Ooops, I signed up for an Ironman. Am I Doomed? (Page 4)

For a relatively small price, you can transfer your entry in to any other European IM race this year (including 70.3 races that might be a bit more doable) and buy yourself a couple extra months of training.

But where's the fun in that? Vive le France!

ETA: Oops, nevermind. Deadline to transfer was two days ago. France it is, can't wait to read the race report. 

Edited by Bob Loblaw 2015-04-30 11:31 AM

Can't say anything more than what's been said. Training 3 hours per week isn't even base training for marathons. Be careful. Don't become a statistic of people being injured or worse in IMs.

Jeap, count me in on looking forward to the race report and the bib # would be nice. Either way, good luck and be safe on the course !

Edited by Andrep 2015-05-03 4:02 AM

http://www.uwbadgers.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/091114aad.html

Thought this was interesting and related to this topic.

This article makes me think it is not that outrageous what the OP is trying to do.

There are many talented athletes out there that don't happen to be d-1 athletes or former d-1 athletes. And many of these people that did not play d-1 athletics are much more natural athletes in other sports than some d-1 athletes are when they attempt to crossover.

I agree that his training in basketball would have helped, but it was not all race specific.

I would like to thank everyone for their comments, even those on the less positive side. It's been super helpful for me to identify what areas I need to focus on and also helped my belief that I have some degree of chance at this also, however remote. All things considered, I think Nice was probably a tough choice for a first Ironman although a memorable one for the right reasons I hope.

Bike and swim is the focus now, although I am still struggling to find the requisite hours. On Saturday I took to the beach in my wetsuit to try and get a feel for what swimming in the sea feels like. It turned out to be pretty choppy, with far more breakers than ideal. I spoke to the lifeguard and they seemed to think it was safe enough for a swim, even with my limited experience.

If the conditions are like that on the day, its going to be tough, even just beyond breakers it was tricky. More practice in the wetsuit and probably sea is required, although where I live, I will get few opportunities between now and the IM.

In the mean time, I have my second ever triathlon and first half IM distance this weekend. The swim is in a lake with wetsuit, so it should be useful experience to a degree. I have little idea how I am going to get on with it, but hopefully reasonably well. I guess anything over 7:30 looks pretty bleak for the Nice IM, given the little training time left.

Once again, thanks for peoples support, advice and critiques. It all helps.

Post a race report of your HIM. Good luck.

Good luck. I wish you well. Since you seem to have made up your mind, please be careful for your sake and the sake of the other racers. After watching the videos the swim looks tame from a wave standpoint obviously the mass start is going to bring with it some issues as others have mentioned, but the bike looks very very tough.

I think this has been said before, but I'd highly recommend getting your nutrition straight above all else given the time you have left. If you run out of gas, you're done. I'd concentrate on what you body can handle and what you like and practice this weekend at the HIM. It took me 6 months to figure out my nutrition plan for the IM I have in a week and a half, and at the longer distances, you can get surprisingly picky. For me, it comes down to the specific flavor of Gus which make or break it. It's also important to see what your body can handle. I made some nutrition mistakes at my HIM and was able to push through them. I doubt that a full IM would have that leniency.

I just started reading Foe Friel's The Triathlete's Training Bible (I'm sure everyone has already read it or is familiar with it) and in one of the opening chapters he talks about how the athletes of the Ironman have changed. How back in the day you had people that would sign up just to test their mettle; that with little training resources or knowledge and the image of the IM being a "gruelfest" it drew these types of athletes (or masochists) to the sport giving it its initial popularity. This didn't end well for a lot of them and they participated in a sufferfest, where, knowing what we do now, is not necessary. But hey, I see the OP as a throwback to those first crazies (and I 100% honestly mean that as a compliment). Of course, that would be akin to using a stagecoach to go across country nowadays, but let's see what happens. I wish you the best of luck!

Today I managed the half-Ironman. It was definitely hard, but i felt I had a bit more distance in me if I slowed it down a bit. I am still waiting on the official results and timings, but it looks to be around 6:20 which is faster than I was anticipating. While slow to most, its a time I am genuinely happy with. Especially with the sub 2 hour Half Marathon finish that I wasn't expecting. I will put a quick write up together tomorrow because one or two people asked.

It's no time to be unduly celebrating, my speed on the bike leaves me a bike cut-off risk on the much tougher Nice course. Today's route was about 10% of the Nice climb. Since the swim was reasonable, it confirms that I really have to work hard on the bike in the next few weeks.

I'm curious to hear what this new data has on peoples estimations of my Nice completion. In my mind, its definitely a confidence boost, but with 6 weeks to go, I am far from sure on this as I expect Nice to be considerably tougher.

