IM? Too soon? (Page 2)

Is your goal to experience the distance and just complete the race?  Sure, knock yourself out.  But, your potential performance could be soooo much better if you trained appropriately for an IM next year.

It always amazes me at the number of people who advise against an IM because the person might not be able to turn in the best performance of their life or someone's condition or training might not be optimal.

Good Lord, it's just a race!!!  Sign up, train and do the race!  Do the best you can and have fun.  If you think you can do better, then sign up and do the race again. 

If you are only ever gonna do one IM to punch your ticket and get bragging rights then, yeah, maybe wait until you are at the pinnacle of your triathlon career, have a couple of dozen triathlons and marathon under you belt and take your best shot. 

I can tell you this, the overwhelming majority of IM race reports you read on this site are very positive and people had the times of their lives!  And the majory if IM races on this site are first timers.  Very seldom do you see someone's race report that says, "Boy, that sucked!  I wish I had waited till (whatever) before I tried an IM".

I suppose some people look at and IM as some rite of passage....like loosing your virginity or something, but really, it's just a race.  You aren't goona win.  Just do your best, don't get hurt and have fun.  Repeat as necessary.

~Mike

Not true.  Great Illini dropped the full option this year.  Grand Columbian is gone also after 5 years of races (2004--2008). 

Not true.  Great Illini dropped the full option this year.  Grand Columbian is gone also after 5 years of races (2004--2008). 

Again, not true.  Your "potential" reflects what training you've done, not what your "dream performance" might be. 

A good race strategy aligns race-day execution with training results and fun to bring out whatever "potential" is there.  In some ways, it can be more fun to go into a race like this on a whim as long as you recognize the limitations of your training.  Your own personality is important here.  If you can smile and accept anything and everything the day throws at you, you can have a lot of fun.  Yes, you can suffer all day too because things you didn't anticipate show up (GI issues, muscle cramps, etc. ) so it isn't all roses-n-rainbows. 

Hey, even if you're one-n-done, if all you care about is getting the ticket punched, time or performance don't matter.  No reason to wait. 

What do YOU see as the advantages to doing the race in 5 weeks?  From my perspective: you're confident you can swim the distance, you're confident you could bike the distance.   You're unlikely to drown, crashing on the bike is riskier than falling down on the run, so you're past the most perilous stages of the race.  (I suppose, statistically, you're more likely to need medical help on or after the run, but that may be more about stubborness, not peril. )  You can like the challenge of IM-distance racing.  You might be going into the race without the overuse injuries a lot of athletes suffer.  You aren't recovering from a bike-crash (but that can still happen).  You'll get some valuable experience if you want to do a second one.  Because you're doing this "last minute" you'll probably suffer less Post-IM malaise than those of us who focused for a year on that first ironman.  You'll be less emotionally wrapped up in the differences between your dream race and the actual race. 

What do YOU see as the disadvantages to doing the race in 5 weeks?  From my perspective:  it can be a major sufferfest (there are a lot of unknowns that you don't have much time to identify and resolve, INCLUDING HOW YOU FEEL AFTER THE HIM).  You may be demoralized when the old and/or fat athletes who have trained all year smoke you (this can happen even with a year of dedicated training).  IMO, the biggest disadvantage of doing the race on 5-weeks notice is that you're missing out on the training journey as you slowly replace fear/uncertainty with confidence.  You don't have much time to savor the changing perspectives and attitudes. 

What would be your race-day strategy to do the race in 5 weeks?  Can you be happy with how you'll have to "race" given your training limitations?  Working through the last three issues (advantages, disadvantages, satisfaction) for yourself will give you your answer.  I did my first tri "on a whim" and I signed up for my Ironman a year ahead of time, so I can appreciate the arguments both ways. 

Yes, there will be an IM-distance somewhere, but there may be reasons that make Great Floridian attractive to the OP, and there's no guarantee *that* race will be there next year. 

(Nor is there a guarantee that a training injury or other accident doesn't eliminate the possibility for doing the race next year or some other time in the future. ) 

Yes, there will be an IM-distance somewhere, but there may be reasons that make Great Floridian attractive to the OP, and there's no guarantee *that* race will be there next year. 

(Nor is there a guarantee that a training injury or other accident doesn't eliminate the possibility for doing the race next year or some other time in the future. )