Ironman Chattanooga : Official Thread (Page 4)

Hey everybody. I'm Matt, from Richmond, VA. I'm 42. My background was competitive swimming, and I have been racing triathlons for four years now.

This will be my first IM. I am pleased to report that there is a small army of my fellow Richmond triathletes coming to Chattanooga for this race, so at least I will have plenty of training partners in 2014! I look forward to sharing this journey with you all.

Hey guys! I'm Ben, 27, live in Nashville, TN.

Started doing tris last year, this will be my first iron distance. Was a competitive swimmer growing up, have been running for about 5 years, and so triathlon seemed a natural next step. Currently training for my first HIM next month and then my second marathon in November, then I'll start thinking about what needs to happen next year.

Thanks, but maybe not so impressive really. More stubborn than anything else - just refuse to stop moing forward. I think it may point to mental illness - back to the AA analogy? But I do love the race morning energy standing on the beach. Makes all the training and the rest of the day worthwhile. Good luck and happy training!

Hey Everyone,

My name is Keith. I am 31 and I will be toeing the line for IM #2. I just finished Louisville a few weeks ago and the first (coherent) thing I said to my wife after I finished was I couldn't wait to sign up for another full.

Happy training!

Hi everyone! I'm Debbie, 41, from Clayton, NC (just east of Raleigh). I got into triathlon in 2010 at an all female race after swimming laps just 4 times - my background was always running. I fell in love with multisport and have completed 2 HIM's, several sprints and olympic/international local events. My family (husband and our 10 year old triplets) have been encouraging me to do a full IM and we're excited to be going to Chattanooga! All 5 of us race so it's truly a family sport.
I'm not sure yet how to structure my training program so looking for suggestions on programs and reading a lot online. I am a working Mom and my daughters and son keep us busy with their races too. Biking is my strength, run is right up there and I can get through the swim
It's fun to read each others' perspectives and I look forward to sharing this Ironman journey with all of you.

Debbie

Hey Debbie, Triplets, WOW! Everybody is different on training plans they like to use so here are my 2 cents. I used the IronFit program from Don Fink. The Book "Be Iron Fit" was not only a very encouraging read, but the training programs were easy for me to follow and I was able to hit about 90% of my workouts. Based on the training plan I chose (he has multiple levels), I was able to complete the race I did without incident and pretty much right on the time goals I expected. Best wishes for you AND your family.

Hey, I'm Luke. I did m first tri last in June of last year. I also did the Augusta 70.3 and finished pretty well for the amount of training I put in. This will be my first full, so any advice or plan suggestion would be appreciated. My swimming really got better this summer, but I think I could get better on the bike. I'm planning on doing a marathon and a 50k between now and next spring. Should I start biking more now or just wait until after the running? I'm only biking about 2.5 hours per week now.

Edited by LukeBoswell 2013-09-11 8:26 PM

This race is still a year and 16 days away....so to pass the time, share your best IM lesson learned.

A few of mine:

1. Forget the heavy lifting! While signed up for my 3rd IM, I was in the gym lifting weights with my son. I was showing him how much the old man could bench press and do lat pull-downs with heavy weights. The next day I was so sore I thought I'd torn a rotator cuff.....but turns out a herniated a disc. This was in Feb and in June I had surgery (after all non-surgial means failed to heal it). I've since concluded I am too old for the heavy lifting! Besides, the IM is about repetition of muscles.

2. I have found it nearly impossible to lose a lot of weight during peak training. When I crank up the volume of training I really need to fuel my body and fuel the recovery. Plus, I stay ravenously hungry! This is not the time to be on a low-calorie diet. So this time I plan to lose most of what I plan to lose before peak training (May - Aug).

Great points you made.

Mine are the typical
1) fueling is everything. I didn't,t pay close enough attention during my training to what I needed/could handle. In my race I was really hindered by bad nutrition

2)early on for me, frequency of running would have been better than duration. I tried to ramp up my long run too fast. I would have been better served to build a better base before I started building my long run up

3)enjoy the training. Sometimes we focus so much on the end goal that we forget to just have fun doing what we love!

