General Discussion Triathlon Talk » Ironman 3 weeks after a marathon? Rss Feed  
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2015-06-17 4:59 AM


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Shanghai, China, Unknown
Subject: Ironman 3 weeks after a marathon?
Is it reasonable to do an Ironman distance triathlon 3 weeks after a marathon?

A little background info - I've done 1 marathon before and 0 ironman triathlons (I've done 2 HIM). The last marathon I did, I was sore for about a week but didn't experience any nagging injuries after the race. Marathon is in later October, IM is mid November.

I did the marathon last year about 4 weeks after completing an Olympic distance triathlon without any issues... but this seems much more difficult. Am I biting off more than I can chew?

Thanks for the feedback.


Rob


2015-06-17 6:27 AM
in reply to: robdmac167

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Champion
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Subject: RE: Ironman 3 weeks after a marathon?
While it can be done, it sounds like a terrible idea bound to lead to lots of extra suffering in the IM.

Shane
2015-06-17 6:27 AM
in reply to: robdmac167


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Subject: RE: Ironman 3 weeks after a marathon?

I may be recovered from a full effort marathon in 3 weeks, but I may not. Also, marathons are rough on the body and can potentially cause injury.

If I were you, I would want to go into my first IM fully recovered, and not take the chance of getting injured and wasting all the money and training time I've dedicated towards the race.
2015-06-17 9:01 AM
in reply to: robdmac167

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Master
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Subject: RE: Ironman 3 weeks after a marathon?
The two posts above mine are both spot on.

Not a good idea at all. You should pick one race or the other. The fatigue and recovery penalty from a marathon that close to an IM will set you up for a lot of suffering in your IM.

Of course, this is my opinion (based on my experiences and a lot of reading). You get to decide what is right for you.

I should tell you that in spite of my above opinions, and against my better judgement, I am going to "run" a marathon four weeks before my "A race" IM this year. A friend is doing his first marathon and has asked me to, pretty please, run with him/pace him. In the interest of our friendship (and a long run day), I am going to run with him. Fortunately his run pace is close to two minutes per mile slower than my pace so it should limit the damage I do to my body. So this is a case of do as I say, not as I do.

Lastly, the recovery from an Olympic tri should take, at most, a week. The recovery from a marathon is weeks. Full recovery may be a month or more. Your Olympic triathlon four weeks before your marathon was probably less training stress than a 20 mile run would have been on that day so it is really an apples to oranges comparison.
2015-06-17 9:28 AM
in reply to: robdmac167

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Subject: RE: Ironman 3 weeks after a marathon?
No it is not reasonable.
2015-06-17 10:41 AM
in reply to: robdmac167

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Subject: RE: Ironman 3 weeks after a marathon?

People do back-to-back endurance events all the time.  I did a 30-mile trail run 7 hours after doing a marathon a few years ago, and I know people who do 100-mile runs 10 weeks in a row.  

However

Doing this kind of thing requires both strategy and discipline.  

What would you have to do at the marathon to be ready to do an IM 3 weeks later?  Maybe slow down from a 3:45 finish to a 5:00 finish?  (In my example, my strategy for the marathon was to finish in 5+ hours where I'd run other marathons in 4:10 or so.)  

A great strategy means nothing if you don't have the discipline to follow it.  

Maybe you feel great cruising towards a 4:30 marathon and decide to push the pace the last 10 miles.  You may not have a problem during the marathon (in fact you probably won't) but you'll pay for this extra effort trying to climb hills on the bike a few weeks later.  

Ultimately, you have to decide WHY you are compelled to do your first Ironman 3 weeks after doing your second marathon.  



2015-06-17 11:52 AM
in reply to: robdmac167

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Subject: RE: Ironman 3 weeks after a marathon?

Not if you want to do your best time in the IM.

 

2015-06-17 1:04 PM
in reply to: TriMyBest

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Subject: RE: Ironman 3 weeks after a marathon?

I tried this the other way around. IM followed by a marathon about 4 weeks after and it was bad for me!

2015-06-17 1:51 PM
in reply to: robdmac167

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Subject: RE: Ironman 3 weeks after a marathon?
I'd say if your original goal and training was for the IM, with the Marathon a "B" race....it would be on the "doable" scale...although not ideal.

