I’m beginning the long climb back from injury towards base fitness, and another IM, maybe in 2015.
As I ponder this task, I’m thinking about my first IM and the lessons learned and how ignorance was bliss. I didn’t know what I didn’t know and let that day unfold and just enjoyed the whole process. That day was hotter than anything I’d experienced in training and I basically wilted on the run. Now I know what an IM feels like and the prospect of another has a different feel to it.
Maybe it’s because I’ve been away from tri for almost 2 years, and when I did my first IM I had 3 years of racing under my belt. I basically fell of the face of the earth after IMC in 2011. I was wasted for months after that race, and then I got a bad case of plantar fasciitis.
And then there’s the over-confidence factor in the second attempt that I read about during my first, and how it often leads to a blow-up.
I get that every IM is hard, but I from where I’m standing now the second seems to be the hardest.
For me and I suspect for most people, the first one is hardest. Simply because you can’t replicate those distances back to back in training, so you don’t really know how bad mile 20 of the marathon is going to be or whether you can cope. Once you’ve got through it, most people realise that it’s not as bad you imagined it, so second time is easier because you already know you can survive. Certainly for me the second time round I was able to start thinking of it as a race and not just as something to survive.
I guess if you had a really bad experience first time round, and DNFed or had to walk the marathon after bad pacing, then the second one would come with a certain degree of terror attached.
yes, because you do your first one to see where you are at, then after that there is no point in doing another one unless you have a chance to kona qualify, anything less is failure
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IMs 1-4 got progressively easier as I learned from my mistakes. Then they started getting harder, as I trained more miles in the hope of continuing to get get faster, but ended up just accumulating more fatigue, both physical and mental, that hurt me on race days.
My wife can let you know after Tremblant. Its her 2nd. Her first was Kona, but that was six years ago. She did surprisingly well at Kona - 13:02 with 4:07 marathon. Amazing when you consider she went on the lottery and had never done a IM or even a marathon before. She seems to think she can do better on the 2nd so I hope the race goes well and she doesn’t come home disappointed.
For the first one, the goal was the finish line. From there on out, the goal was basically a cacophony of delusions of grandeur. Since finishing is no longer the goal, it’s exponentially harder.
I’ve completed 7 and didn’t really think any of them were particularly harder than any other…sure some are hillier or hotter, and there are days I’ve felt great and not. Then attempt at #8 in Texas last weekend happened…my first DNF. Even though I trained in the heat, I got super dehydrated and ended up in medical. IMO, there are going to be those days in life where you just don’t have it and can’t fake it even when you’ve prepared well. Maybe it’s like another poster said, once you’ve finished one, then you go harder so maybe there’s a Kona trip in your future? I don’t know, but I do know I found my limit on that day.
For me, definitely, but mostly due to my choice to pick a tough course and weather conditions that would up the challenge a bit extra. My second was IMSG 2012.
I’ve completed 7 and didn’t really think any of them were particularly harder than any other…sure some are hillier or hotter, and there are days I’ve felt great and not. Then attempt at #8 in Texas last weekend happened…my first DNF. Even though I trained in the heat, I got super dehydrated and ended up in medical. IMO, there are going to be those days in life where you just don’t have it and can’t fake it even when you’ve prepared well. Maybe it’s like another poster said, once you’ve finished one, then you go harder so maybe there’s a Kona trip in your future? I don’t know, but I do know I found my limit on that day.
There are so many variables involved. Perhaps a better statement might be that your next IM might be the hardest, or something like that.
yes, because you do your first one to see where you are at, then after that there is no point in doing another one unless you have a chance to kona qualify, anything less is failure
My 2nd was the hardest for 2 reasons: I hated the super structured training that I was getting from the coach the year prior, it felt a lot like work so the 2nd time around I trained without a coach and gave myself quite a bit of wiggle room, maybe a little bit too often. Even though I hit all of my “benchmarks” I ended up not putting in as much time as I should have on specific training while doing a lot more unstructured training. Instead of doing long rides I was chasing points in a local crit series.
My 2nd race was 2010 IMAZ known for insane winds, ice cold rain and even a little bit of hail during the bike. I simply wasn’t prepared for that and absolutely cooked myself on the bike and paid dearly on the run. My previous “hot” IMLOU experience was nothing in comparison to IMAZ. IMLOU was unicorns and rainbows, IMAZ was a brutal reality check as I went to a very dark place a few times during that race. It took me about 3 months before I could speak of doing another IM.
