c'mon where is everyone one... hello?

im just postin to myself here

I love how all those who don't like doing the Iron distance have to diss it. "It's no big thrill", "anybody can do it", "Pinnacle shminackle".

I like other distances. They are fun. I have won several of them and place a lot better in them than Iron distances. I have gone under 10hrs in an ironman and under 2hrs in an olympic. The Ironman was much tougher, harder to prepare for, and during the race required much more discipline and focus over a longer period of time and was more rewarding. I'm sorry if it upsets some of you but short course is not the pinnacle of the sport and never will be. The Hawaii Ironman is. Nothing else is even close, not even the Olympics. Just ask Simon Lessing, Chris Mccormack, or Michellie Jones, argueably the three best short course athletes of all time which is more prestigeous. Is Mark Allen known for all his numerous short course titles or his 6 Hawaii wins? Better yet ask an average Joe on the street what a triathlon is and they will say "that crazy race in Hawaii". In fact on this thread alone several of you short course advocates have complained that you constantly have to defend your choice not to do an Ironman. You shouldn't have to defend anything. Ironman is not for everyone and short course racing is awesome but it simply isn't the top rung of our sport.

I dont mean to diss anything. I agree, all distances are hard. im sure IM is a hell of a day out- necver done it. but if i move up a distance its because im bored with Oly distance aand need a bigger challenge. i am starting to understand that i dont need to do 35 hrs a week to complete it, but racing it is a different picture.

I raced tris for 10 years before I did an IM race. I've done 4 now but have been working on the every other year plan for the most part to ensure that I don't lose all of my speed for the shorter races and don't lose out on too much family time. This past summer I did a few sprints and a couple of 1/2 IMs and trained about 10-11 hours a week less than I did in 2004 when I raced an IM. This year I plan to race IMLP but then go into cruise mode the rest of the summer to have some camping weekends with my family.

I don't think so. You can be very competitive on 8-10 hrs per week. I finished 27th overall in 2004 IMWisconsin and 52nd overall at 2005 IMLP on this training. Just crank the intensity, throw in a few long rides/bricks and get your body fat down to 5-7% and you can do quite well, maybe less than your ultimate potential but still very respectable and most importantly still have a life.

G'day Allan,

Does Cruise mode apply when you qualify for the Big One again??????

Peace

C'ya

Peter

I've mentioned before that I've got no desire to do an IM distance, much less ever go to Hawaii.

Someone here called me a liar for saying that.

I'm an inherently lazy peoson with no natural athletic ability, and I just don't like biking nearly enough to do the kind of training that would let me finish an IM distance comfortably.

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kiwipat

per ardua ad astra

so why are the strongest athletes out there right now not doing ironman?

I believe they are.