Couch to Ironman to Couch to ...
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2014-11-17 9:45 AM |
Pro 9391 Omaha, NE | Subject: Couch to Ironman to Couch to ... I've been doing a lot of reflecting the past few weeks on my journey to Ironman and what has come after it, and I thought I would share my experience with you guys to hopefully prevent somebody from going through what I did A little bit of background:In August of 2010 I watched my first Triathlon that a friend was participating in. At the end of the race, he was sprinting up a hill to the finish line of an Olympic Tri and I was trying to chase him to video his finish. After barely 50 yards I was out of breath and coughing because I was so out of shape and my friend who had just spent 2 hours and 45 minutes in a Triathlon left me in the dust. I was 37 years old and weighed 230 lbs. (5'11") I was an embarrassment to the former athlete I used to be when I was younger. I made a commitment to myself that I would do that race next year and not only would I do it, but I would beat my friends time. I was on a mission. I started working out 6-7 days a week and the journey was on. I had to learn how to swim freestyle, I had to buy a bike, I had absolutely no idea what I was doing, but I was going to do it and nobody was going to stop me. The summer of 2011 was absolutely incredible. I signed up for every Triathlon and run race I could within driving distance and did better than I had ever dreamed. I accomplished my goal and beat my friends time by more than 3 minutes finishing at 2:42. I did a video about my journey to that point that I posted here on BT: 2011 Omaha Triathlon and my weight loss journey I picked the most aggressive training plan I could on BT because I was not only going to finish an IM I was going to kill it, and I knew I had to train a lot. I got down to 175 lbs. at one point through the summer of 2012 and did several more lead up races including HIM Kansas 2012. Everything was going great until I hit a peak week about 2 months or so before the race and all of a sudden I started getting burnt out. I remember one Saturday waking up at 5:00 in the morning and riding my bike for 100 miles and then running 13 miles immediately afterwards. I turned around and did the same thing the next day on Sunday and it just toasted me mentally. Physically I couldn't have been better, but mentally I was exhausted from such an aggressive Ironman plan that I was in no way ready for mentally. This two day brick was the beginning of the end for me now that I look back. Unfortunately, I not only took a break from racing but I also took a break from training. I just checked out completely from the healthy lifestyle and the weight started piling back on slowly but surely. After several months I'd try to go the gym, but I just couldn't keep up with it mentally. Every time I'd hit a new 5 or 10 lbs. gained milestone I'd commit to myself that I would start training again, only to fall away after only a week or so. About a month ago, I hit a milestone that was very depressing and had a profound effect on me. I got all the way back up to 230 lbs. and gained back ALL of the weight I had lost. Emotionally, this was very difficult for me and I felt like a piece of crap. I would see a bunch of my Triathlon friends who are in incredible shape and I felt so embarrassed to the point that I didn't even like going to any of the events or races anymore. Amazingly, the one thing that's seemed to finally break me out of my mental block was hitting that milestone and knowing that all the work I put in was for nothing. So, about a month ago I started training again and have some races on the calendar next year. I have no plans to do an Iron distance race ever again, or at the least not for a long time. I am going to stick to shorter races because I loved doing them so much and I was very competitive. In the last month I have been eating extremely healthy, have kicked all my bad habits and am back down to 214 from 230 as of today. I feel confident that I will stick to it now, but it kills me that it took 50 lbs. and over two years for me to finally get over the burn out of the IM. In some ways I'm just journaling this out for myself, but I hope that I can give some perspective to others that are currently in early stages of the burnout as well as those that are hard charging to conquer the Triathlon world as I was. We often talk about the physical training requirements, but I suggest to not neglect the mental side of things. I feel really good now and am so happy to be back training. I have every intention of staying within my limits this time around and not mentally pushing myself as much. I'd love to hear advice from others who have had similar struggles and how you overcame them. Tony
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2014-11-17 10:19 AM in reply to: tuwood |
