Is it normal to have doubts?

I joke that I only have doubts about the swim/bike/run and transitions. Other than that I'm golden.. I think having doubts about anything new that you are doing, that pushes yourself is a good thing. It could be doubts that you are gonig to be a sub ____ or make the cut offs and finish times.. Use it as motivation.
I alternate between being nervous for each one and my nutrition. but I haven't been nervous about all of them at once. Throught the course of the day I'll go from being incredible confident, to wondering what makes me think I can actually do this.

I'm at the point when I look back at my training I do realize there are things I could have done better. [stretch more] But for where I am fitness wise, and what is going on in my life I'm proud of the effort I've put forth and what ever happens.. happens.

Part of the appeal of doing an IM is to challenge yourself and see if you can do it.

I had lots of doubts. In my head I thought I could do it based on my paces. It wasn't until one week in May my training showed me I could do the distances as I had a 3500 yd swim and a 19+ mile run and had done a 100 mile ride. It was a huge difference to feel confident in my ability to do the distance within the time cut off vs thinking I should be able to do it.

Still before the race my mind came up with 100s of things that could happen that would prevent me from finishing..really strange things too. It is part of the appeal the challenge of it the cut offs.

I came to a point where I knew I had done all I could do training wise and the best thing for me to do was change my mental outlook to be positive and have self confidence as doubting myself and worrying would not be ideal come race day. I worked on mental exercises that my coach put together that those and tapering helped me feel as prepared as I could be.

As my friend Sue says training is harder than racing and I found that to be true. Do the training and come race day it will come together. Focus on nutrition/hydration and mental toughness while doing long training as those are keys to having a strong Ironman race.

It is a magical place Ironman..enjoy your journey to your first.  

Perfectly natural...keep in mind its not anyone day (good or bad) that defines you being prepared in 12 more weeks.    Keep after it, stay consistent, nail your nutrition and you will have no problems come race day.    Expect at some point in the race just like on your ride you will have moments where it sucks, but these points pass.   

You are gonna have a great IM!!!

I think the reason I took on the IM was that I did have doubts. Riding with a buddy Patrick he quoted a BTer saying that the bike and swim only get you to the start of the race. I keep having Demonds pop up because I have never completed a marathon. Now ................. I will CRUSH the RUN ....... at IMLOU

Thanks .....greg

Yes.

Yes, if you have followed your plan as outlined.

I think as long as you have done the training you'll be amazed at how fast the marathon goes by. The fans at the race are an adrenaline rush!

The one thing that many people forget about when doing their long rides and feeling tired or concerned about the Ironman race is this: You are not rested or tapered yet! You're doing these rides in the peak training weeks and your body is worn down. You'll be amazed at how rested you'll feel after a good taper.

It's a good thing to be nervous, it shows that you have a lot of respect for the distance of the race.  Taper well and don't get too stressed out!

Remember how nervous you were before your first sprint?  I did my first sprint 10 years ago and don't really remember being nervous but I'm guessing I was nervous as it was new territory for me.

I am a lot less nervous about my second IM than I was for my first.  I'm still concerned but no really nervous.  The "pressure" (self imposed) to 'finish' is not there this year.  And I'm guessing I'll be even less nervous about my 3rd and subsequent ironman races.  Uh...as long as I do the training.

More specific to your question though....last year the first time I ever biked 75 miles in my life my guads and glutes locked up and I literally fell over like a wooden soldier on the side of the road unable to bend my legs.   Part of that was dehydration but part of it was just teaching my body that it could go further than it thought it could.

~Mike

X2 on the taper and rested comment.  You'll be amazed at how much better you feel come race day.  I had an absoulte horrible last long ride leading into LP about 3 weeks out from the race.  I bonked big time, cramped pretty badly, and all I could think about after I got off the bike was, wow, now I have to run a marathon.  But that ride also right at the end of my absolute peak training week.  Hopefully you won't be doing 12-15 hrs of training in the week before your race. 

Nervousness is good, keeps you from getting over-confident.  Trust your training