The Triathlon thread - Ironman, 70.3, Olympic, Sprint

[drgav2005]

You may consider getting a tri suit - they dry off pretty quickly, have some padding in for the bike and are easy to run in…

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/?s=tri+suit

[GBDG]

Glad to have found this thread.

I'm really interested in getting involved with triathlon, but I have no idea where to start. I really enjoy keeping fit, so do quite a lot of training as is. Currently running about 30 miles per week, cycling 100+ (when the weather isn't crap) and swimming about 3 or 4 miles (although I find this quite boring, so it's hit and miss).

The thing that really appeals to me is Ironman. I'm not especially quick, so i'm never going to be competitive at a shorter distance, so it's more of the endurance challenge that gets me interested.

I'm not an athlete, and up until 10 months ago, i'd never done any sport to speak of. I've built up to where I am now by beasting myself. What would be the most sensible route to take if I really wanted to work up to an Ironman?

[2seas]

GBDG said:

Glad to have found this thread.

I'm really interested in getting involved with triathlon, but I have no idea where to start. I really enjoy keeping fit, so do quite a lot of training as is. Currently running about 30 miles per week, cycling 100+ (when the weather isn't crap) and swimming about 3 or 4 miles (although I find this quite boring, so it's hit and miss).

The thing that really appeals to me is Ironman. I'm not especially quick, so i'm never going to be competitive at a shorter distance, so it's more of the endurance challenge that gets me interested.

I'm not an athlete, and up until 10 months ago, i'd never done any sport to speak of. I've built up to where I am now by beasting myself. What would be the most sensible route to take if I really wanted to work up to an Ironman?

If you're doing that sort of distance now just book one for towards the end of the year, turn up and eat it for breakfast!

[dangerousB]

GBDG said:

The thing that really appeals to me is Ironman. I'm not especially quick, so i'm never going to be competitive at a shorter distance, so it's more of the endurance challenge that gets me interested.

I'm not an athlete, and up until 10 months ago, i'd never done any sport to speak of. I've built up to where I am now by beasting myself. What would be the most sensible route to take if I really wanted to work up to an Ironman?

You'll be glad to hear, that now is the ideal time to be looking at next years Ironman events and getting your entry in soon will give you plenty of time to get all the kit you need, train properly (with a view to the preparing properly for the course you've chosen) and probably most importantly, mentally prepare yourself for race day.

Don't wait too long though as a lot of the top races will be nearing capacity by the end of this month and you'll have to wait until next year to get your entry into a race you really fancy.

Have a look at http://www.ironman.com/events and see what interests you and if you've got any questions about specific courses, just ask away, as I've studied the whole lot in a great amount of detail!!

[drgav2005]

GBDG,

Sounds like we're in a pretty similar situation! I've just started in triathlon and this has been a very useful thread. Did my fist novice event a few weeks ago and loved it, have a sprint distance at London in September and I'm hoping to do my first Ironman next year. I'm supposed to be picking up my wetsuit today for my first open water session either tonight or next Friday (eek)…

I'd run a couple of marathons in the past but got pretty bored with the run training, nice thing with the training to date for Tri is it is so varied.

dangerousB,

Hope you're now fully fit again and cracking on with your training!
My wife and me are hoping to do Lake Placid next year, we've got relatives close by so are hoping to take along a few extra supporters and relax for a couple of weeks afterwards on holiday in the area. Any thoughts on this race? Would a triathlon bike be an advantage for this (or any other) Ironman, especially if we get 11 months training in with it?

[dangerousB]

drgav2005 said:

Hope you're now fully fit again and cracking on with your training!
My wife and me are hoping to do Lake Placid next year, we've got relatives close by so are hoping to take along a few extra supporters and relax for a couple of weeks afterwards on holiday in the area. Any thoughts on this race? Would a triathlon bike be an advantage for this (or any other) Ironman, especially if we get 11 months training in with it?

Nearly there - I thought I was able to restart training a few weeks ago, but it turns out I got it wrong - I've been banned for 2 months, not 1 month as I'd originally thought (by my girlfriend!). Feel totally fine though and more than a bit lazy doing nothing, but as she keeps reminding me, better to rest up for longer than to get stuck in too soon and have a recurrence.

