I saw it yesterday at the expo…speachless!
WTC push the marketing to its limit. No offense if you sleep on IM matress every nights but I think its ridiculous.
I also saw couples of guys with a XC(executive challenge) escort, they will learn something very soon: money cant buy training hours!!!
jf
I have a really funny picture of a kid’s bike race to show you!
Yeah i saw it!
Money can t buy everything…sadly…
haha
j
I have, of course, already reviewed the vaunted Ironman Mattress. I submit the photos below from the review:
Recover faster from those marathon what???
…Are you kidding me!!! Where have you been? This is old news - the IM mattress has been around a number of years.
Next thing you now there will be Ironman Cologne, oh wait.
http://www.perfumeemporium.com/Mens/Details.cfm?ID=17285&source=193#back
…or an Ironman scale 
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The Ironman mattress and Executive Challenge have been around for years, you have been in the bush too long.
For curiosity’s sake I checked 2010 Lake Placid qualifier times. The guy who who won the XC under 47 AG went 10:31, only 8 minutes slower than the last qualifier in the 45 to 49 AG, so not exactly a slouch. The slot rolled down to #2 who was 2 minutes slower, still not that slouchy.
In all seriousness:
The Ironman Mattress uses what they have termed as “T3” technology, or three different densities to the mattress. This is a foam style mattress, not an encapsulated spring style mattress. Think “Tempur-Pedic” style construction as opposed to springs.
My knick against foam style mattresses is breathability. Ironman T3 claims to have addressed this with an new, more permiable foam called “Celliant” in the layer closest to the body. This open cell foam configuration is supposed to facilitate better recovery. I have only laid on the mattress, I haven’t slept on it. Yet.
According to Ironman T3 both Chrissy Wellington and Craig Alexander slept on the Ironman model T3.2 Mattress the night before their race wins in 2008.
The key technologies for the mattress are the Celliant top layer, Cellitex latex layer that is said to equalize pressure against the mattress during sleep and the 5 Zone Pressure Point Relief System. I presume but do not know that the later (5 Zone) is some multi density or durometer configuration of the foam.
When I laid on the mattress it felt… fine. Nothing extraordinary but then again, it is a mattress. You sleep on it.
One nick against this for warmer climes: Despite the claim of enhanced breathabilit this is a memory foam style mattress. I (opinion here) have never been a fan of memory foam style mattresses due to a lack of moisture transmission and a tendency to not be as breathable as a traditional box-spring style mattress.
Anyway- the thing does exist and they have had Chrissie Wellington and Craig Alexander sleep on it. For what it is worth there was a famous Tour de France winner, I believe it may have been Merckx or Anquetil, who did actually say, “The Tour de France is won in bed…” He meant the ability to recover.
We can laugh- but then again, if some empiracle metric that established an advantage for any sleep technology surfaced it might become a valid new category.
I know you guys like to make fun of the branding that “cheapens” the symbol of your lifestyle. The mattress is not so far off. There is a lot to be said about the importance of quality sleep on recovery. Not only for muscle recovery - morning stiffness, but quantity as well. Tossing in your sleep due to pressure points cheapens your time. For amateurs, more sleep, less training time.
I don’t sell mattresses, but I do know Joe has a lot less stiffness in the am and is able to get by on less sleep since we upgraded to a better mattress. (not an IM brand). It is just one, but an important piece of recovery, especially as you age!
Not to hijack, but good luck to you guys tomorrow. I hope Joe has a great race!
my question about the branding is whether the brand connotes something that’s accretive to the idea one conjures when one envisions the mattress. now, if our race was called pillowman, or comfortman, or plushman, or snoozeman, or comaman, wakemeupwhenseptemberendsman, i could make the connection.
there’s an ironman garbage bag, and, i think ironman is a worthy image competitor to hefty or brawny. i think ironman beats that guy on the brawny paper towel packaging.
i need to see ironman when i go to home depot. i don’t know if i need to see ironman when i go to mattress factory. just my opinion. maybe i’m wrong.
They’re working the wrong angle here - they should be saying things like: “Perform like an Ironman!” and “Go the full 17hrs…”
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Aparently WTC just hired a new chief branding officer (or at least that is what Steve told me yesterday).
On the balance, these guys have done a good job expanding and protecting their own brand…they are one of only 2 companies in the world whose logos people will permanently affix to their body to associate with a certain lifestyle (the other one being Harley).
I’m personally skeptical of the licensing of the brand to a mattress (I know…training = work + rest)…but hey, if we’re going to have an IM Mattress, give us the IM Condom!
but hey, if we’re going to have an IM Mattress, give us the IM Condom!
Now THAT is the answer to morning stiffness.
“but hey, if we’re going to have an IM Mattress, give us the IM Condom!”
I can see the marketing tagline now… “No matter how hard you raced today, you can race harder tonight… Ironman Condoms…”
Or “Ironman Condoms…Race hard tonight…”
Ironman Toilet Paper. Engineered to speed up your bathroom transitions.
i bet they will have Ironman condoms soon!!!
Give me a combination Ironman mattress and altitude tent, and you’ll have something.
Holy hell, I thought the Ironman brand was pure.
Anyway, I want one of those beds? I can use it to shag my wife like an Ironman should!