239 | Subject: RE: Couch to Ironman to Couch to ... What a great read. I am 2 weeks away from IM Cozumel (my 1st IM), and I have begun to feel the exact way you did. Although I have kept up with "most" of my workouts, I am starting to lose the drive, even though I am so close. Training for an IM has been a challenge for me. I have two boys, 5 & 2.5, and although I love racing and having them run the finish line with me at the local events, I realze how I have been disconnected with my family the past 5 months. Completing an IM is personal achievement that I want to say I did, but I have no idea if it is something I can (or will) want to sustain. I know there are people out there who only do half's and full's, and I applaud them. But, the amount of hours that go into training and the stresses it puts on my marriage and my boys, I don't know if it is worth it.... I plan to finish IM Cozumel in a few weeks in however long it takes and after it is done, I will have to reflect on the race, training, and sacrifice I (and my family) made to allow me to do it. I will keep you posted. Again, thank you for sharing your story. Jeff |
2014-11-17 10:58 AM in reply to: 0 |
New user 1351 Austin, Texas | Subject: RE: Couch to Ironman to Couch to ... Tony, Edited by trijamie 2014-11-17 10:58 AM |
2014-11-17 11:21 AM in reply to: tuwood |
Elite 4583 | Subject: RE: Couch to Ironman to Couch to ... Thank you so much for sharing this. I've been in the tri world for about five years now and will be training for my first IM starting in January. I know I have felt burned out after training for both of my HIMs, so I read this as a cautionary tale. Congrats on getting back to business and finding the motivation to get going again. |
2014-11-17 12:53 PM in reply to: ingleshteechur |
Master 5557 , California | Subject: RE: Couch to Ironman to Couch to ... IM distance isn't for everyone, and it isn't necessarily a natural progression. But some people see it that way as the next thing to conquer and maybe it doesn't work for their schedule or their personality or family. I enjoy long distance events but I'm not a type A personality and I think that helps me avoid overdoing it. I don't beat myself up for missing a workout and I maintain a pretty good balance in the rest of my life. At the same time I LIKE time to myself and not interacting with others so the long rides let me (mentally) unwind. Even then, there might be something that tips you over the edge into mental burnout. Cold weather did it for me at Tahoe. I didn't want to go near my bike for a good six months after that race. So I understand where you're coming from. We see a lot of discussions about proper recovery and taper being key to building your engine. People sometimes forget to give themselves some mental recovery too. |
2014-11-17 5:24 PM in reply to: tuwood |
Master 2855 Kailua, Hawaii | Subject: RE: Couch to Ironman to Couch to ... Excellent account of your story. I can empathize with some of your experiences for sure, having gone down the IM path a number of times now. You were on fire with your goals, and went for it. Congratulations for chasing your dreams and pushing to your limits...you hit the threshold of burnout. I think this happens to a lot of triathletes that push hard...including myself to some degree. I've dialed back how many races I do, and enjoy the training with less racing. Also my push in the race isn't what I was doing in 2010 & 2011, as that may have been my fastest period. It's ok by me, as the important factors are (a) enjoying what I do, and (b) staying in shape and healthy. Hope you get back into a happy medium ! |
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2014-11-17 9:42 PM in reply to: tuwood |
Subject: RE: Couch to Ironman to Couch to ... Its funny, I am watching a friend go through this now. This is his first year in triathlon, and did his first 70.3. That's fine, but next year? At last count he had FOUR half ironmans and a full on the calendar. I hope it doesn't happen, but I see a potential huge crash and burn(out) When I started I raced a Lot, but it was mostly shorter races. Took four years to get to IM, then another 5 to get to #2. Easy for this "lifestyle" to take over any other semblance of life. |
2014-11-17 11:59 PM in reply to: tuwood |
Melon Presser 52116 | Subject: RE: Couch to Ironman to Couch to ... So much to say First of all, I love you man. I always have {MELON PRESS} Nearly everyone who's posted in this thread has been a tremendous teacher, mentor, example to me. Sometimes I only find my way by losing it. Sometimes I find that there are many wonderful ways and crappy ones too. It's OK to be a guinea pig and experiment and screw up. No one thing is that important. No one person (including me) is that important. I come from a celebrity family. We grew up in the public eye. Triathlon is one of many parts of my life. In our family, all of us do it all, all the way. And we've all paid very dearly for that. Every day, I try to treat it as one day, and only do what I can and still stay relatively sane and healthy. I'm terrible at it. But I'm aware of that and I'm getting better. |
2014-11-18 11:34 AM in reply to: IndoIronYanti |
Pro 9391 Omaha, NE | Subject: RE: Couch to Ironman to Couch to ... You guys are awesome and so supportive. One thing is for sure, I'll be hanging out here more frequently because BT is such a great tool to stay involved and more importantly focused. |
2014-11-18 11:39 AM in reply to: ChrisM |
