I am planning on:
American Zofigen
eagleman
IMLP.
I know Quassy is obvious choice. But I
Have to work, on my feet, all day on the Saturday
Before the Sunday race. I could Quassy but
Sub-optimally.
I also think: lots of solid hill work pre : American Zofigen. Then
Some speed work and a bit “easier” on the body to prep for flat Eagleman. Then a solid hill build back up for IMLP. Maybe even go into
IMLP a bit more rested then if I did Quassy instead of Eagleman?
Thoughts?
I would skip eagleman. Just go to LP for a training weekend at the end of June instead.
I would also skip Eagleman. IMO your best bet is to get out ride/run as many hills as you can then ride/run some more. As you may already know the course is demanding. Why not meet it with a full head of steam? Never take the easy route because that last 6 miles of that run can bite you! Enjoy the ride and best of luck.
Ok. Then do you think AZ to Quassy(on tired legs from working on my feet all Saturday) to IMLP Makes sense.
All depends on what your goal is. Is having your best race possible at IMLP the goal or is racing your best half before IMLP more important? I am not a believer in having to do a half before a full. IMO I feel like time is best spent in training consistently.
I would skip eagleman. Just go to LP for a training weekend at the end of June instead.
this.
Maybe find a local half to do sometime in May or June if you want to race a half.
Eh, that matt guy doesn’t know anything…
Totally agree, because imlp is july, there isn’t a lot of recovery time.
If you really want a tune up race, only do one or the other. AmZof LC is the better choice with a good amount of recovery and training time after.
Quassy is great, but you have to train through it, so racing it on tired legs will help and hurt you. No time for recovery after so you have to pace it and not go full out.
Well…IMLP is not really in my wheel house as its really hilly and that is not my strength.
So, my thinking is all the hill work to get ready for AZ(and IMLP) that I plan to do all winter and spring will set me up nicely for Eagleman. Then right after Eagleman, one big hilly push till IMLP.
Of course, I want to be fully ready for IMLP but I think a little confidence booster like feeling strong(hopefully) at Eagleman may not be an awful thing either…AZ LC will be a $h*t show for me. IMLP will be really tough and Quassy would also be a killer for me. So one where I feel at least I am playing to my strength before IM would not be bad for the mental aspect…
I have had a 3 year goal to break 5 hours an have not been able to do it. But that is a secondary goal to feeling fit and ready for IMLP but with some side benefit of hopefully being extra fit for a 70.3. I also hope to do Princeton post IMLP.
But feel free to punch holes in this theory…
Who am I to punch holes in your theory. I have yet to put up a good time at IMLP. 2009 was my first attempt and over biked it. 2011 I broke my collar bone 2 months before IMLP, then they called non-wetsuit, and I thought I was good until mile 14 and imploded. But I got to run with a good friend for a few miles before he passed away a few months later.
My best at Eagleman is 4:33. If completely healthy, maybe 4:20. At IMLP even if I took my own advice, best I could do would be around 10.
Coleman (if I’m assuming right that the above poster is Matt Coleman) definitely knows A LOT more about what it takes than I do.
And the athletes I train with all go to Kona from IMLP. They all do AmZof LC and then nothing until IMLP. This year they might change it up and only do Quassy, but they have not tried this approach before.
So Just AZ LC to IMLP and skip both Quassy and Eagleman…had not considered that…
If IMLP is important to you. Take the time you have allotted for the other events, travel to Placid and train on the course as much as you can! After Placid take the fitness you have gained and find a 70.3 to achieve your sub 5 hour goal.
You know…finishing IMLP strong and giving it all I got is important to me…but I am not attached to a specific time…is it crazy to say the a big performance at a 70.3 is more
important to me even though its an “Ironman year???”…it seems a bit of backwards thinking…but if I am being honest, thats how I feel.
Anyone else go into an Ironman year with similar thinking?
I would skip eagleman. Just go to LP for a training weekend at the end of June instead.
Ditto. I’ve done both Eagleman and IMLP. Eagleman isn’t going to do anything for you as prep for LP.
Of course. I took all of 2010 to figure out 70.3’s and bagged IMLP because I missed a sub 5 at Eagleman and it mentally crippled me.
Same this year. I was suppose to do Challenge AC but after an ankle injury and a poor run at Eagleman (which is a GREAT tune up for Atlantic City, both are flat as a pancake) this year I mentally lost the edge to train through it thinking that if my 13.1 run was sub-par, then my 26.2 is really going to suck.
It’s ok to have a 70.3 be the A race and the 140.6 be the B race. Just modify your expectations.
ETA - If the 70.3 is really the important race, than the title of this thread is incorrect. It should be “Critique 2015 Eagleman race prep”. IMLP is just an event to get through, not really preparing for it.
But Eagleman is not end game…the way I see it…is I build to IMLP with a potential good performance/confidence booster at Eagleman and the very difficult AZ. Then post IMLP, Princeton would be the ultimate goal for the year…
Again, this is just a working theory 
So Just AZ LC to IMLP and skip both Quassy and Eagleman…had not considered that…
Yes.
I think your underestimating the recovery from AmZof. Train for it, RACE it and you will have put plenty of hay in the barn. Recover properly (the beauty of it being in May) and pick up your IMLP training in earnest.
Those 2 races are full season but I guess it comes down to how often (and how well) you want to race. Good luck. I’ll see you at AmZof.
Why not do a shorter race like an Olympic instead of trying to fit in Eagleman or Quassy?
Thanks everyone for the advice…
At the moment I am only signed up for AZ LC and IMLP.
I guess I will sleep on it for a few days to see if I want entirely focus on IM or add Eagleman into the mix and seemingly make the season be
about the 70.3’s and not IM.
I haven’t done AZ LC, but have done IMLP (2x) and Eagleman (many times). This last year I did Blackbear Tri as LP prep. EM is a good, well run race, but as you know, nothing like IMLP. Doing well at EM is about aero position, running and heat tolerance above all else. Blackbear had a cold water swim and a bike course with a similar amount of climbing as IMLP. The run was little easier, but definitely not easy. Blackbear is also low key and a cheaper trip if you can drive.
Just my 2cts, Good luck