Besides the obvious physical challenge, what are some of the toughest things for you in regards to the Ironman? Here are a few of mine:
Getting a tri-top on in T2 when you are wet. I swear I look like a circus contortionist when I stuggle with it.
Clicking the “accept” button in Active.com that will immediately drain my bank account by $450+.
Putting up with the “fuzzy” teeth feeling for hours on end from consumption of sports drinks.
Staying aero for 112 miles. In fact, that’s not happened yet.
Fighting self-doubts when a training ride or run don’t go well…ie (If I can’t do a 70 mile ride without feeling crappy at the end, how is 112 going to feel?)
I’m currently training for my first one so I’m going to have to go with the mental anguish and butterfly feeling in my stomach everytime I think about race morning.
The alarm going off before dawn in the middle of the winter when it’s freezing cold and raining outside and having to find the motivation to get up and go for a swim, knowing that I could stay in bed another hour or more and still be at work on time but also knowing that if I do then I’d never stop being a BOP swimmer and my decent bike and run performance would always be wasted.
Miles 90-105 or so of the bike when everything’s beginning to seize up but the end’s not yet in sight. Pulling on a pair of air-cushioned trainers and going for a run is positively blissful by comparison.
Being away from my wife and children during training. I often struggle with the cost (time) of training vs. spending time with the family and the effects of said training has to the actual time spent with family…
I know many people have said they “balance” their lives and are able to train for IM, have a job and family. I’ve supposedly done this twice so far and am currently signed up for the 3rd.
However, in hind-sight I haven’t balanced anything. What I have done or shall I say have, is a very supportive wife and children who see a very active Father (Both wonderful aspects of my life). There have been plenty of training sessions which I have skipped or cut short to “balance” but what about the other 400 hours a year? What affect have those hours had on spending time with my wife and children. How many hours have I NOT kicked a soccer ball around with the kids, or went for a hike in the woods, or danced at a wedding with my wife, because my legs were tired. How many times have I gone to bed early leaving my wife alone? How many times have I left early AM, to get MY workout in, leaving my wife to tend to the children for the 6 & 7th mornings of the week.
Indeed, it’s not the physical part of IM training that is draining it’s the cost of time spent with my wife and kids…
Thankfully, like I said, I have a very supportive wife. Without Her, I wouldn’t have been able to embark on my 1st let alone my 3rd IM.
First 1000m of the swimming…starting from half asleep to sprinting and ending up with the highest heart rate I will have all day Miles 20-23 of the run Getting out to train in January when it is minus 20C and biting windchill to the point that my toes feel frozen 5K into a run!
Dev.
Listening to North American athletes complain about cost, course crowding, commercialism, developing an alternative and then have them not show a lot of interest in participating in well managed non-WTC races.
The “I’m not worthy” or “What am I doing here” feeling. Usually this occurs approaching the venue for the first time and again on the walk to the swim start.
At Placid I got in the water 15 minutes before the start. At first I had plenty of space, but then a couple of guys kept backing up to give themselves space in the front which made me quite claustraphobic. I never have that feeling under normal circumstances, but I hate to have my personal space infringed upon. Note: Once the guns goes off I have No problem swimming under, over, around, and through other people.
Looking at the distance left to go instead of the distance to the next aid station. I can do a 10 mile bike or a 1 mile run with no problem, but big run and bike numbers are quite daunting.
Avoiding evil thoughts on steep descents, especially my body being splattered all over the pavement for flying over the guardrail.
Listening to North American athletes complain about cost, course crowding, commercialism, developing an alternative and then have them not show a lot of interest in participating in well managed non-WTC races.
Fighting self-doubts when a training ride or run don’t go well…ie (If I can’t do a 70 mile ride without feeling crappy at the end, how is 112 going to feel?)
That’s the one for me. “how am I going to run 26 miles when I feel this bad after riding 100 miles?”
