I’m doing IM Austria on July 4th, so does anyone have any great last minute tips, you know the kind you know only if you’ve done an IM or two (or ten).
Any advice will be greatly appreciated by all us first timers.
Thanks,
David
The best advice somebody gave me is that there will be highs and lows (especially during the last 13 miles) so when things really start to hurt if you just hang on long enough things will get better.
Eat regularly during the bike - I reckon its the biggest factor to finish the race healthy!!!
pinkboy
David,
Good luck and enjoy!
It is better to be 25% undertrained than 1% overtrained, so taper smart smarting NOW, and rest up! Congratulations, the training is now over so enjoy the fruits of your labors for you are about to reap!
Oh, and cut down your eating commensurate with your taper - you don’t want to gain 5 pounds during your taper and feel fat going into the race.
Good luck, be safe, and have fun!
If on the swim it is sandy,have a bottle of water at T1 to spray the sand off before you put on socks and shoes. Apiece of sand can do wonders to the foot. If the bike is parked on soft wet ground and you are wearing speedplays,put shoes on after you get bike to solid ground. Have it in the right gear.
Eat, eat, eat, eat, eat, eat and eat. It is UNBELIEVABLY easy to miscalculate your caloric requirements, and even if you are on the right track, nausea is common during ultras, so pack it in while you feel good, and you won’t suffer as badly when you have to eat but feel like barfing.
As stated, mood swings occur rapidly and dramatically along the way. You may not even recognize them till you’ve been in a bad mood for a half hour or so. Stick it out, things will change. This can also be a sign that your sugar intake isn’t consistent so its a good time to think about what you’ve been doing in that area.
The other thing I’d say is to go slower than you think you should on the bike for the first half. The second half is much longer.
A fun thing I do is try to figure out what time you’ll probably finish the race, during various stages of the marathon. Depending on how well you’ve fed your brain, you may find this hilarious. At some points I simply cannot do the math.
Very best of luck and good racing to you…I agree…make sure your bike nutrition is good…eat /drink on the bike and get those calories in you!!! along with electrolytes too!!!
Here’s a few:
- Be sure you are practicing good recovery such as nutrition, sleep, massage, relaxation.
- Begin visualizing your race plan and commit it to writing. Make notes, re-read them, rehearse them. Cement your paln “A” and your plans “B”, “C”, and “D” in your head.
- Work on the logistics of knowing everything about the course, area you are staying, resources in the area you can. Where is your hotel relative to the race headquarters? Can you walk? Where is the TA, What time are all the events? Commit this information to memory before you hit the ground to relive stress and enhance your situatonal awareness.
- Don’t make any radical changes in training, equipment or diet.
- Avoid stress with good planning before you leave.
- Start packing now.
- Be certain your bike has received a thorough tune-up by a person expereinced in preparing an Ironman bike and who knows the course. Replace calbes, handlebar tape, tires chain and cogset as needed- then test ride the bike at least one or two more times before putting it in the flight case.
- Prepare your race clothing now. Do you have reflective material on your shorts, singlet AND shoes? It is a WTC rule.
- Reflect on all the work you’e done to get here, and how extraodinary your accomplishments already are.
- Remember- race day is a graduation ceremony- enjoy it! You made it! The hardest part is not gettng to the finish line- it is getting to the start line. Good luck! Have a great race.
During the first 132 miles of the race, if you feel like you’re going to slow, you’re probably going exactly the right pace. If you still feel good at mile 18-20 of the marathon, then let er rip!
Good luck!
Yeah, just think of it as a 5K with a 137.5 mile warmup.
I think the most valuable thing anyone ever told me was, no matter how or what you feel, it’ll pass.
Good luck!
Of all the advice offered, Tibbs has it nailed. Lori won Kona this way. As someone else noted, there will be highs and lows. A smile will celebrate the highs, and help you push through the lows.
Enjoy, savor, cherish, appreciate that you are out there exploring your limits, and appreciate those who helped make your journey possible.
Smile, that is sage advice.