General Discussion Triathlon Talk » IM with no electronics Rss Feed  
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2013-10-28 12:09 PM

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Subject: IM with no electronics
I'm signed up for my first IM next September. I've done 5 HIM's the past 4 years and have been cycling and running for a long time. I've done my HIM's using my Garmin 305 and watching pace and heart rate through out. I've also used it in training although have not completely made all my training revolving around HR.

I'm thinking of doing the IM with just a watch; no HR, no speed and certainly no power (can't bring myself to spend that cash). Any story's out there on how well you've done with and with out all the electronics? I know my body pretty well and can train and race by perceived effort pretty well. For my first IM the main goal is to finish, but if everything goes well I should be able to do sub-12.

I know there is no right or wrong answer here, just looking for experiences from other folks.


2013-10-28 2:17 PM
in reply to: burhed

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Subject: RE: IM with no electronics
I don't have any experience but I'm hoping you get some replies. While you're waiting and to keep your thread at the top - why are you thinking of doing it without one?

The only times I've made a decision based on what my HRM has told me during any race has been to back off at the start of the bike and run because my heart rate had gone a little too high, presumably with the adrenalin rush of wanting to get away - so my HRM has reigned me in a bit.

On the down side, it's all been the deliver of bad news as my pace gradually slips away through the event and half hour benchmark finish times become unobtainable.

On balance, I'd be irritated not to have it and would likely run a more conservative race as a result but maybe not - difficult to experiment when I only do one IM race a year.
2013-10-28 2:46 PM
in reply to: Dan-L

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Subject: RE: IM with no electronics
My $.02 after one IM and 6 HIMs. I would be hesitant to do an IM without some sort of electronics. Coming out of the water, I feel great. I'm tapered, trained, pumped up, and ready to hammer! I've made that mistake on the bike, even with electronics, and paid dearly for it later on the run. The HR and speed readouts help me keep it under control. That is a huge key for me, and most, at the IM distance. Its a long day, and conserving resources until the very end is important. If you can do that on RPE, great, but I know for me, I need the feedback. Otherwise, what feels easy the first 25 miles of the bike, comes back to haunt later. Plus, 112 miles on the bike is a damn long time, I've got to have something to occupy my mind for some of that!
2013-10-28 2:51 PM
in reply to: Dan-L

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Subject: RE: IM with no electronics
Far from "no electronics," but I ran a 140.6 w/ just a cheapo Timex Ironman watch ($30) and a Cateye bike computer ($35). No HRM, GPS, etc. I just didn't feel the need for that stuff, but if someone wants to use it, that's cool.

I wanted a watch and a simple bike computer to measure time on the run and bike speed/distance. That was all I wanted, and I had fun and met my goal at the event (13:30, my goal was anywhere from 13:00-13:59).

Dan
2013-10-28 3:29 PM
in reply to: danimal123

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Subject: RE: IM with no electronics
Have only done one IM and that was with a garmin and found it great for keeping pace and HR in check on the bike - no so much on the run. Did one HIM where my old garmin just froze on race morning so went without - ended up pushing just too hard on the bike and suffered on the run - I think the data might have helped save somethign more for the run. Think it probably depends on how well you know your body but i think the previous comment about the taper having an effect has a lot of validity.
Be interested to hear others experiences too
2013-10-28 7:07 PM
in reply to: grahamclarke_6

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Subject: RE: IM with no electronics
I just use watch and Node1 on my bike. No heart rate or power meter during race or during training. 4 HIM and an IM. I just prefer to go by perceived effort. I have a heart rate monitor but just never liked it. I was able to reach all of my goals for my first IM. I plan on following this same method going forward.


2013-10-28 8:42 PM
in reply to: TriBoilermaker

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Subject: RE: IM with no electronics
I think this would be really hard. For my run during my IM, I used my GPS watch w/o HR since I got sick of wearing it and I didn't feel like I would be pushing myself too much on the run. It did help motivate me more than anything else. I was going to go at my pace and nothing faster but once I saw I was doing really well the first 1/2, it really helped me mentally to keep it up but you should know your 1/2 time from the signs and a normal watch.

