Was wondering if anyone who has done two ironmans a month a part would comment on whether it was a good experience or not…Can it be done w/o blowing up on the second race? Better yet, going faster the second? What are some big do’s and donts? Im 34 w/ avg ability to recover. Thanks
This year I did 2 IM’s 3 weeks apart. My plan going into teh race was actually to race IM Austria (July 6) witha goal of going sub-10. The next race was IM USA on July 27. I was planning on using this as a “training” day…basically just go for a finish. Then, a month later go to Korea and race that one with an eye on qualifying. Well…you know what they say about the best laid plans. My August trip to Korea got rescheduled, so taht left me 2 races. No problem I thought. Then, 48 hours before Austria starting gun I got sick as a dog. I finished but wayyyyyy off my goal time. That left IM USA. After Austria, I thought - “OK - I guess now I have to race IMUSA”. But, then my mother got very ill and I lost the race focus. I converted it from a race to a fundraiser to fight breast cancer (which was killing my mother). I finished it also - around an hour slower than Austria.
So, (sorry for long answer) yes - you can finish. It may even had been possible to race the second IM, but I think it would have been harder. My legs never felt crisp or as really rested…although they were also not exhausted or dead. If I had been able to mentally re-focus I think it would have been possible to race the second IM, but I don’t think I could have done it faster than the first IM.
But - if you wanted to switch the order and do the first IM with a “just finish” goal in mind, and then come back and race the second IM - yes, I think if you can recover reasonably well then it is possible to post a good time in race #2. Of course, everyone’s body is different. That’s just my personal experience and thoughts. Good luck in case you decide to do this.
This is anecdotal: My buddy Marcie just finished IM Wisconsin and had a pretty good race considering she did almost no training leading up to it. She had done a lot of moving and had just taken a new job here in Michigan. I have noticed her recovery after Im Wisconsin has been a little slow in coming, although she smoked me in the water yesterday (not hard, I am a shitty swimmer) but I put the hurt on her on the bike. If your base is good (hers wasn’t) you might fair OK. My inclination would be to say this would be pretty tough though, especially to have quality races in both. The pro-active recovery you would have to do after the second one would have to include good rest, lots of massage and a spot-on diet with a lot of sleep and no stress. Who really lives like that?
Last year I did IMC and qualified/did Kona 7 weeks later. I did well at both and did relatively really well at IMH. I placed 13th in the 30-34 AG at IMC. Of the 12 that finished ahead of me in my AG, 8 took a spot to IMH. Of these 8 I went on to beat 6 at IMH (handily). My guess is that they did too much in between.
I had someone coaching me and his philosophy was that I had all the fitness I was going to get for IMC and the training in between had to allow for adequate recovery and try to maintain the fitness. My coach let me dictate the return to training as I felt ready.
As it turned out I took 2 weeks almost completely off; 0 hrs week 1 and 2 hours week 2. Then I felt ready to start again. The next 2 weeks I progressed my hours and my largest workout peaked at a 4hr/2hr brick. Then back into taper.
My suggestion FWIW would be to not do too much. My legs were trashed from IMC and I think if I had coached myself or had an aggressive training plan I would have bombed IMH.
Good Luck.
A friend of mine did IM CdA, then did the MXT (off-road Ironman) 12 days later. Didn’t mail it in at either; 11:10 (slow for him, but it was a tough day all around) at CdA, and then finished 7th overall at MXT.
He’s a tough cookie, and had a huge base. He told me that he felt fine in both races, but had a slow recovery post-MXT…12-day turnaround might be a bit agressive.
It is do able and can be positive if the gola is to be “better” at the second one:
It depends on:
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Level of fitness going into the first one - the higher the bettter
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You should taper less for the first one - perhaps a mini taper of about a week.
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Treat the first one as your last long/big training day.
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Make sure you fully recover from IM#1 - Note this normally takes three weeks.
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You will be surprised how little you will need to train to maintain or even improve fitness between the two IM’s( Know that you can do next to NO training for two solid weeks and loose little if any of the key IM fitness/endurance parameters)
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If you do this right you will learn one of the most valuable lessons of training - recovering and doing nothing is as important as the key big work-outs you have witten down in your training log!
In 1992 I did two Ironman races exactly one month apart. Followed the protocol above. Essentially did no real training for a month. Was very nervous going into IM#2, but had the best race of my life and set my IM PR.
Fleck…this sounds about like what I would need to do as this years Lake Placid recovery has been a test that I have failed in attempt to guage what I need to do…question is, with 3 weeks of inactivity, and Ironman metabolism, what did ya do to keep the lbs. off? Thanks for everyones input…awesome!