My advice for 1st time IMers

I just finished IMFL and I thought I would take a minute to share some things that I learned along the way.  I picked up a lot of great advice here and I would like to give a little back to this awesome community.  Racing an IM is very individual, but I hope that my experiences can help someone else in planning and executing their race plan (disclaimer: check your specific race for details that may contradict what I am writing below).

So, here is a list of things I learned while doing my first IM that I wished I had known or that will be helpful in my next one …

-          IM events have lots of spectators around the key areas, typically near transition, bike in/out, run in/out, finish line, etc.  If you have a support crew (big or small) that you want to make sure you see and that they see you, plan ahead of time where they will be in specific detail.  As in, which side of the street at which intersection, at what times, etc.  At the finish line, plan whether they will be in the bleachers, on the side of the road, the more specific the better.  I knew generally where my husband would be, but it was stressful/overwhelming looking for him through the throngs of people.  My family saw me but I did not see them at the finish line because I didn’t know exactly where they were going to be and the finisher chute is just not that long!  They were screaming for me but I could not hear them over the crowd.

 -          Have back-up/”rescue” nutrition on the bike (and hopefully something that you know will sit well in your stomach).  I trained and raced with Infinit on the bike and Clif blocks for the run.  I did at least four 100 mile+ rides on Infinit alone and was never hungry.  On race day, I felt myself getting hungry and was happy to have Clif blocks with me as back-up to boost my calorie intake and stave off the hunger.  A Clif bar would probably have been even better, but I didn’t have one.

 -          If you are going to be on the course after dark, be prepared to be in the DARK for portions of the race.  You may be running through areas that are not well lit.  Put a headlamp or BRIGHT light of some sort in special needs.  The glow necklaces they give you on the course are more so that they can see you – they provide almost no light!  I was given a light saber by another racer prior to the race and was very thankful to have it in my special needs, but if I had to do it again, I would also have a brighter light.  It is a safety issue more than anything else.  The last thing you want to do is trip and sprain your ankle because you are running in the dark in an unfamiliar place!

-          I used both of my special needs bags and I got all of my stuff back the next morning.  Don’t forget to go and pick it up.  I was concerned about this based on what other people said online, but I had no issues getting my bags (I have heard you don't at some other races, check with other people who have done your race and read the athlete guide).  You will also get a ticket that you can give to someone in your support crew to claim your bike and bags for you, either race night (for your bike) or the next morning (for your bags).  Mark your special needs bag with bright colored duct tape or a ribbon.  This will help on race day AND the next day when you are digging to find your bags.  Close all of your bags tightly (tie them) so items do not fall out. Your mileage may vary.

 -          Listen carefully as you turn the corner to enter the finisher chute.  There will probably be a timing mat 25 yards back or so.  LISTEN for your name as soon as you go over that timing mat.  I thought I was listening, but I missed Mike Reilly saying my name (by hubby heard it) and you can no longer purchase the finish line videos.  This was a huge disappointment for me.  I was expecting to get to purchase the “watch me finish” video.  My only consolation is my finisher’s medal!

 -          Speaking of the finish line, be prepared to be a bit overwhelmed with the noise and bright lights, especially if you have been running in the dark.  I didn’t get emotional, but it was almost sensory overload!  Before I crossed the above reference timing mat, I had the presence of mind to move my sunglasses to my back pocket (which I promptly dropped and lost), throw away my glow necklace and move my light saber to the back of my race belt so that those items would not show up in the finish line photo.  Unfortunately, the sensory overload made me forget to smile and raise my arms while crossing the line.  I look like all business in the photo!

 -          The Ironman store that sells finisher gear typically opens at 7 am.  There will be a line, so get there early if you are worried about getting what you want in your size.  A lot of event merchandise sells out (or at least the popular sizes do) before the race (the stuff that does not say finisher), so if you REALLY want one of these items you are going to have to purchase (gasp!) before the race.  They ran out of Mdot stickers before the race as well as 140.6 stickers.  The magnets do not hold up well in the rain.

 -          I almost missed the Special Needs bags on the bikes because I was expecting them at the halfway point and they were around the 50 mile mark.  I never looked to see where they would be mileage wise, so double check that for your race.  It was obvious when I got there, but if you have a low number, you could be in a situation where you would have to turn around if you passed it.

 -          Be careful with your morning bag!  Someone accidentally picked up another athlete’s morning bag so an athlete was searching for his bag that contained his wetsuit!  They made announcements looking for his bag for at least 10 + minutes.  I can only imagine how stressful that would be.  Marking your bag would help here too, as someone else is less likely to mistake it as their own.

 -          There was not a countdown to the race start, just a cannon.  This surprised me.

 -          Transition times were longer than normal for me, in large part because I am a MOP athlete so on a bell curve, I was in transition with a lot of other athletes.  T1 was much worse than T2.  Plus, the way IM had the transitions set up, you had to jump through a lot of hoops to get into and out of transition, only adding to your time there.  The only reason this is worth mentioning is that if you are chasing a time goal this can make a difference.  I thought I could get away with 5 minutes for each transition, but ended up with 8:46 and 5:37.  The extra time would have made the difference in breaking 13 hours for me.  Plan accordingly.

 -          Your transition bags for T1 and T2 will probably be handed to you by a volunteer, but for T1 especially (this is by far the busier of the two), the volunteers were busy and I had to find it myself.  They are organized by number, so know where yours is (you will see this when you drop it off) so you can more quickly find it if the volunteers are swamped.

 -          Make sure your hat is not covering too much of your face in your finisher photo!

-          Photos:  ASI tested selling photos on a flash drive at IMLP this year instead of selling prints and I was hoping they would do this at IMFL.  However, at IMFL they were only selling prints.  I wanted the digital images and did not want to pay twice, so I purchased one photo at the race to get the mat and I plan to download all of the others for $140.  I would have been mad had I purchased the prints and then realized afterwards that I could purchase all of the digital online afterwards.  Finding yourself in the swimming photos is like Where’s Waldo!

 Feel free to add to this list.  I hope it helps someone!