2 IM's in 3 weeks?

Triathlon Forum
1

I am doing IM Austria on July 4th. I can sign up for IM Switzerland on July 25th. In between I will be following “The Tour” and riding 5 or so stages before “tapering” with some light running and wine.

So the schedule looks like this:
July 4: IM Austria
The week after: light rides, heavy wine
The week after: The Tour, moderate wine
The week after: light running, light swimming, light wine
July 25: IM Switzerland

Am I dumb? I have not yet pulled the trigger on Switzerland…but I want to because…hell…I am there…

Your thoughts?

2

You obviously want to, so go ahead. What’s the drawback? You’re tired for the second one? Who cares, Ironmans are tiring anyway.

3

I think it would be dumb to pass up the opportunity to do something like that.

4

Do it! I’ve routinely done long races on back-to-back weekends or 2-3 weeks apart. Go for it.

5

Do it.

For me, the question to ask is, “Which IM is your A race?”.

You could go hard at IM Austria, and be glad with any finish at IM Switzerland. Or use IM Austria as a training day, 3 week taper, then go for it at IM Switzerland.

I don’t know the correct answer, but if it were me, I’d probably do the latter.

Good luck!

6

The “A” race is Austria for sure because I can control the training beforehand whereas before Switzerland is a crapshoot on when/where I can train in between.

Sold. I am doing it…and I think it is a good idea for me to drill into my head that any finish is fine for Switzerland…

Thanks for the feedback and encouragement. I have never done anything like that before, so knowing it is not crazy is appreciated!

Thanks!

7

I’m envious. I WISH i could do 2 ironmen in 3 weeks. Alas, only time will tell…

8

You can and 3 weeks is about the right spacing if you basically don’t do much of any real training. Ok to swim 1500 yds or an easy 4 mile run or a nice easy 20 mile spin. You just want to rest/recover from austria, keep your muscle memory on and go for it again. Your fitness won’t be much different but the back half of the run at Switzerland probably will be…

9

Don’t think about it, just sign up and do it. Worst case scenario you end up walking part of the second Mary. No biggie.

10

you can definitely do it. i did this last year - IM Germany was my first ever, LP my 2nd ever - 3 weeks apart

here is the post - also lists what i did in b/t events.
http://forum.slowtwitch.com/gforum.cgi?post=2454486;search_string=tri%40thlete;#2454486

  1. IM Germany - Race Report:
    http://supersko.blogspot.com/...ironman-germany.html

Overall: 10hr 53min
Swim: 1hr 12min
Bike: 5hr 28min (splits: ~2hr39min, 2hr 46min)
Run: 4hr 2min (splits: 1hr55min, 2hr8min)

  1. IMLP - Race Report: http://supersko.blogspot.com/…-i-did-it-2-ims.html

Overall: 12hr 21min
Swim: 1hr 15min
Bike: 6hr 33min (splits: 3hr10min, 3hr 21min)
Run: 4hr 21min (splits: 2hr08min, 2hr13min)

if you’ve done the training, then you can definitely finish. i probably should’ve gone harder w/ the 1st one b/c the 2nd one was just to finish. thought about doing the same thing this year, but i’d rather focus on one event and try for a strong time instead. doing austria in about a month. good luck!

11

Joe,

I just read your blog posts…some good insights on 2 IM’s in 3 weeks! Congrats on that accomplishment. I just hope I am even reasonably close to your times!

Good luck in Austria. 13 days to go. I am bib #792.

12

I vote with the others. If Austria is your A race and you can live with “whatever happens” at Switzerland then there is no down side. Enjoy.