Do you know what your splits were for each leg?

So much negativity. Bah.

Yeah man, go for it!! Your mindset is first - if you think you're gonna fail then you will. You will finish this!! Get the right mindset.

Your bike fitness is second. Spend 80% of your time on the bike. Be sure to do some long bike/run bricks.

If you don't have a heartrate monitor get one asap, and train all Maffetone style. This will save you from blowing up on the race. Race at Maff HR.

Lastly, do a lot of research into nutrition and hydration and train this as diligently as the swim/bike/run. You've probably got some of dialed in already - but really get it down. It makes all the difference.

Good luck!!

Good job on the HIM! If you finished feeling like you had gas left in the tank, then it sounds like you paced it well. I've heard a rule of thumb (obviously this is highly variable) is to double your HIM and add an hour. That'd put you around 13:40. Add a little time for difficulty and I think you have a really legit shot.

That being said, make sure you respect the distance and be careful. Listen to your body of it tells you it's time to stop. No use getting hurt or worse.

Good luck! I'd personally bet on you finishing.

Edited by 3mar 2015-05-11 4:51 AM

I've been following along and your 1/2IM result sort of confirms what I've been thinking: that Nice will be doable IF you ride very slowly and pay close attention to your nutrition and hydration.

A couple of things:

- Tackle the hills in an easier gear than you think you need. You want to keep the stress on the legs to a minimum so as to avoid cramping.
- Remember that feeling really strong at the halfway point on the bike means nothing. Avoid any intermittent temptation to hammer at all costs. Really, the ideal pace for you on that course would be Sunday Ride with the family around a lake with one eye on the clock. In the unlikely event you're feeling frisky and fresh at ride's end, you can take it out on the run course.

Good luck with your training.

Not written a race report before, so here it goes:

I thought I was reasonably well prepared for the Half Ironman race start on Sunday. It turns out there is a surprising amount of preparation required to get transition area well laid out prior to the race.

My first triathlon (4 weeks ago) was a perfect case study in how not to prepare for a triathlon. This time (Tri No. 2), I was determined to not repeat my mistakes. That didn’t work out so well. It was definitely better, but I still ended up rushing and not getting things right.

I just finished getting my wetsuit on with 3 minutes to race start, when someone tapped me on the shoulder and helpfully pointed out that I had put my wetsuit on back front, much to the amusement and audible laughter of those around. It’s hard not feel in those moments, that is a metaphor for my lack of race preparation and perhaps my whole Ironman Journey.

It did however prove good practice in getting the wetsuit off very quickly, another new experience. I made it to the startline before race start, getting in a lake at 7am definitely wakes you up.

It was a 4ft deep rowing lake with a foot of algae at the bottom, standing in it was pretty weird. Swimming in it was weirder. After the first 100m I was pretty worried, having not swam in open water, it was unnerving to just see blackness with your head down in the water. To add to the problem, as people's strokes caught the algae, it propelled up into your face...and mouth.

Despite that, I found that the pace relaxed after the first 400m or so and I could start to focus on my techniques (or what little of it I posses). Perhaps most importantly of all, I realised how powerful drafting is in the swim. At one point I thought the person ahead was going a bit slowly, so I pulled to the side and overtook. Once out of the tow, I realised I was barely swimming any faster.

For Nice I am going to have to strike the delicate balance between not getting in the scrum, but using as much draft as I can. All in all, I finished the swim feeling good in 46 minutes. Considering my perceived lack of swimming talent, I was pretty happy with it. In fact, I felt great right until I got out of the lake. I was so dizzy that I would have struggled to climb out without volunteer assistance.

I spent a minute or two staggering around in transition in a sort of daze, at least that’s how long it felt, I really have no idea how long it was. It made the job of getting the wetsuit off pretty arduous. Unfortunately my lack of transition preparation meant I was messing around with unpacking food and finding key items. I also had to put my chain back on the bike before I set off on the bike. All in, T1 took over 9 minutes. Not great.

I haven’t previously managed to get a plan together for the bike, and this race was no different. I had no way of knowing how fast I was going, how far I had gone, or what time it was. This makes it pretty difficult to know how much effort you should be putting in at any given point. In absence of any useful data, I decided to just go with what felt easy.

I learned from my first 100 mile cycle two weeks ago, that the bike all feels easy until it doesn’t. Once it doesn’t feel easy anymore, there is no going back. In my growing tally of rookie mistakes, I started to realise the error that is: trying new gear on race day. I bought a tri-suit (really good idea), but I didn’t have time to try it out prior to race (really bad idea). Circa mile 20, I was finding that the light cushioning of the tri suit was really starting to become an issue. This, compounded by my lack of actual bike training, meant I am not used to actual bike saddles.

