About 5-6 weeks out and how ya’all doing. I’m nervous as hell as I still am swimming slow and haven’t gone much over a mile at a time. I’m only running 5 miles at a time (plan to walk most of the marathon) but have the bike down. 104 miles in 5 hrs. I’ve really upped the training and feel strong in what I do. Thought of bagging it last week but we’ll go and try to get it done. I’m worried about my swim and run, the swim cause I could drown 
and the run as I don’t want to injure my knee. I think I’m a hero as a near 2hr swim is tough man territory and so is a 7hr marathon. I should get some shoes with rollers in them. I have a couple of longer Tri’s comming up, but this will be the first big one. Anyone else in my shoes or are you all super trained?
Well … I haven’t even started training yet :-).
Simon
PS: ok, I just did IM Switzerland, does that count as training?
Maybe on the run part hide a bike in the bushes …and cycle part of the run…then get off throw the bike back in the bushes and saunter in to the finish line on yer feet…LOLLl
going a bit nuts training…but haning in there and doing all the miles required…working out very well for me…thanks
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Training is going according to plan, very few injuries so far with the training. I feel like I need more time, but I can’t change that. This is my first Ironman race, so my first goal is to finish, second is to get in and out of water as fast as possible with out getting beat up that much. I’ve gone over the race in my head a million time thinking of time for each part of the race. I’m thinking 1hr10min to 1hr15min for the swim, appx 6hr or a little less for the bike and right around a 4hr run will do just fine for me this year. But thinking it and doing it are two different things. So I go back to my first goal and that is to just cross that white line.
Dude, I’m with you. I’m nervous as well, but I’m confident that I’ve done enough training to get me through with a decent finish. I’ve been following Gordo’s basic four pillars protocol, and trying to log around 16-20 hrs. per week. Lots of 80-110 mile rides, plenty of swims around 3K, plenty of 2+ hr. runs, and all of the training done at fairly low intensity with occasional upper steady/mod-hard tempo. No injuries to speak of except some achilles tenderness 6 mos. ago.
ajmilk–your goals are identical to mine: same swim time, bike time, and run time! and it’s my first IM as well, so I’ll be happy just to get across the line. Maybe we’ll see each other there. Best of luck to all of you!
Name: Matthew Calarco; AG: M30-34
Swim: No problem. I won’t be fast, but I’ll be out MOP. 1:10 - 1:15 should be fairly easy… assuming no injuries in the washing machine.
Bike: Was feeling great about it after my 2 Half IMs. I figured a 5:30 split was very doable. However, I’ve not done well on my race sims. I think it’s my nutrition, but I haven’t been able to average the proper speed, on a FLAT course… much less the rolling hills in WI. I may have te revise the bike goals.
Run: Not feeling particularly great about this, either. My long runs are still coming in at around 9:45-10:00 min mile averages. I start out at 9:00 min miles and gradually fade. I feel really tired when I’m done, and I haven’t gone past 16 miles. My hammys seem to be giving me problems, too toward the 1:30-2:00 mark on the runs.
Also,my Long bricks have not been good. Of course, much of that is the aforementioned nutrition I have yet to figure out… and the rest is the @!$@# heat and humidity we’ve had on the weekends in Dallas. Finishing the ride portion at 11:00 am means a REALLY hot and humid run portion. Legs have been dead and I’ve felt like crap on those runs.
If we get nice weather at MOO, then maybe it’ll be different, but my training has not been very uplifting.
I’m with everybody on the nervous as hell part. 
I’m feeling pretty confident about my training, but not at all confident about the race (my 1st IM). I’ve done a couple 7000yd swims and basically a century every weekend with an hour transition run. I’m worried about my run as I’m not sure I’ve been doing enough tempo stuff to deal with the hills in this course. I’ve just been doing endless LSD runs day after day.
I’m feeling a little better after spending the weekend in Madison and riding around the course a couple times. After reading some of the reports online, I was pretty concerned, but it’s basically identical to the loop I train on here in IA. My old roommate and I sailed through the first 40mile loop in about 1:50 on road bikes then screwed around for the rest of the ride and still averaged about 18.5mph (he lives in Mt. Hoerb, so we started in the middle). Then I did 72 (loop+in/out) on Sunday on my tri bike. A very challenging course, but I think it will be more technically (thinking and riding skills) challenging than physically challenging. You constantly have to make decisions. No rest for the brain. Definitely a course for the tri-bike with aero wheels, though.
We drove/walked/rode much of the run course which looks like it’s going to be several hours of straight pain.
Now I’m basically just freaking out worrying that I haven’t done enough of this or that, and trying to figure out what to do for a taper. Fortunately, I’m in grad school and have then next three weeks off, then the first weeks of school will coincide with my taper. The timing worked out nicely at least.
Chris
My 2 cents for your folks is to work on mental toughness and visualize the course. For some reason…it seems to play more mind games than other IM venues.
