I have an IM dilemna. I am trying to get to Kona 2005. Initially I was going to enter the new race in Australia with New Zealand as a backup. However being a new race there are only going to be about a max of 2 spots for the age group. I was targeting a time of sub 9:15-9:20 would be required.
Over the last few weeks though I have struggled. I first came down with a midweek viral thing (extreme dizzyness/nausea) that knocked me out for the rest of the week (late June). The following week I was going interstate for a wedding and needed to cram everything in by Thursday so Fri-Sun of that week were no training. Then on the flight back I caught a cold so missed all of last week.
This week I have lost all motivation. I’m basically of the feeling that 19 weeks is not enough time to get me fit enough for that sort of time. I have pretty much decided that I may as well wait until New Zealand in March 2005 and give myself time to build up. Also the QT would be more like 9:30-9:45.
I’d love to do the West Oz one as it’s my home town (ie more crowd support). However I can’t justify spending $1000+ if I really have no shot at a spot. Then again if I skip it and realise later I would have been good enough then I spend three times that much going overseas.
Do you think 19 weeks is enough time to get ‘back on the bike’ (excuse the pun) and became a fat burning uber biking machine?
If your fitness level was good prior to your viral thing and you have been capable of doing 9:15 before, then 19 weeks should be plenty of time to get into ironman shape. I try to use a 4 - 5 month “ironman focus” for my preparation and just do my regular training prior to this time period. I find it hard to get motivated to ride 5 hours indoors which is what I would have to do a lot of if my ironman prep was any longer than 20 weeks.
19 weeks is lots of time to prepare, especially with some base already in place. You didn’t mention what your previous IM times were, but that would be a factor in determining your prep time and how much time you can afford to lose without affecting the upcoming race with a 9.15-20 goal.
19 weeks is almost too much time, unless you’re currently in a body cast.
In my experience, and that of my betters, one can really only handle about 5-8 weeks of “Ironman” training, physically and psychologically. Show up for that period in good solid aerobic shape with your tendons healthy, and get to work.
No previous IM times mentioned because I am an IM rookie. I am under no illusions as to the task ahead but I have a strong belief in my abilities and my coach has faith (he’s actually away for a few weeks so I thought I get some thoughts from the talent pool here). Having said that, I accept that it’s probably likely that something unplanned will go wrong in the first one and that perhaps I should be doing both events, the first as a learning race.
I have only been in triathlons for just over two years and have a recent sub 4:30 (comfy) half as my only indicator. I was pretty pumped one month ago but just fell off the wagon these last few weeks.
The best person to answer this question is your coach. Me or anybody else here have absolutly no clue about your abilities as an athlete, your strenghts and weaknesses and your current state of health to tell you if you’ll be able to do it or not.
19 weeks is plenty of time for a complete, begining of the year program. It can be a long period if you’ve been training more than 6-8 weeks since your last transition phase.
My advise to you: Do unstructured, once a day training until your coach gets back, then sit down with him and tackle your goals at 100%!
It’s always a bit dicy trying to predict times on new IM courses. IMNZ would be more “predictable” due to the fact that you can review the last few years and get a better sense of what times you need to be shooting for for an IMH qualifying spot.
Repetitive colds and flu bugs should be looked at. Could be that your immune system is not helping you. See a doctor and get a full range of tests to make sure everything is OK
Also if you are getting sick often, it could be simply that you are already over-doing it, or not getting enough sleep. It could be as basic as that.
19 weeks is almost 5 months and if you are in good shape now, I would say that is just about right for an IM build. Assuming a 3 week taper at the end you have four solid months of good training time.
