In your opinion how much triathlon experience should someone have before moving on to the “big show”, IM?
Do you think triathletes should “self qualify” themselves? By that I mean should they allow themselves to enter an Ironman only if they can complete a 1/2 IM in a certain time that they determine as their minimum standard? Do you have any “self qualifying” standards for yourself?
I think that the answer to your question depends on the individual. I know people that jumped right into ironman distance racing in their 2nd year and were quite successful and others (myself included) that raced shorter distances for a long time before moving up to IM. Your athletic background, goals for the IM, and adapability to increased training loads all play a huge part in the decision to move up in distance. I could have done an ironman much sooner than my 10th year of racing tris but I wanted to make sure that I had the experience and training behind me to race well and not just to finish.
I just did IM Moo, my first, in my second year of triathlon. My friend did HalfMax (Half IM) and UltraMax (IM distance) last year, his first in triathlon.
It all depends on what you think you can do.