In this case, it sounds like the IM is an afterthought....and I'd say forget it. Why spend your money on a race that you aren't prepared for nor ready for at any level ? You will not only have an absolute bad experience, but it may injure you to the point of rehab'ing for the next year instead of doing some race that is well planned.
2015-06-17 2:45 PM
in reply to: 0

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Subject: RE: Ironman 3 weeks after a marathon?

Originally posted by robdmac167 Is it reasonable to do an Ironman distance triathlon 3 weeks after a marathon?

People have done it before.  It's not impossible, but it usually takes quite a bit of endurance fitness to pull it off "well."  If you are trying to really race both events, you will likely fall very short on your Ironman goals.

A little background info - I've done 1 marathon before and 0 ironman triathlons (I've done 2 HIM).

This goes back go my point above...where your lack of long distance race experience would suggest you don't have the fitness to do both events well.  

The last marathon I did, I was sore for about a week but didn't experience any nagging injuries after the race.

Not being sore does not mean you are fully recovered.  Nor does it mean that you are no longer at risk of an overuse injury.  Injuries normally do not pop up instantly after you do something over the limit.  They usually start festering themselves while you are biting off more than you can chew, and show up later after it's too late to back off.  IOW, if I got a running injury...I wouldn't look at what I did on today's run or yesterday's run that might have been the cause.  I'd look at what I was doing the last 4-6 weeks.  

Marathon is in later October, IM is mid November. I did the marathon last year about 4 weeks after completing an Olympic distance triathlon without any issues... but this seems much more difficult. Am I biting off more than I can chew? Thanks for the feedback. Rob

An Olympic triathlon is usually a 2.5-3 hour event for most age groupers, and only has about 45-60 minutes of high impact effort (the run).  Therefore the amount of recovery time required is not nearly as great as a full marathon...where you're doing a high impact activity for 3.5-4.5 hours.



Edited by Jason N 2015-06-17 2:45 PM
2015-06-17 3:00 PM
in reply to: robdmac167

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Subject: RE: Ironman 3 weeks after a marathon?
I did a marathon this weekend just gone. I'm going to be doing an Ironman on the 28th of June. That is 2 weeks between events. I don't think it was a good idea really, but at least you may get some data of a worse case scenario.

If I manage complete the race then I am sure you will definitely be able to. It is dependent on your objectives though, if your goal is to finish then you will probably be fine. If your goal is to extract that last 2%, I wouldn't do it.

I depends on your physiology too, I crammed a 4 major events (Olympic Tri, Marathon, 100 mile cycle, Half Ironman) into 5 weeks, it was my first time for all those events, I didn't experience any injuries or see signs of fatigue in my training data. This didn't seem to be an issue for me, then again I could have just got lucky with the whole injury thing.

It's tough to infer much from one anecdotal data point. I think in reality there was a cumaltive fatigue there, but it was masked by the general fitness/experience I was gaining. I was (and still am) pretty green at that point afterall.

I would probably advise against it, but that would be somewhat hypocritical of me.


2015-06-17 3:34 PM
in reply to: 5Sigma

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Subject: RE: Ironman 3 weeks after a marathon?
I would drop down to a half marathon. I went the other way around last year and did an IM, one week later I did an Olympic, and one week after that (2 weeks after IM), I did a marathon and PR'ed. It was pretty much a freak thing and I wouldn't expect it to happen again. A marathon beats your body to hell. During my training runs, I'll do 20 miles/3 hours, whichever is shorter. Anything over 20 miles causes my body to have too much stress. You can definitely do it, 3 weeks is enough time to *mostly* recover but you'll really affect your tapper weeks since you'll need a super easy week after it.
2015-06-17 6:17 PM
in reply to: Blastman


11

Shanghai, China, Unknown
Subject: RE: Ironman 3 weeks after a marathon?
Thanks for all the feedback.

The IM would involve international flights and a lot of time, money, and effort to get to the destination (Malaysia)... I think I'm better off giving the IM a miss and look for one a couple of months later. Crap.


Rob
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