Completely lost and a bit depressed/fed up after first Ironman

Triathlon Forum
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Hi All,

Back in June, I did my first ever full Ironman in Austria - finishing in about 14 hours. I feel a bit sad as I’ve slowly come down after the euphoria of the event. Years of thinking about doing a full, then a full year nearly of training.

Afterwards, I’ve just felt so lethargic, had a few niggly/stupid injuries (like Gout and also a broken toe). Also just felt so little motivation to ride my bike and when I have, I’ve just felt tired and after about an hour I just want to get off.

Motivation and what’s next

I thought about Ironman Copenhagen, and then realised it sold out in minutes and I lost my chance. There were a few other Ironman events I missed out on too as I just didn’t realise they’d sell out so quickly - completely my own fault.

I’m now looking at other things like:

  • Non-Ironman events
  • Extreme Triathlons
  • Duathlons

The trouble is, that I am finding very little that excites me.

With the Ironman, it was the ability to label myself “an Ironman”, it was something I’d followed for years and knew about. I felt scared of the event, the build up and wasn’t even sure I was capable.

How to move past this

I’ve read others have felt this depression after the Ironman. Have you had this?

How do you move past it, what did you book next, what did you focus on? I am someone that is target driven and goal orientated. So I like to focus on something, to train for something.

Any advice is appreciated

Thanks all

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Most people get Ironman blues because its over, and they get over it by registering for another. Find another race, there are IM events in Europe with registration still open. And find a club or some local people to train with.

For example:

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Nothing more target and goal oriented than going faster in your next race.

Also in terms of your post race depression, i see way to many people approach S/B/R solely as a means for Ironman. Its the offseason, just go have fun on the bike. Do a trail run and fall on your face a few times.

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It’s not just Ironman, it’s any major life event that takes time, preparation, and focus, that leaves feeling kinda “meh” after it’s done, and the rush has subsided, whether it’s IM (for you), an artwork (for me), or graduating college (my daughter)

Not long ago, now that’s she’s achieved her Masters (from Syracuse :tangerine:) she shared this with me

“After graduation, with our Bachelors” she started “Many people … ok, my friend group … say ‘well - there’s only two ways to go, now’”

“And those options are …?” I inquired

“Grad school, of course”
“And the other?”
“Train for a marathon”

Immediately, I recalled an usie they’d taken, and trying to parse out who the marathoner would’ve been

“Well, everyone chose Grad School, we know now”
“Shannon wanted to marathon”
“What happened?” I asked, as she was the one I had tagged

D’Kid answered truthfully “I asked her ‘Have you met my dad?’”

I felt a warmth of her pride in me, but then

“Shannon said ‘of course I have. We all have. We LOVE your dad!!! He’s so cool!!’ Then I asked her ‘and what did you talk about?’ Music, Art, literature, of course”

Uh-oh

D’Kid continued “then I asked her ‘but, did you ever talk with him about Running?’"

I’m busted

“I told her ‘do NOT talk to my dad about Running. Some dads talk about football, some dads talk about baseball. Or fishing. Or bowling. My dad is like that with Running’”

She wasn’t wrong

“Sorry dad, I love you, but …”

“They think I’m cool?”

After something major like these, the quest for “now what?” can be elusive, and the “imposter syndrome” could grip you, to feel like a fraud if you don’t immediately follow-up with something (at least) equally impressive

Resist that; something will show itself to you, when you’re ready to see it

As Rick Rubin says “Your best Work is the Work you’re excited about”

YMMV

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Yes, my “why” was attempting to qualify for Kona. I did in 2021 and lost all motivation. A light switch just went off. I raced it in 2022 but did minimal training then didn’t do another Full until 2025. I wanted to sell all my gear and move on but my wife talked me into keeping everything. She wanted to go to Mexico and told me about IM Cozumel so I signed up and raced Cozumel in 2025. It was okay but didn’t kickstart my hunger. Then I signed up for IM Jacksonville to try to get motivated, but didn’t want to train so I transferred to IM Florida next month. I’m still searching for my next “why” BUT I might have found it. I just did Augusta 70.3 with my brother, his daughter in law and a couple other people that did the relay. It was a BLAST!!! I am now very motivated to train for 70.3s and see how fast I can get and race these family oriented 70.3s each year. We got a big Airbnb and made it about fun and not about racing. I know i saw Team Zoot opened their team. Maybe you should join a team and do some team races with people. I’m sure other teams will be opening very soon.

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I think your goal of another Ironman might be too daunting for your mental stage and thus you’re not motivated.

If you do want to stay with tri and I think you do if you enjoyed training and racing the Ironman, spend a season doing sprints and Olympic distance tris and short running races. Much lower stakes since there are multiple races and each one will rekindle your desire to train more and race more again. They are really fun as well they offer racing in a way very different from half’s and fulls.

I have friends who only do full Ironman races and never do anything shorter and they are missing out a on a lot as well as finding it harder to motivate since each race is so daunting that it’s often easier to not commit.

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Any sport anywhere, if you don’t love the process then you will always be unhappy.

And hitching yourself to a single brand or event can make it worse.

There are sooooo many non IM and non full distance things to do. 5ks, TT, masters swim, trail runs, etc….
Also workout then meetup groups.

Imagine someone living somewhere isolated from full distance triathlon events that can only travel super far. They HAVE to do other things for fun also as part of loving the process.

