My goal this year is to qualify for Hawaii. Right now, I am registered for IMLou. I am also considering signing up for IMCDA via the Community Fund. As of this moment, I would assign a 50% probability of qualifying based upon an independent IM I did in 2007. Training better and longer this year, as well as simply just racing smarter based upon slightly more experience in the IM distance will increase those odds.
So, if my main goal this year is qualifying (but not necessarily following that up with a strong IMHawaii performance), should I add IMCDA this year? On the one hand, adding another IM will essentially give me more chances to qualify and reduces the chances that one bad day, or any unlucky break, or any other random factor can contribute to failure. On the other hand, adding IMCDA might negatively impact performance for IMLou (due to recovery issues) and IMCDA is early in the race calendar and I live in the North East. That could lead to two sub par performances instead of one good one.
David, If you haven’t already done so, I think you should hire a good coach and discuss this more in-depth with him or her. Your post doesn’t have enough details or historical perspective for a meaningful response that would apply directly to your situation.
There was a great article on the Mark Allen website (www.markallenonline.com) about qualifying for Hawaii. I’d check that out. Cheers and best of luck in your effort!
I know this is not an easy thing to think about when you have a goal in mind but execute your training and racing to the best of your abilities and the best result will come from that.
I agree with Marky…do your best race and good things will happen. I think IMCDA is too close to IMlouisville to do a prime performance at both…if you want 2 chances to qualify go to St. Croix to kick start your training as the recovery impact is low.
Marky, I agree with your philosophy. To me, the task is the training itself, which is 99% of it and is the fun part. But if I had a strong sense that doing IMCDA would actually hurt my chances of qualifying, I probably wouldn’t do it.
Have you looked at the slot breakdown? I recall that Louisville didn’t have that many slots while some of the IMNA races had notably more. Depending on how close to getting/not getting a slot you are, that might influence which race you focus on. I would agree with others that it is going to be hard to hit both CDA and Lou in prime form. If successful, you’d have to back those up with IMH 2 months later. That would be 3 IMs from mid June through Mid October, or 3 in a 5 month span. Ouch.
I am not all that worried about IMH. I know too many people who head into that race for the first time with expectations that are out of line with reality. I think if I were lucky enough to make it, I would head out there mostly for the experience and perhaps setting the stage for some future chance to perform well there.
I hear that but I don’t know about you, but I have no desire to do 3 IMs within the span of 5 months. I really doubt I’d enjoy the 3rd, that much as it is still a long day, pressure or no.
While there are fewer slots at Louisville, the times (at least this year) were not all that fast (at least very deep) into AGs.
In my AG for example 11:38 got the rolldown…and he was 15th I think - two spots ahead of me but I’M NOT BITTER!..at CdA that time would have yielded a 38th place finish (32 places from slot).
I think between the lateness of the race in the year (relative to Kona) and the “newness” of the race and the river swim, the depth of the field trying to realistically get the call is not a deep in L-ville as in CdA (dislciamer: this is an anecdotal discussion and not scientifically or statistically derived one).
One theme I have heard from others focusing on a serious Kona charge is to be sure to pick a course that is best suited to your strengths…especially if you excel relative to your peers in a particular setting.
What was your time in the other IM? I beleive it takes at least 3 years of consistent Im training to really get it! I’ve seen many talented guys not able to put it together on race day because of lack of experience.
I would focus only on IMLou. I know that’s hard to do because you’re putting all your eggs in one basket so to speak but it also makes you focus more on 1 event. I was in the same boat as you 2 years ago when I qualified for Kona for the 1st time. It paid off for me.
So it seems you are right there. I’ve done CDA and Hawaii in the same year and it worked out great! I would say if you are a strong cyclist go to CDA. I would always back myself up with another race just in case, especially if your goal is to qualify.
Last year I trained for IMAZ, my first IM, with the plan to Kona qualify. I did with a 9:43, 4th in AG, 7th AG’er overall, and went on to a 9:40 Kona. Qualifying in and of itself isn’t hard IF you can demonstrate qualifying pace in your training. My long rides and runs dictated what my eventual time could be, so I went into the race knowing if I executed well, I would be there based on the course and previous years qualifying times. I would focus on one race to be the qualifier and put in the training to make it happen if you have the pace for it.
Every AG caught a break at Lou. except the M30-34. 9:56 was the last slot with only 1 rolldown slot available. Don’t think i’m bitter about that though : )
My advice would be to focus on one IM (subject to what a trained coach would advise of course). I know this is putting all your eggs into one basket but the danger with doing two IMs close together or even 3-6 months apart (for amateur athletes) is that you’ll only be 90% focussed in both races. I have done IM Aus and IM NZ (6 weeks break) and suffered big time at Aus. In the first race I wasn’t focussed (cause I was thinking during the race I have a 2nd chance in Aus) and for Aus I was still in recovery mode. The next year I focussed 100% on Aus and qualified. If its important enough (and it sounds like it is) and you have a bad race, then turn your mind to the next IM. Good luck!
As an act of self preservation I have endearvored to only do 1 Ironman per year. Frankly I am not very sure how good these are for any of us in the long term (even though I have done 15). When I first did IMC in 1991, I remember Mark Allen saying that he thought the World Ironman Series (as it was known in that era) was crazy and guys like Tinley, Browning and Ken Glah doing 4 a year were nuts and no one should do more than 1 per year…I took that advice to heart and it has served me well.
The only time I have done 2 in a year was in 2006 when I did Ironman LP and Kona…they were ~ 11 weeks apart, and I actually felt really really strong at Kona compared to Placid, I think mainly because I had more weeks of biking under my belt before Kona, and in between Placid and Kona, my focus was harder intermediate distance rides (3-4 hours) and two half Ironmans. Endurance is something you build over years and with one Ironman under me that summer I did not feel I needed to do any super long bike rides or runs…I had one 6 hour ride (Sep) and one 5 hour ride (Aug) in between LP and Kona. I did one 2 hour run in between the two races…the rest of my runs were 1:30 or less…I did a PB in Kona, but we had a great wind year, and I had no expectations! I did have one super high volume 28 hour week ending 3 weeks out from Kona. But you will go into Louiseville with some self imposed pressure!
I think 11 weeks was nicely spaced apart…I think you only have 8 weeks between CdA and Louiseville?