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IM 2012 or 2013
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 2011-05-02 12:42 PM |
 2 |  Subject: IM 2012 or 2013I am a first time poster long time follower. First I would like to thank all of you for all the help I have gotten from everyone of your post. But now i need some help of my own. I completed my first triathlon, this weekend and although the times were not great, they were not bad either. So my questions is Can I do an IM Texas in 2012 or should i push it off to 2013 ? A little more info: My first ever race was a sprint, I was a MOP and finished 5th in my AG. My logs are not up to date, but i was following the 16 week sprint tri training, and now am following the 20 week Olympic pretty closely. I am not as worried about training as much as i am experience. I can swim 1900yds in the pool pretty easy, but in my sprint tri this weekend the 600 yrd swim was kind of difficult. Not because of distance but because i could not catch my breath, Which I am hopping was due to the first time jitters, and going out to fast and not breathing properly to begin. So what is the minimum experience/races you would do before signing up for an ironman? Also for IM Texas I am thinking I have to sign up 1 year in advance (or pretty close to) so i will not have time to get more races in before the sign ups open. What should I do? |
| 2011-05-02 12:44 PM in reply to: #3477847 |
Elite 3488     Lakewood, CO | Subject: RE: IM 2012 or 2013 Take your time, enjoy the journey, IM is not going anywhere. Build up smartly. |
| 2011-05-02 12:49 PM in reply to: #3477847 |
Pro 5361 | Subject: RE: IM 2012 or 2013 As you begin to add the miles, your body will start talking to you. Normally it will say "ouch" somewhere- often many places. Take your time, build your endurance. An extra year of steady training will enable you to develoop more experience in long races (like a couple of 70.3's and a marathon), and get all those bones, joints and tendons ready for the big one. Like stated above- it will still be there for you in 2013, and you'll be that much more ready for it. It's not the race- it's the journey leading up to it that's the experience. |
| 2011-05-02 12:55 PM in reply to: #3477847 |
Expert 1168 Vancouver (not Canada) Washington (not D.C.) | Subject: RE: IM 2012 or 2013 Welcome to the posting side of BT - Thanks for posting some detail along with your question. I think the fact that you have been able to commit and follow a plan is a big part of being able to work up to the IM distance. There is a learning curve for both training and racing with surprises along the way. There seem to be plenty of people who pull off an IM with minimal training and experience and with your time and one race are ahead of them. However, I personally would prefer to go into the race prepared and ready to race. I'd like to know a bit more about your motivation. Why do you want to do the IM distance and IM Texas in particular? Do you have the support of family and friends? What sort of time do you see yourself giving to training? I'd consider IM Texas an early season race so you really are looking at 12 months to get to that distance which is doable if your aren't susceptible to injury. One problem I see is the timing of the race. I think you really would benefit from at least one HIM on the way. If you were doing a late summer 2012 race, it would be easier to work up to HIM and then IM by late 2012. My suggestion is to look at IM in 2013 with 2012 being focused on HIM distance. |
| 2011-05-02 1:21 PM in reply to: #3477895 |
| 2 | Subject: RE: IM 2012 or 2013 cbrave - 2011-05-02 12:55 PM Welcome to the posting side of BT - Thanks for posting some detail along with your question. I think the fact that you have been able to commit and follow a plan is a big part of being able to work up to the IM distance. There is a learning curve for both training and racing with surprises along the way. There seem to be plenty of people who pull off an IM with minimal training and experience and with your time and one race are ahead of them. However, I personally would prefer to go into the race prepared and ready to race. I'd like to know a bit more about your motivation. Why do you want to do the IM distance and IM Texas in particular? Do you have the support of family and friends? What sort of time do you see yourself giving to training? I'd consider IM Texas an early season race so you really are looking at 12 months to get to that distance which is doable if your aren't susceptible to injury. One problem I see is the timing of the race. I think you really would benefit from at least one HIM on the way. If you were doing a late summer 2012 race, it would be easier to work up to HIM and then IM by late 2012. My suggestion is to look at IM in 2013 with 2012 being focused on HIM distance.
Cbrave, Thanks for the input. To answer some of your questions, why am i doing this? why would anyone do this? I have done the "Texas water safari" 5 times. I know it is a different sport but still it is an extreme endurance challenge, so i guess now i am just looking for something else to try. as far as the IM Texas, I live in Texas and that would be the closest easiest race to get to. As far as support, yes, yes, and yes! my family is like the ramon, from everyone loves Raymond. For my first sprint tri (which was no biggie to me) my whole family was there dad, mom, wife, kids, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, ect. It might be normal if i was 12 or 13 but no. I am 30!. What can i say, I come from a very supportive family. we all enjoy being there to help when one of us has something to do, I have been training between 6 and 8 hours during my sprint training and it should bump up in a few weeks when i get close to my Olympic, in July. I am planning on doing an olympic in july and a HIM in November. As others have posted I too believe that waiting till 2013 is smartest and best, but for some reason i feel like i can do it in 2012 and by not pushing it to try and do it i will be cheating my self or even quitting on my self. |
| 2011-05-02 3:10 PM in reply to: #3477966 |
Expert 1168 Vancouver (not Canada) Washington (not D.C.) | Subject: RE: IM 2012 or 2013 Thanks for the response. I can imagine the Raymond family with dad and older brother with body paint at a triathlon. It is awesome that you have family support and that you have been able to train at a very good level for your first triathlon. The water race sounds like an amazing challenge. So you really have the mental strength and ability to train, family support and desire to do the crazy distance and will have some practice and experience in pain. Those are really important. As a person that has been in this triathlon thing for several years and am now getting to the IM distance, I can really understand the draw of the long course. However, I don't quite understand how you feel like you are cheating yourself by spending an additional year preparing. Race what works for you and you will find that most of us on BT are encouraging but tend to focus on the longer term and safest way especially when talking about IM distance. Taking care of yourself and racing strategically will get way more respect and better long term results than just getting through an IM. Best of luck and I want to see your family section at a race I'm at. |
| 2011-05-02 3:22 PM in reply to: #3477966 |
Expert 1170 Berkley, MI | Subject: RE: IM 2012 or 2013 triaggie - 2011-05-02 2:21 PM As others have posted I too believe that waiting till 2013 is smartest and best, but for some reason i feel like i can do it in 2012 and by not pushing it to try and do it i will be cheating my self or even quitting on my self.
Why is waiting cheating yourself or quitting on yourself? Not at all! I say follow your heart, but know that you are not cheating yourself out of anything by not doing an IM in your 2nd year of racing. I would suggest to get a few more tris under your belt and then see if endurance training is for you. There is a big difference between a sprint and an ironman, and the race will ALWAYS be there for when you are ready for it.
Good luck!! |
| 2011-05-02 3:32 PM in reply to: #3477847 |
Champion 19812 MA | Subject: RE: IM 2012 or 2013 Moving from Sprint to IM in a year is doable but not adviseable. Why rush it as it will always be there. Building endurance takes time and taking it slower and bumping up longer races over time would help with that. Do Oly later this year, HIM or two next year, and if those goes well IM the following year. IMTX will be first this year, might want to wait and see how it goes by reading and talking with folks who do it this year before signing up. Do you live the South? If you live in Northern part of US will be harder as it is early season and it would be a lot of indoor training and hard to adapt and be prepared for heat and humidity probably at IMTX. |
| 2011-05-02 3:54 PM in reply to: #3477847 |
Pro 3804 Seacoast, NH! | Subject: RE: IM 2012 or 2013 2014 at the earliest |
| 2011-05-02 4:18 PM in reply to: #3477847 |
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