I was curious what folks thought about racing two Ironmen races in 6 weeks time. I did Lake Placid and had a perfect race (huge PR and lots of fun). So now my friend (who also did Placid) is considering doing the Iron Distance race in Ottawa on 9/1. I acknowledge there aren’t many advantages to doing it as I know I won’t be faster and I don’t need to work on my nutrition or test anything per se. But next year I am going to be chasing a KQ and thought one more race with no pressure would be fun.
Am I being stupid and trying to recapture the high I had in Placid? I don’t want to risk injury but I think I can check my ego and just go have a solid training day. I will be doing the Half in Timberman and won’t sign up for Ottawa until I see how that goes (in case my body is not as ready as my brain is for another Ironman).
I would probably advise a friend to not do two Ironmen so close together but am looking for support or admonition in my case. My season isn’t over after Timberman as I still have the New York City Marathon. Should I avoid Ottawa???
In my opinion this wouldn’t be ideal but if you wanna do it, go for it. Life is about having fun and if racing is fun for you then go for it! Good luck!
I would probably advise a friend to not do two Ironmen so close together but am looking for support or admonition in my case. My season isn’t over after Timberman as I still have the New York City Marathon. Should I avoid Ottawa???
Yes, too much.
I think it depend of your backgroud and your ability to recovery. Last year i did my PB at Lake Placid, 3 weeks later i did another PB in Ironman Vald’Or and finaly i beat my best time 3 weeks later at the Canadian (Ironman Ottawa). Go with how you feel.
I have to admit that this was something I was considering before IMLP in case I had a bad race and being from Ottawa.
However, after some considerations, I am not sure this is something I want to do since IMLP was a beautiful day and I had a great race and I am not sure my body would be ready for another long day (while I am considering doing the 1/2 Canadian - Long story short: I was planning on doing 1/2 Canadian and 1/2 Esprit then my QR Lucero got stolen…).
I am also not sure my mind is ready to battle through the marathon on a “very very lonely” Colonel By.
Also, while Terry & Somersault put great local races out there, I do not see myself doing an IM distance just after IMLP where I was treated like a king for almost 12 hours…
I think it depend of your backgroud and your ability to recovery. Last year i did my PB at Lake Placid, 3 weeks later i did another PB in Ironman Vald’Or and finaly i beat my best time 3 weeks later at the Canadian (Ironman Ottawa). Go with how you feel.
So you want the latter half of your season to look like:
July 22 IMLP
August 12 Timberman
September ? Another IM
November 4 NYC Marathon
Well … I think it is a bad idea to do an IM race thinking of it as a “training day”. I also think this schedule does not leave you in a good place for qualifying for Kona in the first half of next season.
But … you should do it, if you want to. But you shouldn’t do it because it’s a good racing schedule, because it’s not. If you do it, I would dearly like to see a full report here on ST, because it would definitely be in the category of fun dumb ideas that are great to read about (search Khai’s posts for excellent examples of this). Good luck!
I was about 1.5 hours off my goal at VM and also off my goal in Brasil, but I’d had a shoulder issue that didn’t help there. The VM run meltdown was probably mostly (95%?) due to the heat, but who knows if there was a little residual tiredness in my legs. I felt great coming out of Brasil. That said, I’ll probably try it again next year.
That’s my biggest fear. IMLP will be my A race next year. I am wondering weather I will be able to make IMWI my B (or C) race and do it for fun and training. However, I worry that: (a) I won’t be able to just enjoy it and will be miserable b/c I am unable to race at my peak due to lack of recovery and/or (b) I will still be so blown from IMLP that I DNF IMWI.
If your body tells you you can do it, then do it! Some folks recovery quickly, and doing another IM isn’t an issue. Just look at Joe Boness. 3 IM’s in 3 weeks!
You had a perfect race in Lake Placid so this one will be a letdown both mentally and physically. Why do that to yourself? Keep savoring the Lake Placid experience. Go to Ottawa and support your friend, do some training, but don’t do the IM.
Doing two IM in six weeks isn’t going to help you in chasing a KQ next year.
You might survive it short term, but long term such abuse isn’t good for your body. Do you want to do triathlons for a long time? If so, you need to ration your ultra racing efforts. No IM, even if paced as a solid training day, is good for the body.
Don’t be greedy. You had your moment in Lake Placid. Congratulations! Go to Ottawa to cheer others, remember Lake Placid and stoke the fires for next year.
P.S. I’ve done the IMC/IMH double twice. Also, IMHO Joe Bonness is the rare exception, not the rule.
I gotta say, and you know I luv ya, having gotten to know your personality a little in the last year and the way you approach racing (your passion) this is a huge red flag for me. I worry that you approaching an Ironman with anything other than an “a” race attitude an preparation could be pretty dangerous to your long term success. No matter how hard you try to convince yourself at 6:59am (and beofre) that you are just going to enjoy the day.
But I also don’t think it makes sense for almost anyone to do an IM as a “training” day for a whole lot of reasons.
I worry that: (a) I won’t be able to just enjoy it and will be miserable b/c I am unable to race at my peak due to lack of recovery
If you have a good endurance base, it can be done. I did it back in '91 at the age of 40. Did the Endurance(Sunapee, NH) ironman distance in 10:37 then followed that with IM Hawaii in a time of 10:42. I held back at Endurance to save some for Hawaii. I felt great at both IMs and had no problems. My favorite combo is Lake Placid followed by IM Florida. I figured it seems like a waste to do all that training for just one IM.
Never seemed to bother Joe Bonness, but not many of us are as talented as he is.
You have to consider Joe had a lot of years of endurance base before he did the “triples”. He did some back to back IM early on in his “career”, they were much harder on him. He doesn’t recommend it unless you were well trained for the first and recovered well from that one.
I agree that I shouldn’t be greedy. LP was a magical day and not one that will be easily replicated. But there will be so much pressure next year (I missed qualifying for Kona by 5 minutes and now I have a goal that used to be “too far off to even think about” or a “one day” or “what if” but now its for real). I guess the greedy part is in wanting another fun race that happens to be a good time (for me). I think that I will wait until Timberman to see how the body feels. But I don’t want to be a pig so thanks for your post as a reminder. Actually, thanks for all the posts. If I decide to do both events I’ll give full recaps to anyone that wants to know.