Good point on the nutrition. On my 2nd IM I ate and drank everything I could get my hands on. I later learned that you body can only process about 350 - 400 calories per hour. So everything above that does nothing but serve to give me a bloated feeling. Oh, and a bad case of gas by the time I got to the run.....not fun with the course is line with spectators....it wasn't bad on the first loop but I think on the second loop some people recognized me as 'that guy'....

Lol too funny. I know exactly what you mean! Had trouble running just because of my stomach was literally starting to bloat. Will definitely work on that!!

+1 on Be Iron Fit. The ebook is dirt cheap on Amazon and I liked the structure of the training plan.

I finally have a confirmation that I am in for the race and that the other e-mail was sent in error.  Happy Friday!

My name is Brian. Im a race director and I live wherever I need to put on a race! Chattanooga is my latest "home." I spent some time answering some of your questions about 70.3 Raleigh last year, thought I would sit in and see what you all are saying about IMCHOO. We are well underway and are looking forward to a great inaugural race in 2014. Good luck with the training, stay safe out there! Make sure and introduce yourself if we run into each other out on the course!

hi Brian! i'm looking forward to next year! and would like to say thanks for everything already - you seemed to have kept your head when people on ST and Facebook were screaming for it

For those who have done IM. What are your nutritional strategies? For my HIMs, i've used Gatorade, Water, Clif bloks, and gels. Trying peanut butter crackers for an upcoming 70.3. What other things are you guys using. Feel like 10+hrs of Gatorade and Clif will kill my stomach.

Edited by parrj 2013-09-13 8:08 PM

Luke, we are neighbors. Which 50k are you doing? I'm doing the Duncan trail 50k in November at Vogel state park. Bradley odom at swim/bike.run store in Stateboro is also doing IMCHoo.

Luke, we are neighbors. Which 50k are you doing? I'm doing the Duncan trail 50k in November at Vogel state park. Bradley odom at swim/bike.run store in Stateboro is also doing IMCHoo.

I'm planning on going with an all liquid diet. My nutrition plan for my last race wasn't adequate, and I also learned that it is really hard to keep track of nutrition over an IM distance event. Your mind just gets unreliable. So, I plan on going with Infinit or Perpetuem and setting a timer on my watch to make the process idiot proof. I have a 4 hour ride tomorrow, and I plan on using liquid only, so I'll see how test phase 1 works out!

I use Infinite. All my training for IM Louisville was with Infinite mixed with room temp tap water. I use a speedfill mounted on the frame and a bottle mounted on the aero bars. I carried 3 -1 hour bottles. I drew off the water every 10 mins and five mins after that I sipped Infinite. I got it down to where the Infinite was gone in 4 big draws over each hour. I mixed 3 more bottles at special needs and had extra mix for the last hour. Refilled my water when I needed it. I watched the timer on my bike computer. Dont get used to cold infinite at home training because it will likely not stay cold for long. My buddy did that at for Lou and could not stomach the hot infinite that he had for the last 1 1/2 hour and did not drink it. He close to 2 hours of nutrition and paid for it on the run.
Train like you fight.

This will be IM #7 for me, I have tried a few strategies for nutrition. I am doing IMFL in Nov and plan on a liquid plan. I will use 1 bottle of Perpetuem concentrated with 6 scoops (810 cal), 2 bottles of Scratch Labs electrolyte drink and water from aid stations. I will have the same 3 mixes in special needs. The biggest thing I have learned is it does not matter how you get your calories and electrolytes, and what works for one person may not work for you. PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE what you will race with in all weather conditions and make sure you body can work with it. The other thing is keep it simple, the more complicated you make it, the more things can go wrong. Always have a plan A, B, and C. If you drop a bottle or miss an aid station, what is your plan B. Trust me, very rarely will your race go as planned, half the battle of IM is overcomming adversity during the race. That's my advice for what it's worth, good luck to everyone.

Jim

Does anyone know what the water temperature is expected to be on race day? I have been Google searching this, but cannot find any good data.

Does anyone know what the water temperature is expected to be on race day? I have been Google searching this, but cannot find any good data.