Pro 9391 Omaha, NE | Subject: RE: Couch to Ironman to Couch to ... Originally posted by ChrisM Its funny, I am watching a friend go through this now. This is his first year in triathlon, and did his first 70.3. That's fine, but next year? At last count he had FOUR half ironmans and a full on the calendar. I hope it doesn't happen, but I see a potential huge crash and burn(out) When I started I raced a Lot, but it was mostly shorter races. Took four years to get to IM, then another 5 to get to #2. Easy for this "lifestyle" to take over any other semblance of life. I don't know if it was a pride/ego thing, or just a competitive thing, but that first year was crazy for me. I was so mad because I couldn't find a race every single weekend and signed up for everything I could. It's almost like I had to show off and prove how fit I was to everybody. I'm sure I can search back here on BT and find several posts about me telling you all how awesome I was. lol |
2014-11-18 12:20 PM in reply to: tuwood |
Master 5557 , California | Subject: RE: Couch to Ironman to Couch to ... Originally posted by tuwood Originally posted by ChrisM Its funny, I am watching a friend go through this now. This is his first year in triathlon, and did his first 70.3. That's fine, but next year? At last count he had FOUR half ironmans and a full on the calendar. I hope it doesn't happen, but I see a potential huge crash and burn(out) When I started I raced a Lot, but it was mostly shorter races. Took four years to get to IM, then another 5 to get to #2. Easy for this "lifestyle" to take over any other semblance of life. I don't know if it was a pride/ego thing, or just a competitive thing, but that first year was crazy for me. I was so mad because I couldn't find a race every single weekend and signed up for everything I could. It's almost like I had to show off and prove how fit I was to everybody. I'm sure I can search back here on BT and find several posts about me telling you all how awesome I was. lol It helps me to plan a break even if I don't think I need it. A non-race vacation is great. But even if you can't take time off work, plan some things other than training for a couple weeks or a month. Get out, have fun, call those friends you neglected when you were training. I did a little jogging here and there but no scheduled workouts. And when I get back to it, I'm more focused again. |
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2014-11-18 1:31 PM in reply to: spudone |
Subject: RE: Couch to Ironman to Couch to ... Originally posted by spudone Originally posted by tuwood Originally posted by ChrisM Its funny, I am watching a friend go through this now. This is his first year in triathlon, and did his first 70.3. That's fine, but next year? At last count he had FOUR half ironmans and a full on the calendar. I hope it doesn't happen, but I see a potential huge crash and burn(out) When I started I raced a Lot, but it was mostly shorter races. Took four years to get to IM, then another 5 to get to #2. Easy for this "lifestyle" to take over any other semblance of life. I don't know if it was a pride/ego thing, or just a competitive thing, but that first year was crazy for me. I was so mad because I couldn't find a race every single weekend and signed up for everything I could. It's almost like I had to show off and prove how fit I was to everybody. I'm sure I can search back here on BT and find several posts about me telling you all how awesome I was. lol It helps me to plan a break even if I don't think I need it. A non-race vacation is great. But even if you can't take time off work, plan some things other than training for a couple weeks or a month. Get out, have fun, call those friends you neglected when you were training. I did a little jogging here and there but no scheduled workouts. And when I get back to it, I'm more focused again. I am actually going through this now. 2014 was supposed to be a "fun and easy do what I want" season, I ended up racing more than almost any other year, starting with an April 70.3 and ending with a November marathon. Now I am in that "limbo" space where I am learning how to do things not tri related, but also not getting down on myself for losing fitness/getting fat/not doing that fall half marathon........ etc. It's only been about 10 days and I'm a bit stir crazy, but I need to learn how to do this. In previous years the only breaks were of the forced injury breaks, which is even worse. |
2014-11-18 1:40 PM in reply to: metafizx |
Master 4118 Toronto | Subject: RE: Couch to Ironman to Couch to ... Originally posted by metafizx Excellent account of your story. I can empathize with some of your experiences for sure, having gone down the IM path a number of times now. You were on fire with your goals, and went for it. Congratulations for chasing your dreams and pushing to your limits...you hit the threshold of burnout. I think this happens to a lot of triathletes that push hard...including myself to some degree. I've dialed back how many races I do, and enjoy the training with less racing. Also my push in the race isn't what I was doing in 2010 & 2011, as that may have been my fastest period. It's ok by me, as the important factors are (a) enjoying what I do, and (b) staying in shape and healthy. Hope you get back into a happy medium ! I think that is the most important part - it doesn't have to be triathlon, it doesn't have to be super achievements all the time. Just finding something that works in the context of your life that makes you happy - that makes you feel like you're accomplishing what you want, that is keeping you moving - that's the main part. Triathlon is awesome because it gives you goals and a purpose to work toward but life continues after a race- but then a race comes and goes so how do you build an active life that persists? I think the answer is slightly different for each person. What drives you on will also change over time ... There's something zen about this discussion |
