Andyone doing their first HIM or IM in 2011

First HIM next year, thinking Diamondman, Skipjack (sorta HIM), or if I'm drunk when I sign up, Savageman.  I'd love to do Vineman 70.3 but I don't think it's gonna fit the budget, and I would prefer a September race.  Good luck at IMMOO next year.

Sorry Debb..IMMOO this year did count as your first Ironman and you should be very proud of your accomplishment.  In fact, I am thinking of making you an honorary member of Evil Monkey Multisport.  Yes that is the cool t-shirt I am wearing in my profile pic.

So for those of you who are doing an HIM or IM and have some weight to lose or strength to gain - are you concentrating on losing some weight first and then doing a structured plan or just structuring a plan and letting the weight take care of itself?  I think I am going to try and build strength and lose a few pounds the next 8 weeks before structuring a plan of attack for the next 9 months.  I think the strength (mostly core) and weight are huge issues that need to be addressed before I can see real gains in my running times and endurance.  I'll still do bike swim and run workouts but concentrate on some weight lifting and general cardio.  I guess I also need to work on flexibility. 

My plan is to structure my workouts AND my nutrition and I suspect the weight will take care of itself. Until now, I haven't really structured nutrition so I know that's why I'm stuck at 205. Once I dial in my nutrition I'll probably lose more weight. I'd like to be down another 20 pounds or so.

IdealMuse - 2010-09-22 4:00 PM

Pector55 - 2010-09-22 2:32 PM

IdealMuse - 2010-09-22 3:12 PM Is it still considered my first if I DNF'ed (not by choice) at mile 133.6? I still consider this part of the first journey. Mine is just 274.2 to get there instead.

Wow, that very tough!  What happened?  Heat?  Fatigue?  Bonk? 

When something doesn't go right, it motivates me to do it again with a slightly different plan.  Is it that simple in your case?  Good luck!

Combo of a few things. May have been my HR was higher then normal on the bike (combo of caffeine, excitement, medication, and fitness level) but what really did me in at the end was back pain on the run. Apparently my core strength was lacking more then I realized. Made for running fairly hard (was hard to keep upright) and hard to keep to my planned intervals. Plan this year is to lose 40lbs, improve my overall strength, and of course become a better biker and runner. When you are closer to cut off times you risk not making cut-offs if the day isn't going as planned. I'll have a bigger time cushion next year I hope!

Actually I'm down 50lbs from when I started so over the winter I'm going to hit the weights and try to maintain my fitness.  I really hope to try an IM next year.  I admire you just for having the courage to go out and do one.  Keep up the great work!  When you cross it next year I think you will probably have an even greater appreciation for it.  In the meantime, the journey is bringing smaller accomplishments that we shouldn't overlook.  Your health is everything!

I'm about your size and am planning on doing Magic Mountain Man next year (I just had to pick one with an extremely hilly bike course ;-). For me, the coming year is going to be the year of the run. It is, by far, my weakest of the three. Last off-season I focused on the bike, and it paid off, but this time it's run, run, run. Plus I want to do a marathon sometime after M3 so I need to train for that, too, and I figure a year is almost enough time.

It is great to see so many clydes/athenas tackling the longer distances. I have been away from tris for about three years and I am considering a comeback for 2011. I tried twice to do the Tinman HIM in Tupper Lake in 08 and 09 and injured myself training each year. I am 6'0 and about 240 right now. I won't consider anything longer than a sprint until I get under 220. I have had back, knee, and foot problems and the weight along with running is too much. I can't get two miles without stopping to throw up these days, but I am working to change all that.  Good luck to everyone!