Did you become an Ironman on your 1st attempt? (Page 2)

It was IM Germany for me 13:33

And i loved every momentt of it

No. Missed the bike cutoff at IMAZ this year by 6 min. The 30+ mph winds for the bike and the 40 mph winds on the last lap of the bike did me in. On any normal day the distance wouldn't have been a problem. Challenging of course, but not as bad as it was that day.

The next morning I signed up for IMAZ '08, vowing to get my revenge on the course (hence the sig line). I recently had a bit of a hiccup in my "I will beat it" attitude. I had another bad HIM at SOMA 2 weeks ago where heat exhaustion on the run forced me to walk and have yet another horrible finishing time. Then again, it was 97 degrees out and the hottest race I've ever done. Still, it has caused "what if" thoughts to creep in.

I'm going into my IM training with a much better base than last year. The fear of DNFing will force me to stick to the training...I just need to be careful and not overdo it. If I don't make it next year it will kill me.

I finished mine on the first time.

Sunny, there is also a cut off on the bike half way. Mike R told us a story about a guy who had a flat the prior year right before special needs on the bike and sat and waited for the sag truck. When the sag truck got there, he fixed the tire and rode to special needs but they stopped him because he did not meet the 1/2 bike cut off. So when he got the flat all he had to do was walk 200 yards and then wait for the truck and he woiuld have had the rest of the time.... So reading the the athlete guide and going to the meetings is very important.

Also, I want to stress that doing a IM is not a easy task. I see a lot of people who say "this is my first year, second year etc and I am doing a IM and have only done a sprint of a Oly". There is a reason only less than a million people have completed an Ironman event. It is not EASY and like so many stories on here, there are so many other factors like weather and your body. You have to train hard, it is a huge sacrifice. It is not like missing a week of workouts and still grinding thru a Oly or even a marathon; IM is a different animal.
So for those of you that have not even dne a half, try that out first. Can you do a IM with out doing a half, yes of course. Can you do a IM without even running a marathon, yes you can. But understand there are other factors that are in play than just your fitness... Respect the distance.

I am sure the ones that did not complete the IM can tell you it is very hard on the ego, I know because I did not complete my first half because of under training and poor nutrition. It is hard to train again....

This may seem harsh and I am sure I will get PM's for this comment but they have time goals for a reason.... You are supposed to be able to do the race in around 15 or so and if something goes wrong you have 17.... Dont train thinking you have 17 hours and that is all the time in the world, then when something goes wrong you have no time to back up and punt. If you are out there after 17 hours and something didnt go wrong you were not ready for that distance....

Make sure you are ready for the distance.....

westfried - 2006-09-12 6:13 PM I read an interesting statistic a while ago, but I don't remember where, and I don't remember the exact numbers, but... Of those people who start a given type of endurance race (Marathon, IM), 90% will eventually finish that type of race. Though, it might not be on that attempt. (ie, fail in a half-iron, but come back to complete next year's race.) BUT - only 25% of people who begin the training make it to the start line. Injuries, time commitments, etc. Lots of people who attempt IM training will have to bow out from some injury, so just completing the training is a big accomplishment. (Thus, DFL > DNS). There is a related statistic about targeting a race versus paying for a race. Registering, and PAYING, for a race acts as an external commitment, and correlates stongly with getting to the starting line. (but here's where I can't remember the percentages) Ie, when my wife started training for the Vancouver marathon, she kept postponing registration. Started slacking a bit on the later training, and skipped out (due to "work" two weeks before. On the other hand, when she signed up, and paid for, Grand Columbian (half-iron), she busted her butt, did all the training, and had a great race.

That's interesting. I signed up with three other friends only two of us made the starting line..................and both of us are Ironmen!!!

Sorry, Birkie, there's a cutoff for post RRs.  

It was a long crooked path to the first starting line given the bike/car thing at St. Anthony's last April which took me out of IMCdA but I made it to the finish line at IMFL.

If you train for it, if you log the works outs and put in the time + effort, you will not only finish it the first time ... you will finish well.

Ironman training is an exercise in both commitment + problem solving.

Good luck!