Eagleman for first Half IM? (Page 2)

awesome this will be my first Half Ironman too

I saw Mooseman mentioned up-thread, sorry for the hijack. Swimming is my definite weak spot, I love biking rolling hills, and if my training plans (half-mary October 15, full in Jan/Feb) work out, running will probably by far be my strength by then. Looks like like Mooseman is a good option for me (and with the very generous refund policy, I might register when it opens to motivate myself).

Are there any drawbacks to this race that I should know about? Thanks.

I also signed up for Eagleman this week.  As I am not a strong swimmer, I am a bit nervous about it. Plus, I hate headwinds on the bike. GREAT.  Why didn't I sign up for Mooseman instead??  lol

I wish I had flats to ride on, but I live in hilly country. 

I am planning on making this my first as well, but need to wait for cashflow and the immediate concern, which is the Balt. marathon in a week and a half ......

Once the marathon is done, I'll sit down and get registered.

As I have only done one tri in my life, and it was an Olympic length back in '92 (I know there were none in the Olympics then, but the length really hasn't changed much), I know I need to make up a lot in the swim department. I'm comfortable with the bike and running, but I have not been in the water competitively since '92, and only then for a few months. Long way to make up .......

how do you think they are going to work those 100 Ironman 70.3 World slots? Rolldown? I tried to see who made it at the Inorman 70.3 UK but there wasn't a listing. Anyone gunning for one of these?

If someone has hopes for getting an IM slot on this site ........ then they are certainly not "beginner triathletes."

I would love to get a slot into one of them, but I'm pretty sure that I have as much of a chance at winning a slot doing the Eagleman as I have of qualifying for Boston next Saturday running my first ever marathon.

Hey Daremo! Never say never...I BQ'd in my first marathon... Good luck with whatever your goal is! Where are you racing? Be sure to let us know how it goes...

I am not shooting for a qualifier in the Eagleman, but my son is anxious to see how he matches up against his AG competitors. Hopefully he will be top 5.

i didnt mean that i was definitely shooting for a slot, but it can't hurt to have a set of goals for a certain race, a 70.3 being the ultimate, but placing well in my age group is the more practical. i am definitely a beginner to tri's, but not to competition and endurance as i grew up a distance swimmer. i was just curious if anyone knew how they were doing it. besides, with 100 slots for 70.3 compared to less than a handful for IM hawaii as well as wisconsin and the others a lot of things can happen. there is also a lot of time to train.

scouot is right, never say never.

I am running Baltimore next Saturday as my first one I've trained for (ran it on a whim last year signing up three days before the race. I only ran about three times the whole year, and those were no more than 3-4 miles each. Needless to say, I only made it through half of the race before dropping out with a huge blister, bad ITB issues on my right knee, and each mile time dropping significantly. But I DID do that first half in 2:15:00 which was my goal pace .......). Trying to hit a 3:15:59 (since I'll be 35 next year) is going to be quite a stretch as my original goal was 4:00:00, but now I'm going to start with the 3:30:00 pace group and see what happens (all my "pace" days have been in the mid-low 7's lately).

I also come from an endurance background having run through high school and junior college, and then spending over 6 years immersed in the road cycling culture (still my main passion) and racing/riding over 4,000 miles per year. I just got burned out, and stopped all activites for about 4 years before finally getting the bug back last year (see my introduction on the lurker page).

I know that for the age group I'll be in next year (35-39), the top 5 people were below 4:30:00 for the Eagleman, and the first guy from my STATE did not come in until 15th place!!

My goal will be to be close to 5 hours as possible, but since I have not been in the water since '92, I've got some work to do .......

Just wanted to add to the Eagleman discussion. I am registered for it again. I did the race two years ago. At the time it was my first Half Ironman distance race. I think it is a great race. Well run, great course (unless you like hills), and draws some top pros. I love having this race to look forward to all winter. I'm surprised it has not sold out yet.

Daremo -

That's right - never say never. I may have the numbers wrong here, but at Vineman 1/2 in '04 a guy in the 35-39 (?) a.g. finished something like 137 (?) in the a.g. with a very ponderous time. He went to the rolldown and waited....and waited....waited....until the Kona spot rolled down to him! What sometimes happens is that after the first several places people figure they have no shot, but what they don't know is that a few of those ahead of them already have a spot for Kona, and a few others just cannot afford to go. Voila!

Another place to view the action of a roll-down is at www.trisport.com -- search around and find the page that shows the allotment of spots fot IMLP, IMC, IMW, and IMF at Muskoka. Trisport changed their distribution a bit this year to allow more spots in the more competitive age groups, but even at that a large number of spots were claimed a fair ways through the roll-down procedure.

So, run your race to the best of your ability, then hang around and wait to see how things shake down when the spots for the IMs are distributed. You might be in for a very pleasant surprise!

Count me in for Eagleman... i bet we could have a nice little BT meet and greet the day/night before the race...

Well, I'm in ........ registered today!

Should be a good event. At least for my first long distance tri!

i'd definitely be into that. 

yea man good idea