I know there's no guarantee I'll finish first IM, but what would your tips be to prevent disaster? (Page 2)

Don't get hurt training, ie, don't train to fast especially on the run, unless you think you can handle it.

I see you have your goal to do a number of 100 milers. Try to work your long ride up to 200km over the course of 2 or 3 months. It is a real time suck when you get over 100 km but if you can get out the door at 5:30 on a Saturday you can at least get 6 hours on the bike without losing your whole day, and really it is only a month of 6+ hour rides after that to get to 200 km (I am thinking of going up by 20 or 25k a week), gives you a bunch of confidence.

The other thing, if you want a guarantee, and this is as close as I think there is, do the triple brick.

(40k bike 10 k run) X 3

Get that out the week or 2 after your 200k bike ride and a month or so before the ironman, it will take you a long time. It may hurt just as much as the ironman (although it certainly does not do the muscle damage that the IM does) and is more mentally challenging then the ironman (it really is incredibly brutal). It will get your nutrition dialed right in. OH boy does it hurt though, lol, found memories....

Good luck.

Lots of good advice here. 

One thing that you must have going into an IM is confidence. Know you can do the distances. This means getting your training in, working on nutrition, etc, etc.

If you know you can do the IM, then it's just a matter of getting to the start line and finishing one (barring some catastrophic equipment failure or an accident). 

Also, respect the distance. I've heard that time and time again. IM is not easy and the distance is nothing to sneeze at.

Good luck and have fun training! 

Wow what a great article - I have bookmarked it! Thanks!
 

I read that article once a day... EVERY DAY... for 3-4 weeks leading up to IMWI. Just so it became ingrained.

Wow, thanks everybody!
Great advice!

I have done a few crazy winter workouts not because I was gaining fitness running in a foot of snow, but because of mental toughness. Those loop courses sound like a good idea - I frequently avoid passing by the house due to fear of calling it a day early. I should do that on purpose. I really love hearing about the mental stuff. I am pretty tough in some aspects of life, but on race day if I see someone drop out, or stop running and start walking, it actually really gets to me. I have to work on blocking it out.

Please don't look at my logs today. I have had a rough cold since Monday afternoon and haven't done any training since Monday morning. I hate it. The weather is beautiful, and I am folding laundry and gardening. Sigh. But I don't want it to go into my chest.
 
I have had a good winter, though. I feel good about my base. Thanks for the encouragement. It can get tricky to get all those miles in on the bike, with the family stresses. It's definitely hard to not be home for 6-7 hours, and then come home and not be in a mood to play. But it's just one summer, I keep telling myself!

Sorry, no advice from me.  I loved that article!  Thanks for sharing!

Super advice above. 
I'd only add, have a 'plan B' for everything. 

Nutrition, clothing, equipment (perhaps except the bike), and pace.  Something's not working?  go to plan B.

The one suggestion I saw before my IM that really helps is this:  If you're not feeling right, ask yourself, "What is it that I need?"  that simple question asked with purpose often supplies the answer you are seeking.

Good Luck!

X2. Nothing wakes you up faster than a right hook to the face during the swim. Other 'punches in the face' will come (metaphorically), but brace yourself for a bloody nose in the water.

I'm just resurrecting this thread because it's been so helpful. I've read it over several times, and I'm revisiting it this week.

I think I've taken most of the advice so far, and plan to take it easy on the bike.

The thing I've done the most is learn to listen to my body during long training sessions. There's often a tiny voice that says, "I need a drink" or "I'm hungry" and we sort of block it out because there is a hill coming up or whatever. I've learned to really give that voice a lot of attention and eat or drink as soon as possible. I've found that eating and drinking in response to the tiny, quiet voice is much more effective than consuming XX ounces at YY time interval. When my stomach asks for something, it is ready to receive it. I haven't had many tummy problems since I figured this out.

I think this is true because the amount I can handle (or need) on a hot session versus a cool session is wildly different, and even 7 days out, I still don't know if it will be 85 degrees or 60 degrees on the bike. So I'm glad I feel confident about this.

I feel solid. Thanks for the all the advice. The only thing I really screwed up was wrecking and getting hurt during peak week. I was totally on guard about it, but I guess just not quite enough. It doesn't take much to go down.

Anyway, I just wanted to bump this thread for anyone else who might find it useful.

You've done the training and put in the hard work.  The rest is the mental game.  Go into it knowing your capabilities and erase that doubt.  Keep moving forward!

I had the opposite experience of some of the other posters when I did CdA last June.  The swim was probably the most polite mass start I've ever been in.  I don't think I caught an elbow all day.  Maybe people were too cold

I just tried to treat the event like any other long weekend activity.  I've done longer rides.  I've hiked from dawn till dusk.  This is no different.  Get into your ideal pace, find a zone and enjoy it.

While doing IMLOO, I passed a guy on the bike who had "don't eat the paste" facing him on his aerobottle.  Right when I read that, about three guys went charging up a hill past me.  I just shook my head and chuckled inside.  About thirty miles later, two of them were sitting on the side of the road.

