I am registered for my first IM event at Lake Placid on 7/24.
I am doing Eagleman 1/2 IM on 6/12
I am considering NYC Olympic distance Tri (I live in NYC) on 7/10
I am considering Timberman 1/2 IM on 8/21
Questions:
1.) Is NYC OK as an part of taper 2 weeks out from IM USA?
2.) Is Timberman, 4 wks after IM USA too soon?
Any advice from seasoned-IM participants would be greatly appreciated. I am new to this distance, and it still scares me a little.
Does NYC have a sprint? I think oly may be ok though… Now about 4 weeks after, everyone is different but I would say no… Just did AZ and asked my coach about a half 6 weeks after and the answer was no… but then again, I am training for another IM…
Speaking strictly for myself I barely wanted to train after finishing the ironman last year. I had 3 OD races scheduled after it…the first was probably 3 weeks after IM. It did not go well…I felt weak and powerless. I can’t imagine wanting to do a half so soon after a full…but to each their own.
you’ll get a lot of conflicting opinions but mine, having done placid last year is this. i wouldn’t do nyc 2 weeks before placid. you could wreck. you could go too hard when you need to be starting to take it easy. i also think 4 weeks after im, you’re going to be pooped. assuming you actually race the im, as opposed to walking the marathon. so i would find a 1/2 that’s in september or october. you sound like you’re in the northeast so consider the demi esprit in montreal. bike around a race track, swim in a protected basin. it’s a super fast and fun race (esprit.com?)
anyway, good luck. and by the way, you should be scared… 
I did LP and Timberman last year. It was a mistake for me, I didn’t enjoy Timberman nearly as much as I should have (It’s a great race). I wasn’t as recovered as I thought I was. The lack of recovery showed itself in the last third of the bike and the whole run. My time was 30 minutes slower than I normally go for a half. On the other hand I know people who have done both with no problem.
I’ll give you a bit of a different opinion - I did IMC last year and then 20 days later did Pineman HIM. Pineman was avery tough day due to huge wind - still PRed by 30 seconds (OK not hure) and had my best run in a half.
So what I think this means is your questions is a very personal one. I tend to physically recover well from races - but many do not and need longer amounts of down time.
The other questions is how quick can you mentally recover from the IM. I think this entail not just being able to get your self up for anotehr race but probably more importantly are you able to mentally handle the type of training that will be necessary to do more racing. Can you sustain the general motivation to continue the tri training and racing season. It does become a grind, and I would not underestimate emotionally how much your first (or any IM) will take out of you.
I strongly believe that for many of us your bodies can handle more races after our ‘A’ IM effort - but really our minds can’t. That is the real limitor.
i wouldn’t do nyc tri 2 weeks before if you’re going to race hard. the bike course is a little more challenging then you might think for ny. you’d probably be better off saving your A game for lake placid. maybe you could get away with it if you went on cruise control just to practice the motions, but it’s a bit on the expensive side for an oly race to use as a training event.
as for timberman, it partially depends on how well you recover. since it sounds like you don’t have much experience in the longer distances, you might want to wait a year and see how well you recover after your first IM. it’s doable though. i did both last year, and did ok at timberman, but i tend to recover quickly as i’m still in my 20s. the key is not to do anything hard in between and to do eaasier workouts just for maintenance. timberman is a great race if you want to take a shot at it. but i think there’s other half IMs in the northeast area in september if you want to give yourself a little more rest. check out www.trifind.com for a listing of races by state.
I would not do NYC. You are better off having a good training weekend, and the NYC triathlon is a big pain because you have to get your bike to the site the day before, etc. Focus on IMLP, and don’t blow it on a race that might end up being a duathlon.
I did IMLP as my first IM last year, and signed up for Timberman prior to IMLP figuring I would be recovered in time. I was not recovered and did not do Timberman. I would have been okay on the bike and the swim, but runs over 7-8 miles were pretty painful until September. If you want to do another 1/2, you may be recovered in time to do Firmman in Rhode Island which is a fantastic race. Its 3-weeks after Timberman. Firmman probably won’t sell out, so you can register a few weeks after IMLP depending on how you feel.
I don’t think doing a race within the last few weeks of IM training is necessarily a bad idea - if your approach to and performance in that race can be made relevant to your peak/taper plans. There is also nothing wrong with the conservative approach - if you’re afraid you’ll get the adrenaline going and overdo it in a race a couple weeks out, then I’d skip it. As for other comments that you could wreck… well, you could wreck on the open road during a regular training day too. FYI, I am doing IMUSA this year too, and my last race before it will be the Mountaineer Half in West Virginia on June 26 - about a month out.
As for after an Ironman, I usually keep my schedule open and play it by how I feel. But I find that if I give myself a good week of rest then start back up slowly I can come back to race pretty well within a couple weeks - and I have done that after all the Ironmans I’ve done.
See you in Lake Placid!