Race day the 2nd was the hardest. I had put up a decent time for me (still my PR after 8 IM starts) and wanted to go faster the 2nd time around. I didn’t adapt to the heat in CdA in 2003 and had a massive meltdown.
The training went fantastically as I knew the routine but being able to just take the day as it came was much more difficult for me.
#'s 3 - 8 have gotten progressively easier. And now that I am older I can get back to being happy with just finishing, though I still have that PR to set and it is just right there like low hanging fruit.
The second, for me, was a lot more fun, same course, Coeur d’Alene. First one, I finished and dragged myself back to the house. Second one, I finished much faster, headed to the bleachers to cheer until midnight. Third, Kona on the lottery, got another PR, and partied in the stands.
My experience is different from others above it seems.
The first was like magic. 11 months into the sport I went 9:3x at Arizona. Missed a KQ but was extremely happy with my race.
The second, and the following year, was a disaster. 10:4x.
The third was a DNF after injuring my back just days before the race. And going in with more fitness than I’ve ever had. Was an incredible disappointment.
Ironman racing is always hard. And not just because the race is long. The training is long. The time commitment is huge. And when it doesnt pan out on race day, its easy to feel disappointed because you’ve invested so much. So much of it is about the journey. Sure. I do believe that. But having everything go so right on the first and spending each race chasing that sort of blows.
I’m beginning the long climb back from injury towards base fitness, and another IM, maybe in 2015.
As I ponder this task, I’m thinking about my first IM and the lessons learned and how ignorance was bliss. I didn’t know what I didn’t know and let that day unfold and just enjoyed the whole process. That day was hotter than anything I’d experienced in training and I basically wilted on the run. Now I know what an IM feels like and the prospect of another has a different feel to it.
Maybe it’s because I’ve been away from tri for almost 2 years, and when I did my first IM I had 3 years of racing under my belt. I basically fell of the face of the earth after IMC in 2011. I was wasted for months after that race, and then I got a bad case of plantar fasciitis.
And then there’s the over-confidence factor in the second attempt that I read about during my first, and how it often leads to a blow-up.
I get that every IM is hard, but I from where I’m standing now the second seems to be the hardest.
I would say out of all the Ironmans I did the second was the hardest, because the carrot of “completing” the first is gone. The motivation to get out daily becomes much harder and if you happen to be on the verge of going slower on race day, it is much easier to just give up pushing hard. I have noticed that the bulk of the athletes in my group have the lowest drive for training on IM number 2.
For me, my drive for Ironman style training is close to zero. I have zero interest in long rides and long runs these days. I love my bike commutes, short runs at lunch, and weekend rides not much more than 3 hours. When I do that, I can balance life and training nicely. I do enjoy the actual day of the Ironman immensely for the challenges it presents. I also enjoy a few long rides and long runs per year at training camps with friends at venues unrelated to my home turf where all we do is train all day with no work and no family distractions and playing like a pro athlete. That’s fun for a few weekends per year. But week in week out long stuff can get old after a while. It takes a certain personality type to tolerate that while sacrificing sleep, family and work constantly (and I did my share and not willing to go there anymore).
I just completed my second Ironman @ IM Texas last weekend, and the first I completed was IM Austria in 2011.
For me, the second one was harder because after having completed the first one there was less respect for the distance, nutrition, the race. My training increased by probably 20-30% both in quantity and quality, lost 10 pounds of fat/fast-twitch muscle since Austria and that was met by a 25minute PR at IM 70.3 Oceanside from 5:07 to 4:42 (5 minute swim PR, 10 minute bike PR, 8 minute run PR. A 90 second improvement in the 500yd pool swim. Etc… Anyhow… I knew it in my heart I was in better shape.
But I really let that get to my head on race day. And thought that “no matter what, I should be biking faster than in Austria” and that “no matter what, I should be running faster than in Austria”. My nutrition plan was less laid out as well. I ended up already cramping at mile 80 on the bike and even with that managed a 5:06 bike split. I then completely seized up on the short dirt out and back at Texas. I kona-shuffled to mile 10 with 9:50/mile and then succomed to a death march, a 6:20 marathon. Looking back, what I consumed on the course was about 10 bottles of water, 5 bottles of perform, 1 liter of coke on the run. I still think about it and think to myself, was I smoking crack thinking that was going to be enough?
It was humbling, but of course I still enjoyed it. But it was so hard to walk 16 miles fighting off leg cramps that hopefully it tought me a lesson to respect the distance and race more again.