Why?
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The bike course is never ending, lil steep hills, false flats, and a thousand turns. Drives you nuts. Hard to get into…and keep a rhythm. Too boot, there is a technical downhill on the loop that you’ll want to scout out.
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The run wraps around the city and it’s pretty hard to gauge distance. Not sure they even had mile markers or not? Once again, very hard to keep a pace when your turning on every street corner.
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Back to the bike course. Don’t get all excited when your come into Verona the 2nd time. You still have 15 or so miles to go…which are pretty darn tough. Most bonks occur here.
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Crowds - whether you like it or not…there will be a ton of people cheering you on.
Good luck! I’ll be there watchin…
can’t do anything to stop it from happening.
Things can only get better after this hellacious weekend.
Just hoping to finish faster than the last time. Shouldn’t be that hard since I was extremely slow.
39 days…
If we get nice weather at MOO, then maybe it’ll be different, but my training has not been very uplifting.
Nice weather is what I’m hoping for. I melted (but finished) last year. Give me a 70 degree day and I’ll PR, 80 and I’ll finish, 90+ and I think I’ll DQ. I don’t want to go through three IVs again like last year.
So far so good. Been concentrating on the run as its my weakenss. Have 2 more 3plus hr runs plus two more 180km rides. Just returned from a training weekend in Penticton and managed to get in a full course ride and long swim very comfortably. Not sure if I have enough bike miles under my belt this year and consequently pacing is going to be a bit of mystery. Also the nearest I have come to experiencing the bike course is the IMMOO computrainer courses, so not really sure what to expect other than rollers. My main goal is to run well and being a typical MOP lookng to 1.05-.10/6-6.15/4.40. Now the trick is not to over do the training in the next 6 weeks and get injured or too tired.
Dont worry about the swim, start at the back and wide, stay out of trouble and take your time getting into it. Panick is the main enemy! I would definitely do some longer open water swims in wet suit between now and the race, get use to the wet suit and being in open water. Good luck
Well, my preparation is going very well indeed.
I logged lots of meters early on the season that made me a faster swimmer compared to last year. now i´m only keeping the swim form with about 18-20km/week.
I´m somewhere in the middle of a 24 day cycle of hard training, not only training time but lots of race intensity as well. I dont do that monster workouts (7 h bike or 3 h run) but focus on the race pace.
The training is great andi´m handling the huge (well for me at least)amount of training very well with the help of the summer school holidays and the company for most of the training sessions of Pedro AKA KLEP.
My major concern right now is to get a acommodation for the race other than that i´m flying
Supafli,
Thanks for your post. Can you provide any details that would help a flatlander on this technical downhill?
Nsxdan
I think a Madison native could point you to the exact location… Help?
If memory serves correct, it wasn’t the longest decent, nor the fastest. But, it was a slight right hand turn convered with haybails…and I was able to miss them. What made it a bit more difficult was b/c the road was very well shaded and hard to see at 48 mph. No need to be worried…just exercise IM caution on the downhill, keep good form, and a finger on the brakes.
The jury is still out on whether I think IM Moo or LP bike course is harder. IM moo is just more annoying… ;o)
Hey Matt, we are both in the same age group M30-34. Maybe we’ll see each other before the swim, that way you start in front of me that way I can draft a little and relax for the bike.
John Loudermilk
There are two significant downhills to be concerned with. The first is Garfoot Road…you’ll know it’s coming up soon after you get off the roller coaster ride on Witte Rd. There are caution signs painted on the road to let you know it’s coming. Basically, it’s a winding downhill and you can’t see around a couple of corners so it’s in your best interest to stay on the brakes (gently) and to the right of the yellow line since the road’s open. In addition, there’s generally some gravel near the bottom, just for fun. You can pretty well hold 30 mph through there, but I’m a decent bike handler and I wouldn’t go much faster. The second one is Timber Ln. It comes up soon after the 2nd nasty little climb (the first being Old Sauk Pass - up and through the woods). You can easily hit 45 mph downhill, but there’s a 90 degree left turn at the bottom. You can let it roll balls out since you can see the turn coming, and get on the brakes in time to make the turn - still, it’s best to err on the side of caution the first time around.
The jury is still out on whether I think IM Moo or LP bike course is harder. IM moo is just more annoying… ;o)
The jury is back. LP is a significantly tougher bike course. Just compare the elevation charts. Several people did both races last year and all of them had faster bike splits at MOO by 10-20 minutes.
But could they run?
glad I’m not alone on the nervous part…yes visiualizing and all that and trying to follow the sage advice of Mark Allen in visualization, relaxation, and letting go.
He never mentioned anything about getting cranky with the high training volume…(lack of sex? LOL) but training is going very very well, and no injuries…knock on wood…
Yup. Everyone who did both races had faster times at Wisconsin.