At mile 40, I managed to get both the time and distance from a race marshall. This small morsel of data allowed me to surmise there was an outside chance of hitting a sub 6:30 finish. Half an hour under my target of 7 hours.

With this in mind, I decided to pick up the pace quite a bit (well for me at least). I had previously been cycling at a high cadence, but my hamstrings were starting to complain very loudly. I decided to take a risk and shift to low cadence and high resistance. This shifted the load onto my quads and it worked well for what felt around about 10 miles…

With what seemed to be a few miles to go, the additional pace had taken a toll. My lower back wouldn’t accept anymore and I couldn’t sit in the saddle any longer. I decided to ride the last 5-6 miles out of saddle (probably another poor decision). This allowed me to keep to the low cadence but took the pressure off my back and the saddle.

When I reached T2, I was super glad to get off the bike after 3:29 on it. I felt like I had taken too much on the bike trying to get a sub 6:30. I strolled out of T2 in about 1 minute, making me one of the fastest competitors of the day for that segment (got to take those small wins). I didn’t feel like running a half marathon.

I found out from a marshall that I had 2 hours to run the half marathon, to get my new 6:30 target. It didn’t feel possible, so I decided to focus on running the 5.25km loop in half an hour and doing it 4 times. For some reason, that seemed a lot more reasonable, and I would worry about the next loop when it arrived.

I was surprised to find I was faster than most other people who still happened to be left on the course. The jelly legs I was expecting from the bike was yet to materialize in any significant way. People kept telling me I had nearly finished, until they realised I was still on my first lap…

When I finished my 5k, I was surprised to find that it took only 30 minutes. At least according to my new sophisticated timing system (asking a volunteer every lap).

On lap two, I decided to put two strategic 25m walks, split throughout the lap. The focus now was getting a steady pace between walking posts. On lap 3, I was pleased to find I was still just about on target for my 6:30. The course was emptying of competitors and It was starting to feel increasingly tough maintaining the pace, thoughts of backing off and taking the 6:45 were never far away.

When I found I had 35 minutes to do my final lap, I knew I was going to get the sub 6:30, but could I possibly sneak a sub 6:20?

No was that answer.

Despite a full bore sprint finish (for a meager 25m), I came in at 6:23. Far from rapid by many triathletes standards, but for me, I was surprised. Really surprised.

Back in October I did my first Half Marathon, it took me 1:57. This time I did the exact same time, with a toilet break and the whole swim/cycle thing as a warm up. Perhaps a big improvement in base fitness, is to be expected when you come from a low base. Still, I didn’t think I had a much of run in me when I got off the bike.

Aside from the many many lessons learned from my catalogue of race day (and pre-race day) errors. I also learned that had I gone a bit slower for end of the bike and all of the run, I had quite a bit more in me in terms of distance.

It’s really worth remembering that this isn’t half of Nice. The lake was more forgiving than the Mediterranean. The climb was only 10% of what I will experience in the alps. The run was a pleasant 15 degrees, not the unpleasant 23-30 degrees I should expect for the run. I should expect the big event to be considerably more painful, brutal and generally hellish (with nice scenery).

Still, on the positive side, Transition 2 was really good. With a bit more training on the bike, I have a reasonable shot smashing that segment on race day. Just got to make sure I reach it in under 10:30. If I make the bike cut-off and stave off injury, I am pretty sure I am home.

With lots and lots of suffering.

Edited by 5Sigma 2015-05-11 4:44 PM

Good job ! What did you do nutrition wise? I don't think it was mentioned in your write up? I'd suggest looking for a used garmin 310. You can find them under $100 U.S. Or even a timex. Although I like your timing and distance method.

I was buying most of your story until this part. There aren't that many cyclists who can ride 5-6 miles standing, especially the last 5 miles of a 56 mile ride.  The quads just give out.  Standing cycling is not easier than sitting.  And the backwards wetsuit with 3 minutes to race start? And you don't have a speedometer or even a watch? Puh-lease. Not a credible story.  Everyone has a watch. And every bike course I've ridden has been marked with signs for mileage.

At this point I'm thinking it's likely you're just yanking our chain for whatever reason you have. I post with my real name. Please share your real name and your bib # for this HIM and then I'll start to believe this is real. Otherwise I'm done with this crap.

Edited by brucemorgan 2015-05-11 10:36 PM

He also did his open 1/2 marathon time during a HIM, with a potty break in there? with 3 hrs of training a week!



Edited by mike761 2015-05-12 8:19 AM