"A" level IMs eight weeks apart?
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Moderators: k9car363, alicefoeller | Reply |
2015-11-12 1:59 PM |
Extreme Veteran 694 Highlands Ranch, Colorado | Subject: "A" level IMs eight weeks apart? I'm contemplating IM Boulder and IM Maryland next year and they are eight weeks apart. I know it is certainly possible to race two iron distance races this close together, if not closer. What I am curious about is for those who have done this on a similar timeline, how has your second race gone? It is very easy to make the first race your A race and the second your B/C and just get through it but I'm more interested in having two "great" races. |
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2015-11-13 11:22 AM in reply to: FF Stock |
Member 326 | Subject: RE: "A" level IMs eight weeks apart? I did 3 Ironman races in 13 weeks this year. I had only planned on doing the first 2, but I got the reduced entry into Lake Tahoe from the cancellation in 2014 so I ended up with 3 races. The first race was IM Coeur d'Alene. It was very hot (105F, hottest day in June ever recorded). I was only off my usual time by about 25 minutes. My next race was IM Muskoka. I had a PB swim and a PB bike, and I hit my usual time. I am a 12:30 kinda athlete. I go hard in these races, but I ain't in it to win it. I am 46 years old as well. Your experience may be different. So, I was 10 weeks between Ironmans. Close to what you are doing. I have a coach and he set up 5 days of nothing to very light work outs after the first race. I found that my running legs didn't really take that much to get back into shape, but the bike legs took a lot longer to come around. I found that there was residual fatigue in the bike legs which was at its worse right about 2 weeks after the race. I could hardly walk up stairs or put any kind of intensity on the bike without elevated HR and breathing and the legs felt "wooden". But after those 2 weeks of easy work we did another 5 week build and then did a slow taper. And I felt good in the second race. Just don't ask me about race #3. |
2015-11-13 11:39 AM in reply to: DeVinci13 |
489 | Subject: RE: "A" level IMs eight weeks apart? I think dealing with the mental side of this needs serious consideration. Physically – it’s difficult to place any reliance on anyone else’s opinion as your physiology, history and adaptability is unique. When I’ve participated in longer events close together I’ve learned that dealing with the mental process on the second event takes (me) practice. In an Ironman you know you’re going to be fatigued and some parts of it are going to be very tough. In a single race you know you’re trained and tapered so you discount fatigue and look around at what you can do to fix it – eat, hydrate, stretch, go to the toilet etc. But in the second one it’s easy to immediately blame the first indication of tiredness on the fatigue of your first race and what’s really hard then is to believe you can affect it. ‘Oh no, I’m tired from the first race and now this is going to be really tough’. The problem here is you may well be right but it is more likely to be normal fatigue symptoms that you can treat as you did in the first. So I think your challenge is to get to the start line of the second race strong in mind and believing that you are recovered. Your prior experience will go some way to give you the confidence you can recover but beyond that I think it’s worth talking to your coach and thinking about what you can do to give you the mental strength to believe it on start line two.
Hope that’s not too airy fairy! |
2015-11-13 12:45 PM in reply to: FF Stock |
Master 2855 Kailua, Hawaii | Subject: RE: "A" level IMs eight weeks apart? I agree with Dan-L's comment I see you have 2 IMs listed in your race log, can you remember how you felt a month after ? 2 months after ? How did you feel on the sprint a month after Boulder ? In my experience, I probably would still be feeling the IM effects after a month, however I did do Kona and then XTERRA Worlds 2 weeks after and survived. Mentally I was ready for those 2 back to back races and had a good plan with my coach, so it went pretty well. But feel it caused a serious recovery deficit and the effects of the 2 races stayed with me much longer than anticipated. So if you have it in your mind early and have a plan to follow through both races, I think it will work. |
2015-11-16 10:03 PM in reply to: metafizx |
Master 5557 , California | Subject: RE: "A" level IMs eight weeks apart? For what it's worth, I don't think you'll have two great races. Two above average, maybe. One good / one bad, sure. But most people in that situation, especially amateurs, need to choose one to be their A race. Normally with just one race, I'd focus on the bike in training. But here, I'd suggest you go into those races with a very very good running base. The last quarter of an IM marathon is what really tears up your legs. The better prepared you are for that, the better you'll do in the second race. You need to log those miles and be running 5-6 days per week (look up BarryP plan or whatever). And if the 2nd race is your A race, back way off on your bike and run paces in the first. It's easy to get excited and overextend yourself. |
2015-11-17 6:59 PM in reply to: spudone |
Extreme Veteran 694 Highlands Ranch, Colorado | Subject: RE: "A" level IMs eight weeks apart? Thanks for the advice. As I'm hoping to have a PR day at Maryland, it doesn't make much sense to try and race 8 weeks ahead of that and hope for the best possible result. I definitely agree with the mental aspect of it and think burnout/apathy could be an issue. |
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2015-11-22 11:38 AM in reply to: FF Stock |
Master 2642 Bloomington, MN | Subject: RE: "A" level IMs eight weeks apart? I have done it before with IMWI and IMAZ. I would suggest that on the physical side i can certainly be done if you are going into the first one well rested and with no injuries. I took my usual week post #1 and really recovered. Took the second week to begin to get going and by the third week; was back to full training. IMAZ went well for me physically. I can also tell you as other have brought up that mentally it may be more difficult. Especially if the second race is where your want to PR. For me AZ (second race) was more for fun as it was more of a destination race with family. No pressure, just finish and have fun. Good luck with your decision. |
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