As everyone else said NUTRITION, NUTRITION, NUTRITION!!!  I have suffered the wrath of ignoring that truth.  Hopefully you have practiced some nutrition and know what works for you.  Let me tell you on race day it is very possible that you will not feel 100%.  For me as I was biking my stomach started getting nauseous and I stopped eating the way I knew I needed to.  By the time I got to the run I was like 1000 calories behind and continued my under-fueling on the run.  By mile 13 there was no recovering.  I puked up everything including water and had to stagger my way to the finish line.

In my personal opinion it is better to risk over eating then going under.  You can always back off if you start feeling bloated or crampy but it is EXTREMELY difficult to dig yourself out of a big calorie hole during an Ironman.

Just my 2 cents for what's it's worth.  More important than anything is to make sure you go into the race absolutely convinced that you will finish.  Get any thoughts of what a DNF looks like out of your mind and don't make it an option.  If you do this you WILL cross that finish line.  Good luck and congrats on your first! 

Going to have to strongly disagree with that. The cause of the VAST majority of GI distress on the run is excessive calories and fluid on the bike AND/OR excessive pacing on the bike. Sounds like you were a victim of the later. If your intensity while riding is a bit too high, and can have an adverse effect on your ability to absorb calories. If you are bloated or crampy, it is VERY difficult to get back from that. It is, however, very possible to come back from a nutritional bonk as you can still process food.

Edited by bryancd 2010-09-06 7:54 AM

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To chime in with what Bryan said ^^^

In IM Canada I threw up on the bike for 4 hours, wasn't able to get in fluid or calories for hours, was dehydrated, very low on calories, and in a very bad place...really couldn't think well at all for last 2 hours on the bike. At times I had to walk my bike that is how bad I felt.

Off the bike, I knew I needed to cool off, get calories, fluid & electrolytes into me and that was my focus at each aid station.  I did my run/walk plan and after about 7 miles, my ability to think came back, as I had been able to get nutrition and fluids into me and soon after I needed to pee again. I had a pretty good run for me with pretty close first and second half splits within 7' of each other. I was able to come back from a bonk on the bike. I do think my run might have been better without issues on the bike.

At IM Canada Sister Madonna Buder (80 year old nun that has done 45 IM races), spoke at the welcome dinner. She said something that I kept with me for the entire race.  She said to "Race with your heart, not your body."  It is so true. After you're exhausted the only thing that may keep you going is that desire to finish and prove to yourself you are an Ironman.

Bryan and Fred are absolutely correct.

It is VERY difficult to come back from GI issues and have a great time. I could tell you a lot of stories from seven IMs, but the pattern is "GI issues set in late on the bike, suffered for hours, came back the last half of the run".

From listening to them and others here on BT, my last two IMs, I reduced my nutrition the first hour on the bike and watched my pacing. Result? No repeat of that pattern.

LISTENING to your body is far more important than following some preset nutrition plan. At Lake Placid last July, I had a classic NOT listening experience. On the run I felt a little sloshy so I thought hmm, probably need some sodium. I had some pretzels at the aid station, and immediately felt a little nausea (not much, just a little) and no improvement in sloshiness. Did I listen to that? No, of course not. "Need more sodium" is what was stuck in my brain. Next aid station, more pretzels, a little more nausea, still a little sloshy. Next up, my special needs bag. I popped an electrolyte tablet. Thank god I didn't take two, because literally 100 paces later I was doubled over with nausea. It took five miles and a slow hour before that went way.

What I think I should have done was skip taking in any fluids and see what happens, as well as drop my pace. The bloating was clearly caused by my pacing adversely affecting my GI system. I was pushing myself to my limit on the run and I clearly exceeded my fitness.

Certainly I should have skipped the pretzels since there was such a clear cause-and-effect relationship with the nausea. But I didn't listen. I didn't even notice until it was too late. I had five miles to ponder that mistake.

Edited by brucemorgan 2010-09-06 11:18 AM

Bryan, I have a profound respect for what you have to say given your accomplishments.  Anyone in their right mind would listen to your words of wisdom as I have done on countless occasions.  That being said, I was just speaking from personal experience.  I have gone both ways through a bunch of different half-ironman, ironman, and ultramarathons and hands down it has always paid off for me to shoot for closer to the 400-450 calorie mark per hour vs. risking going lower.  I usually have to adjust a little during the race taking into account weather, speed, etc.. but generally speaking when I error on the low side of calories it usually doesn't end well.  On the other hand I have not had a bad experience since upping the calories except occasionally having to back off a bit mid race.

I would be the first to admit this might be a personal thing that relates to my body and racing style and again I bow to your incredible knowledge and performance in this sport but that is what has worked for me which took some suffering to figure out. 

For sure and with apologies. Everyone is different. My recommendation is directed towards most other athletes. 450 calories for an average IM athlete is a lot. I would suggest you may want to consider limiting your calorie intake bait for your next IM as the caloric requirements on the bike are very different from an ultra run.

True enough. As always you are the man and I hope to match your times one of these days. I will keep hammering away as a middle of the pack triathlete working on being a front of the pack runner. We'll see how ironman wisconsin goes in a few days.