For the bike...forget about it. I need that HR monitor (hopefully power soon). It's very hard to me to tell how I'm feeling on the bike. Yesterday I did a 2 hour ride. I felt awesome and not tired at all, so for an hour I went ~7-10bpm over my normal max zone for training rides thinking I just somehow got super awesome. After an hour, I was going into the wind and for that hour my HR was in my zone but way lower than I wanted it to be (speed also sucked). I had a very very hard keeping up. I'm out of shape right now (respectively to IM fitness) so that's something but if I biked like that for my first hour during an IM, it would have been one HORRIBLE day to say the least. Of course if you're training without one or training based off effort and then just glance at HR once in a while to validate how you're feeling, then I say go for it. From what I read, a lot of elites race based upon perceived effort and not HR. I'm not elite and don't have the training to take that plunge.
2013-10-28 11:58 PM
in reply to: danimal123

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Subject: RE: IM with no electronics
Originally posted by danimal123

Far from "no electronics," but I ran a 140.6 w/ just a cheapo Timex Ironman watch ($30) and a Cateye bike computer ($35). No HRM, GPS, etc. I just didn't feel the need for that stuff, but if someone wants to use it, that's cool.

I wanted a watch and a simple bike computer to measure time on the run and bike speed/distance. That was all I wanted, and I had fun and met my goal at the event (13:30, my goal was anywhere from 13:00-13:59).

Dan


x2 ...I've done 2 IM's this way. No plan on changing.

ps. I also train the same.
2013-10-29 2:06 AM
in reply to: burhed

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Subject: RE: IM with no electronics
For my IRon Distance Race this past July I meant to bring my HR monitor but forgot it. I didn't miss it. On the swimI just used my Timex watch con't to wear it on the bike. I have a Garmin 305 but mainly used time and average speed to monitor my effort. I knew what ave speed I was aiming for and came pretty close. For the run I wore my Garmin 305 and my Timex but could have gone without the Garmin. I had it set for 6 min. Run/ 1 min. Walk intervals but because of the hills and walking it was nothing but a thing that beeped all the time on my wrist. I did use it to track my run time overall but could have easily used my Timex for this. If I was to do another one I might go without the Garmin and just go simple.

2013-10-29 10:25 AM
in reply to: metafizx

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Subject: RE: IM with no electronics
Originally posted by metafizx

Originally posted by danimal123

Far from "no electronics," but I ran a 140.6 w/ just a cheapo Timex Ironman watch ($30) and a Cateye bike computer ($35). No HRM, GPS, etc. I just didn't feel the need for that stuff, but if someone wants to use it, that's cool.

I wanted a watch and a simple bike computer to measure time on the run and bike speed/distance. That was all I wanted, and I had fun and met my goal at the event (13:30, my goal was anywhere from 13:00-13:59).

Dan


x2 ...I've done 2 IM's this way. No plan on changing.

ps. I also train the same.


x3. 1 IM and 3 HIMs done this way and also no plans on changing. If you train a certain way, you should race that way. I train with minimal electronics, and race that way - and this approach works me.

2013-10-31 2:25 AM
in reply to: LarchmontTri

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Subject: RE: IM with no electronics
I just completed IM Louisville. I had a bike computer for speed and elapsed time and standard wrist watch on the run. Worked for me.


2013-10-31 5:32 AM
in reply to: #4886304

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Subject: RE: IM with no electronics
Sorry, I haven't done.it.but I am.sure in the early days people raced without any technology until maybe the individual HR monitor was introduced....
Can.you finish and do well without it ? I am pretty sure you could do.well, but you probably would perform even.better with the feedback.

Good.luck and.let us know how it goes
2013-10-31 6:17 AM
in reply to: burhed

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Subject: RE: IM with no electronics
I do pretty much all my training with gadgets galore but on race day I've got

A Timex watch
A Garmin 800 bike computer

and that's about it. I start the watch about a minute before the gun goes off then switch it back to time of day and let it run the whole race. Turn it off a few hundred feet before the finish line and that's about as electronic as I get.

2013-10-31 11:32 AM
in reply to: FELTGood

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Subject: RE: IM with no electronics

I have done 2 of my 3 IMs with just my watch and bike computer, neither time intentionally.  The first time (my first IM) was using an old Timex bodylink system, and the battery in the gps unit was not seated properly.  I had planned to use the gps information for both the bike and run.  The second time (my 3rd IM), I had planned to use my gps for the run only, but the watch never synced with the satellites. 