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I had my eye on the Lofoten extreme triathlons for years back in my late 40s but I feel like this ship has sailed for me now at age 56 and it’s a bit too hard nowadays to travel with my bike from the US. But being in Europe, this is much more feasible for you in regards to travel. Check out the 5 min movie on the side of the webpage. It looks breathtakingly beautiful there.

Lofoten Triathlon - Week 33

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Hey join me at 70.3 Los Cabos….and if I happen to be ahead in the performance pool (unlikely). I already turned down the worlds slot because next year I am doing Alpe d’Huez Tri !!!

I have a bit of experience dealing with first timers in my network. At this point I am 31 full IM’s into the journey, and probably did around 150 70.3’s myself.

Yesterday, I did a 90 min trainer ride that was pretty hard, and I did a 90 min swim

In theory this is “off season”. My work was busy yesterday and I was wire to wire and for whatever reason I crammed in 3 hrs of training. And therein lies my “why”.

….and it’s a bit of a quote from Bradley Wiggins, multiple time Olympic and World gold medalist in track cycling and Tour de France winner. Bradley said the wins (and we can define our personal win as finishing an Ironman or going faster at one etc etc) were just a trailing INDICATOR of loving the process and getting off on the process, not the outcome.

After I did my first Ironman in 1991, I just hung out with my girlfiend (now my wife 35 years forward) and went to parties and did what 26 year olds are supposed to do “after an ironman” and “unwind”. Two weeks later I was craving the training and felt I was missing the process, not the racing. I saw the Toronto Marathon was on deck at the 5 week point after my Ironman, on the 4th week I got back into training and banged out a 100km run week around bike commuting 30 km per day to work. I took a week of light running to “taper” but kept riding to work and it was kind of driving me crazy that I “had to taper”. It turns out I was enjoying the process on week 4 and on week 5, I “HAD TO TAPER” and it sucked.

In any case, the Toronto Marathon was Canadian Olympic Trials for Barcelona Olympics too. It was just a regular marathon, but Track Canada were having their trials in the race, so I figured I would have some fun, and follow the TV cameras with the lead women (this is 1991, so the top Cdn Women were only running sub 2:40 pace then). It lasted for around 30km and then I blew badly with lack of specific training and my last 10km were more like 5 min pace (I’d kill of that to be blowup pace today). It turns out I did my second fastest marathon just off IM training and a week of “runner training”

A few days later I was back in the pool, and riding and by Thursday post race back to running and I told myself, “If I am going to just be a guy who is out training, I can just hop in any race so I may as well do it”

All that to say, my why is my NEXT workout that may as well be my world championships. I just enjoy my process. Race week at 70.3 worlds in Nice, I rode the course 4 times because it was there, did the Col de La Madone, did a bunch of runs along the ocean, swam 10,000m in the Antibes pool. In the 9 days inclusive of the race, did 33 hrs of training, 10000m of swimming, 550km riding with 9000m of vertical and 37km jogging around the beach. I was just having fun exercising in an old place that I first rode in in 1984. After all that, I came 103rd in my age group….had I tapered, maybe 93rd so well worth it. In 2013, race week in Kona, I did the Kaloko 5000 ft climb from Kailua Pier because it is so awesome. I can’t remember my age group position, but it was in that range in the pecking order of global studs….can’t take my performance that seriously, there are miles to go ride!

I think its all about your “Why” and I don’t think becoming an Ironman or getting a faster time or age group positions is long term sustainable, Eventually you’ve been an Ironman twice….then so what. Eventually you max out at age group positions….then so what…and worst of all eventually you become f&*king slow as molasses…..then what keeps you going down to the trainer at 10 pm to do intervals, or being at the pool deck at 6 am

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My first question to you is if you enjoy the training ? Or do you enjoy the outcome. If you get to the answer to that, you can get to the next step in the solution

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Not trying to cause offense but a full distance extreme triathlon likely isn’t doable in terms of finishing if a normal ironman is about 14 hours. I did Embrunman with that type of finishing time in a "normal " IM and did not make the bike cut off at the top of the mountain. There were some extenuating circumstances that were a handicap but still.. In a way I was happy I did not make it to the top of the mountain because the ride down looked fairly terrifying. I still had a good time though. Non IM events are a good idea though. Easier to register for less of a ra ra atmosphere etc

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Lofoten is a cool race. I think it is the kind of rare where one wouldn’t care about where you place just to experience it.

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Thanks - great advice. I am looking at those now as I see they’re still open for registration, as well as Ironman Barcelona. I have a big list of other things I am considering too including some Marathons.

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I love that advice - a guy from my Triathlon club said similar. He said “forget times, distances, plans - just go and enjoy the summer and next few months”. I think too many of us (myself included) forget that this should be fun and not to just forcefully make yourself book the next thing. Thanks!

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Yes, make sure every workout you do is always fun. If its not, there is no point. From that events follow

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Hah I get a lot of the fun by grinding out things a lot of others would find painful and or boring. I’m sure you are the same. Most of my training and I’m sure a lot of age groupers wouldn’t be called fun by a long stretch.

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yeah, fun is a relative term but its still gotta be “fun” in my context!!!

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Do you feel comfortable ‘invading’ Los Cabos? You know especially given how much land The U.S stole from Mexico..?

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good to hear, maybe you’ll actually take it to heart when a third person tells you the same thing