So I’m now officially about 6 months away from my first IM. my coach is on sabatical, so I now turn to you, Slowtwitch, for some advice.
My ride is pretty good, ticking off 50+ milers with no real problems (on the roadie) hills and sprints included preparing for the most flat course in the land IMFLA.
My swim should be good. I just did a half in 33 with minimal pool time, and I promise to log more yards before the big event.
I have a big issue with the run, but I’ve been ticking off 10 milers with little problem over some rolling terrain. Slow and steady (like 9’s or on a fast day 8.5’s)
So as I ramp up to IM I figure that I will have a long run of about 20 and just ride as much as I can to get used to the saddle. I must transition to the tri bike eventually, but the roadie is suiting me just fine right now.
So tell me about your first IM experience. What do you wish you had done more of? I want to race. I’m pretty sure that I should run more. Right to the limit of of injury right? I just dont want to go in hurt.
Tell me I can do it on after work training and a little swimming in the morning, or tell me tha if I want to break 10 hours that I need to kick it in gear and get serious about the whole thing.
for me, not having a history or racing in any sport, the hardest thing was to learn pacing. you really don’t know how hard you can go for 8 - 10 -12 hrs until you’ve done it a few times. and you really can’t do it a bunch of times 'cause you’ll either burn out of over train or get hurt. so, you have to do some long stuff like 7hr rides with a 2-3 mile run and some maybe 20ish mile runs (in different weeks) and get down the pacing.
really pay attention to how you feel. think, after a long ride when you get into the run, can you do this for 4 hrs. how hard can you push the bike and still be able to run. how hard can you run the first half and not cramp up on the second half. don’t just look at HR but really get to know your limits. know how to pace yourself when there will be 1,000 people around you and some going faster and some slower.
good luck
How fast did you go in your half? Is it realistic to break 10-hours in your first IM? Its your first one - I recommend enjoying the experience and letting your time sort itself out - its a nice accomplishment to finish your first IM regardless of what your time is. But, you will do better if you spend less energy swimming and get out of the water faster which will mean you are surrounded by faster bikers which will help you bike better. That means going to the pool more than “minimally.” Ticking off 50-milers with no problem is good, but I imagine an under 10-hour IM would require ticking off 100-milers with no problem. So bike a lot. Then you should also run a lot; My run really improved when I increased my running frequency.
So tell me about your first IM experience. What do you wish you had done more of?
I wish I *hadn’t *fallen and broken my kneecap and God knows what else 8 weeks before the race. Nothing prepares you for the pounding of the marathon except running.
But the one thing that can’t be overstated is the importance of your mental game. Everything after mile 80 is a battle between your ears. You need to have some really crappy training days and be able to turn them around and finish strong.
Nutrition training… All the swimming, biking and running won’t mean squat if you are out of gas and/or your legs are out of electrolytes and you can’t stand up straight. I encourage you to read Hammer Nutrition’s free download in their resource section of their Internet site called “Endurance Athlete’s Guide to Success”. It’s a goldmine of pertinent info regarding how much food and fluid you can absorb and process per hour during exercise. The info related to preventing cramps has been a blessing. I’m sure there are other good electrolyte replacement tablets, but the Endurolyte tablets have done wonders for me.
I’m a middle of the pack IM racer with only 3 IM’s under my belt and have no affiliation with Hammer Nutrition other than being a loyal customer. There are much faster and more experienced IM racers than me on this forum, but that’s my .02.
I agree with Jodi that alot of it is mental, and with the other poster that said pacing is key. I’m not a big fan of the long training rides, but I do about 6 rides over 70 miles leading up to IM (just did 82 yesterday, and I’m 7 weeks out from IMC) with my longest being a single ride of 100 miles and my longest run of 20. For my first IM, I was running 5 days/week with 3 short runs (4 miles or less) and 2 longer runs (one 8-10 and one being as long as 20 miles 3 weeks out from the race) and that really made a difference for me. I was able to basically run the entire marathon (my first marathon) with the exception of walking through the aid stations so I could drink without splashing all over myself. I think it depends on the course though. For sure plenty of running helps, but if you have a tough bike course, extra bike time will help. Sounds like you’re in for IMFL though, so make sure you spend much of your long rides in the aero position, because that’s what you’re going to be doing for 95% of that ride.
So tell me about your first IM experience. What do you wish you had done more of?
Before my first IM, I wish I had…
…run more frequently - although not necessarily longer.
…biked 100+ miles a few more times than I did.
…swam a little less - once I got to the point where I could swim the distance comfortably, I feel like I could have maintained that fitness with one swim a week and used the “saved” time for items 1 & 2.
…practiced my race day nutrition a couple more times - although it did work out OK I would have liked the confidence of knowing that I’d tried it a few more times.
ill second the vote for run frequency, I have twice blown apart in the IM run and come in 4:48 amd 4:49. Both times, I was averaging only about 3 runs oer week, one long, one tempo, one shorter tempo. This time, im going to add a few more runs oer week, definately 2, maybe three of just easy running. I broke three hours in a stand alone marathon by basically adding an easy run every morning on top of what I was already doing.
I may be missing something, but if your race is IMF it’s FOUR months away, not six.
That’s exactly what I was about to write. Item number one should probably be “Know when the race is.”
I would suggest reading Gordo’s “going long” and/or getting a copy of “Iron fit” by Don Fink (if you are not going to have a coach). This along with what everyone said saved my bacon.
I did IMCDA this year and looking back I would have done 2 things more. (1) On my long rides I would have rode harder for the entire duration (less coasting, more hills, more effort), and (2) lost more weight… to run faster!
yeah 4 months, I knew that, don’t know how i typed that wrong.
And yes 10 hours is a dream of mine, but not really a goal. Mostly I jsut want to finish and feel good. I think that I I can get my run in line under 11 hours is a pretty realistic goal (my half was about 5:30 and my run was super sucky).
If your half was 5:30, depending on how tough a half it was, a more realistic goal for your IM is 13-hours. The guys that break 10 hours in an IM probably go under 4:30 for a 1/2 IM. It will probably take at least a few years to build the kind of aerobic base to go under 10-hours. Nothing wrong with a 13 hour IM or a 15 or 17 hour IM for that matter. I recommend not setting unrealistic time goals that will leave you disappointed. Even though the race is still 4-months away, that time will fly by and you’ll wish you had more time to train. So start running, biking, and swimming a lot. Good luck and have fun.
for an ironman with no real extreme climbing like florida, i’d say to double your best half and add up to an hour for a general time prediction. the key, as mentioned, is nutrition and hydration. once you get behind it’s tough to catch up. don’t blow it all out on the bike, walk as little as possible on the run (its sooooo easy to stretch out your walk breaks…fight the temptation), keep your focus, and always have a plan b.