I find HR information of questionable value in iron-distance races, as over the extended time of the race, one's HR tends to either creap or drop (I can't remember which), so it is no longer an accurate reflection of the effort level you are putting out.

Next IM, I still want to have pace info for my run, as I tend to go out faster than I should, and could use this info to keep myself in check.

2013-10-31 12:45 PM
in reply to: #4888799

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Subject: RE: IM with no electronics
Done 2 IMs and several HIMs and I've never used anything other than a basic bike computer and inexpensive timex stopwatch. For training I'll use a HR monitor, but I like racing by feel.
2013-10-31 2:50 PM
in reply to: burhed

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Subject: RE: IM with no electronics
I've done a few HIMs and one IM and I only wear my 910xt for pace. Even then, I usually go mostly off of RPE and just refer to the pace as a guide to see if I'm starting out too fast for any of the disciplines. I also train this way too. I only bother paying attention to my HR on trainer rides, so never on long outside training rides or any of my runs.


2013-10-31 6:37 PM
in reply to: KiterChick

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Subject: RE: IM with no electronics
14x 70.3 and 5x 140.6 plus all the associated training with nothing but a watch and on race day, I seldom look at even that until it's over.

I know my approach is not optimal. One of the reasons I stay away from answering questions about training is that my approach is totally outside the boundary of how you're supposed to go about triathlon(or something like that).

And yet, it's worked for me. I think years of repetition got me to a place where RPE has been enough, I.e., I know lmyself well enough to know what the limit of hurting just enough is.

Having said that, I now go to a training facility that's all HR based - I had to finally buy a monitor. So now I'm only MOSTLY a Luddite.
2013-11-01 9:37 AM
in reply to: alltom1

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Subject: RE: IM with no electronics
At my last IM I had to flip my transition bags at the last minute (screwed up when packing them), and I didn't switch the HR monitor straps (I was using my Garmin for the bike and my boyfriend's Garmin for the run). So I had the run HR monitor strap in the bike bag and the bike HR monitor strap in the run bag. Didn't realize it till I was about 5 miles into the bike. Rode the bike without HR. But I knew what my pace needed to be, and I knew my RPE and I was fine without my HR monitor.

2013-11-01 1:00 PM
in reply to: KSH

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Subject: RE: IM with no electronics

I train and race with nothing more than my CatEye bike computer and Timex watch that used to be white but now is some sort of weird colour that has no actual name but certainly isn't white anymore.  

 

2013-11-01 2:35 PM
in reply to: blueyedbikergirl

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Subject: RE: IM with no electronics

Originally posted by blueyedbikergirl

I train and race with nothing more than my CatEye bike computer and Timex watch that used to be white but now is some sort of weird colour that has no actual name but certainly isn't white anymore.  

 

I now have a vision of you in nothing but a Timex. Thank you!!

2013-11-04 6:01 PM
in reply to: mrbbrad

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Subject: RE: IM with no electronics
When I started training for my IM I bought the HR monitor etc. After about a month, I was so consumed by numbers and trying to stay within a "zone" that I wasn't having any fun. As soon as I stopped wearing the HR monitor and worrying about fitting into what all of the training logs tell you, I started having fun.

I know some pros have also said they would much rather rely on their body to tell them how their day is going rather than a piece of equipment.

http://www.chrissiewellington.org/media-archive/wellington-ignores-...
"In an admission that will make most coaches feel faint, she said she had never used a heart-rate monitor, the must-have tool of every training manual. “I don’t own one and I’ve never had a VO2 max test either,” she said."



2013-11-05 9:15 PM
in reply to: #4889252

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Subject: RE: IM with no electronics
I'll echo what many have said, I train with a Timex Global Trainer, which I hate, but race day, it's the cheap Timex with just the timer going. I will have mental goals of where I want to be time wise at each point of the race, and I can glance and see if I'm on track. It also has a timer that goes off every 15 minutes to remind me of nutrition, but that's it. It cost $30 bucks and is far more reliable than the damn GT or any Garmin I've ever had.
2013-11-09 12:18 PM
in reply to: KatieLimb

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Subject: RE: IM with no electronics
I've done 4 IMs, I find a speedometer on the bike important and I like my garmin for pacing on the run. I don't need anything else. You could just use a watch for run paces, but that requires doing some math, more math during the run than I like to do.
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