2014-11-18 2:39 PM in reply to: tuwood |
39 | Subject: RE: Couch to Ironman to Couch to ... By definition, triathletes are ultra motivated people. For some this motivation goes overboard and is all consuming. I feel you need to hit a balance. In October I completed my first IM. Since than I have been a slug and have worked out only three or four times per week. For the average person, working our three or four times per week would be perfect, but not for most triathletes. I know I need to physically and mentally take a break for an extended period. Come the first of the year, I will start getting back into it and training for my second IM. Having done triathlons for several years, I know that allowing myself to be a slug for a while allows me to find the right balance. Must my thoughts. It works for me, but may not for others. |
2014-11-18 3:22 PM in reply to: tjudson |
754 | Subject: RE: Couch to Ironman to Couch to ... Welcome back! Believe it or not, your story is a bit of inspiration for me to stay the course. People on this forum don't like to admit it, but there is a bit of pressure to do an IM. I would like to make the leap to HIM next year, but the training needed to do an IM, especially to do it well, is just not something that appeals to me. I like doing the shorter races. They are fun and keep me in shape without sapping all of my time and energy. |
2014-11-18 3:39 PM in reply to: tjudson |
221 | Subject: RE: Couch to Ironman to Couch to ... Wow - thanks for sharing everyone. As a dad of two girls (ages 1 and 5), I understand the cautions of social detachment from over training. Last month I started working out every day at 5AM and was planning to start adding nighttime workouts to my routine in hopes of a HIM next year. Then one night my wife asked me what was wrong? We talked and I hadn't realized that I was becoming VERY introverted and detached from her and my daughters. Hearing your stories, I feel better about sticking with the smaller races for now. Balancing life and training is so important. |
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2014-11-18 3:46 PM in reply to: tuwood |
701 | Subject: RE: Couch to Ironman to Couch to ... Thank you. This will keep me grounded. The reminder to keep MY goals in site and keep my goals reasonable. Shouldn't be hard for me to do. "Finish". But, a reminder that getting to the "Finish" shouldn't get in the way of life and the pursuit of happiness. Especially for me who's drive is to finish. |
2014-11-18 4:02 PM in reply to: jhaack39 |
Veteran 1127 Shawnee | Subject: RE: Couch to Ironman to Couch to ... Welcome back Tuwood. Glad to see you're back in the game! As someone who shares a bit of the "addictive tendency", I have to guard myself against some similar things. |
2014-11-18 10:34 PM in reply to: 0 |
New user 72 | Subject: RE: Couch to Ironman to Couch to ... I totally understand. I usually try to manage this well but I went overboard recently. After my big A race earlier this year (that didn't go as planned) I got really burnt out. I had been racing and training with very little downtime for 18 months. After that, since I had more races on the schedule, I suffered through many weeks of training and one race with a bad attitude and disappointing result. It took that to finally figure it out the next race and just went out to "have fun". I ended up actually podiuming for the first time in my triathlon career and then took over a month off to destress. Instead of the black line of the pool I went tubing in the lazy river at the water park. Instead of biking hours on the trainer I played Dance Dance Revolution (one of my favorite indoor fun sweat sessions). I ran 6 miles a week and lifted twice a week just to make sure I didn't get completely out of shape. I did a race the week after I got back and matched my paces earlier on zero training, and then went on to PR the crap out of my 70.3 time 2 months later. The brain really is a major component of racing, much more than we realize sometimes. Downtime is important, you lose less fitness than you think and the mental aspect is so, so important. Some people can be a triathlete every week of the year, but I've learned that I need to take some time to be a normal human being if I want to keep my brain on board. Sounds like you are the same way. Make sure to keep an eye on your mood, and if you have a consistently bad attitude and negative feeling about training, realize it's time for a (shorter) break. In my experiment of one, doing a very minimal amount of training for a while (just staying active) and not being a complete couch potato will let you come back quickly. Good luck and welcome back to tri world! Edited by Quix 2014-11-18 10:34 PM |
(300 pounds on the) Couch to Half Ironman in 6 months Pages: 1 2 3 4 | |||
Question about the swim portion of training (16 week couch to sprint) |
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