Ironman Blues - Post IMWI

It's a common dynamic...I will say the preferred technique is to get back in the same routine you had in the weeks leading up to the race, albeit at lower volume. Since it's been a couple of months since your A race for the year, I would get a couple of early year events on your calendar but not necessarily related to tri; trail races for instance. Something/anything to get yourself moving again...

I just did IM #10 spread out over the last 12 years and I'm certain that always having something to work towards is what keeps me moving. I'm also certain that keeping things fresh is key. YMMV.

Best of luck with your training..

I took a week off after my A-race. Started getting restless so I got back into running and biking. Registered for a couple of 70.3 races in 2019. That helps keep me focussed.

Maybe look into doing some 5k races to keep you motivated to keep up the training. If I don’t have a race on the horizon I will make every excuse not to exercise.

A bit in the same boat here.... My first IM wasn't perfect (slower time than I'd hoped, mainly due to a very rough bike course and some mechanical issues, but I shouldn't complain about managing to podium in my first IM, especially in the last 6 weeks of my AG before aging up!); anyway, it is done! I'm just taking the rest of the year to do what I feel like doing. My goal is just to do something active that I enjoy every day for at least 30-60 minutes. Our tri club has an online November swim challenge with all these crazy challenges--distance, time trials, different strokes, etc. I'm trying to do as many as I can. Swimming feels really good (my IM was eight days ago) so I'm just doing that for now. After next week will start in on strength training, which I usually don't do during the race season, so for me it's a novelty. Then get back to fun-running, mostly trails. I would pick some active things that you enjoy--could be unrelated to tri like snowshoeing or XC skiing, or might be a different version of them, like trail running or off-road biking, and focus on those until it's time to gear up for the next race season. Or if you are a class sort of person (I'm not), maybe do some spin or strength classes for a change of pace.

Another motivating thing for me (not sure for others) is yearly totals. So I will make sure I do enough in December to get to my goals. (This year, due to high-volume IM training, it's not that ambitious--I think I only need to run another 23 minutes this year, swim about two hours, and bike total of five hours and 43 minutes over the next five weeks!)

Wow--I really have no idea what to expect! Do you think that variation was connected to effort, preparation or lack thereof, race conditions, or anything in particular?


I was worried about how I'd handle the IM given tropical conditions and all the travel to and from, but really didn't feel much worse than any of my HIM during or after. I honestly only felt really sore/tired for about three or four days after the IM last Saturday. My legs felt pretty trashed until Wednesday; some rather miserable back cramps that day but PMS and hotel beds may have been a factor--it wasn't bothering me during the race or until then. We flew back to the US (from Singapore--18 hour trip total) on Thursday, so Friday felt pretty yuck from that, but really no worse than normal after a trans-Pacific flight. I feel normal now except for some jet lag. Just swimming this week as my coach told me to take the rest of the month off from running and strength, and I'm feeling a bit over my tri bike! Wondering if I am really "recovered" or there is deep fatigue I would be feeling if/when I tried to run or bike--easy to moderate swimming feels normal and it's my usual pace.

Edited by Hot Runner 2018-11-26 11:36 AM

Have you signed up for any races in 2019?
Typically I stave this off by having races lined up/signed up before the next one is done.

My fire stays lit by knowing I have another event on the schedule.

Otherwise... it's not training with intent, it's exercise with no clear purpose, for me.

This is always a hard time of year for me - busy time at work, holidays, cold weather... I have lots of excuses, ??

My next couple of races aren’t until the Spring, but the scale is starting to move up again.

Time to get back in the gym!