kaburns1214 and UHCoog's Mentor Group-Closed (Page 63)

i have no love for WTC and anything IM branded, so i would say Beach to Battleship in North Carolina would be my choice from reports and reviews i have read and heard from first hand.

Hmmm...B2B looks interesting.

The problem with B2B is that there are only approximately 500 participants in the race (the same can be said for Rev 3 Cedar Point). While the races are well managed, if you are not a particularly fast athlete you will be spending lots of alone time. The draw for many, many, many athletes to WTC races is that there are lots of participants (and lots of support because of the number of participants). I will use Shaun as a prime example he has finished anywhere from 13 flat to 15:30 and has always found lots of people to walk with on the run course. At B2B you can very well be alone all day long.

With regard to Michele's question, there are not easy IMs, some courses are just faster than others. IMFL, Frankfurt, IMAZ, Roth and Copenhagen are all "faster" courses.

Thank you. In reading more B2B, they pull athletes off the run course at 12 hours. I am not fast and I would hate to be pulled off course that far in to a race.

B2B last year had 415 men and 136 women complete the event with top last finishers coming in at 16:36. You have 18 hours but the course is so flat those who finished didn't need the entire 18 hours. If I go IM next year I'm pretty sure this will be my race. I think anybody here with the correct volume would be under 16:36 and wouldn't get pulled.

Also looking at the swim times there has to be a positive push from the tides. There was a really high percentage of people who broke an hour on the swim. Bonus for those who are weakest at the swim.

That would most certainly falsely boost my swim confidence.

BTW my allergies are freaking killing me right now.  My run splits were crap this morning and all I could do the whole time was spit loogies (sp?).  Gross.  Oh and it's a wee bit humid here.

Nice you got your pic on the front page of BT! Do you submit them?

I have decided that after Muncie I will train for the Chicago Marathon for my next A race. So excited. I know I can PR that huge!!!

Really tanked over the past two weeks - burntout - right out of no where, I gained back most of the weight that I lost since November. I had an overload week of 335 miles on the bike, (in lieu of running due to getting PF in my heels/feet) and have missed a bunch of workouts since - one more Olympic this Sunday and it's all downhill to LP - I've resigned myself to let the chips fall as they may - my heels are very painful, and if I end up doing the 4 min run/1 min walk for the marathon, I'm okay with that. The first 8 months went like clock work, this last one has been sureal - very strange.

I'm sorry you're struggling, Todd. I hope taper is good to you and you go into LP feeling confident and positive!

I want to do B2B and Cedar Point full. If I fall in love with the full distance, then I'll most likely revisit cedar point next year. September is better than August for me and I really like Rev 3. It's close to home, I can ride the course, and there's an amusement park for my kids. It rocks! I'm an introvert and I'm intrinsically motivated so I don't need the energy from the crowds or people around me on the bike. Not sure if I'll be able to commit to another full next year but if I love it then I'll find a way to make it work

Sorry! Good luck this weekend! Here's hoping you heal quickly!

45 min z1 run done. Felt like I was swimming instead of running through this humidity! Felt like I was breathing through a straw as well. Not very impressive numbers but got it in which is what counts.

The mental challenge of a IM distance is a big part of the equation the first go-around. If your external stresses, like work, family, finances, etc increase, it can easily derail the progress. Overall, there have been exponentially more "highs" than "lows" on the path here, and as I sit with both feet in the physical therapy 106F whirlpool bath, at T-24 days, 12 hours, I'm so excited to see how this all plays out on Game Day. I'm already thinking about 2014's plan on what to do differently so that I'm not sitting in this same tub a year from now.

I am looking at this one for next year. Whether I decide on half or full will depend on how I feel about the distance after Florida. But I've heard nothing but good things about it.

I'm feeling really good about tonight's workout for the sole reason that it's been raining all day and I got myself out in it and did my scheduled brick workout. Similar to an earlier post, I've been avoiding the IMFL thread lately because I don't want to get discouraged about the amount of miles/time people other people are putting in (or claiming). I had a short break in training but I've picked back up and eased into the workouts my plan says I should be doing. I'm trusting the plan unless or until I see a real reason not to.

Do you swap out tires for trainer rides? Seems like a total PITA, but I do 90% of my cycling on the trainer (and will likely continue to do so). My tire is looking rough. I may have my tension on my KK Fluid set too tight.

Also, when is a good time to have the bike checked out before my IM? 2 weeks before? 1 week? I want to take it to LBS and have it looked over before we leave for Canada.

Off to swim. I also have a short recovery run to squeeze in this morning. I may have my 4 and 6 year olds ride their bikes next to me while I run Then we're off to the Bay Days Fair, dinner at the ILs, and fireworks show down on the beach. I'm heading to my parents' house tomorrow morning to celebrate the holiday weekend with them. Lots of cookouts, frozen margaritas, and pool time.

Anyone else have some holiday fun planned?

Swim and bike done.

Going to tue in laws. Does that count as fun? Probably not.

I know it tough but you can't worry about what other people are doing. Lots of people like to brag about "MONSTER" days -- "I rode 140 miles and ran a n8 mile T-run," but those days don't mean a lot. You should be doing the volume of training that you personally can recover from and its about cumulative volume rather than the volume (or intensity) of any one session. I actually really dislike enormous training days for most athletes. They create huge recovery debts and have a very high injury potential.

1400m in the pool this morning followed by an 18mi bike and a 4 mi run.  Given the terrain around my house we'll consider both the bike and run hill workouts.  Time to enjoy the rest of the day.

I hope your race goes well this weekend and the taper is good to you!!