From what I've read, Lake Placid is a pretty tough IM, but you've got some great scenery to take your mind off the pain! The swim's a mass water start in Mirror lake, the bike course is over 2 laps that takes you into the Adirondack mountains and has about 2000m or so of climbing and the run course is pretty hilly as well.

Let's put it this way, you could have chosen an easier event for your first one, but hey, we don't do this because it's easy, eh?!! Looks a cracker though and it's also great for spectators as well apparently.

I'd definitely go for a TT bike (as opposed to a road bike with clip ons) as there are few IM courses where you won't benefit from the geometry and aero position - you'll get penalised for drafting anyone and I hate to think what it'd be like to ride 180k's on the hoods, especially if you have the misfortune to have headwinds!!

Have you ridden a tri bike yet?? The first time I rode aero I came soooo close to having a get-off!!! I thought at the time that there was NO way I'd ever get used to (let alone comfortable) riding on the bars, but like everything it's just practise really.

[dangerousB]

Oh, nearly forgot drgav . . . have a look at this . . . should give you a great deal of info on pretty much all you need to know about the Lake Placid race.

[drgav2005]

Cheers!

Maybe I should start off with IM Austria or Switzerland

I suspect it's going to be pretty difficult whichever one we choose… but if it was easy nobody would do it, right?!

My sister used to live on the route of the Ironman Wisconsin, there were some killer hills on that course!!!

[mat205125]

drgav2005 said:

You may consider getting a tri suit - they dry off pretty quickly, have some padding in for the bike and are easy to run in…

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/?s=tri+suit

Looks sensible. Are they ok to swim in and leap onto the bike?

Is there a particular standard of helmet that is required, or will my trusty Giro mountain bike lid be fine.

[drgav2005]

mat205125 said:

Looks sensible. Are they ok to swim in and leap onto the bike?

Is there a particular standard of helmet that is required, or will my trusty Giro mountain bike lid be fine.

Hi Mat,

Yes, they're absolutely made for that. You may want to have a practice in them in your pool prior to your race…. I'd done a fair bit of training for the swim (gone from barely being able to swim a length last summer to now being able to swim the 156 lengths for IM) but I still panicked a little. Don't know if it was swimming with others in my lane, or whether the tri suit + heart rate monitor (which I wouldn't normally wear in the swim) felt tight across my chest. I relaxed, composed myself and swam the rest of the race (although breathing every 2 rather than 3 strokes!!!). Looking back, it would have been an idea to try it out prior to turning up in it on the day. The tri suit dries really quickly and kept me surprisingly warm (temp on the day was around 15C) on the bike.

As long as your trusty Giro lid is ok, i.e. no cracks, straps are fine, it fits properly etc. you should have no problems!

[GBDG]

Thanks for the replies. I'm quite tempted by ironman UK, as i live near the course and i cycle parts of the route quite frequently.

It feels like a big step to register!

I did a 2.4 mile swim today to see what it feels like. I took it fairly easy, so it wasn't so bad. It's strange how much shorter/easier the swim is than the other events.

[dangerousB]

drgav2005 said:

Maybe I should start off with IM Austria or Switzerland

I suspect it's going to be pretty difficult whichever one we choose… but if it was easy nobody would do it, right?!

The way I look at it, you only get one chance to do your first IM, so make it as memorable as possible . . . and when I say "memorable" I actually mean "challenging"!! It'll help give you that edge when training for it

You're bang on though and I think I said it earlier in the thread - there's no such thing as an easy triathlon, let alone an Ironman. When I went to Lanzarote, one of the guys I got talking to summed it up perfectly . . . "If you finish this race, you will learn the true meaning of humility and respect."

And he was right. I learnt a lot more too, which is why it won't be my last IM!!!!

Wherever you choose though, it'll be an extremely special day and a very, very life affirming moment when you (fingers crossed!) cross that finish line Mate, if you (and your wife) do, you've experienced something amazing and you'll never forget it.

Me? If I were in your shoes, I'd go for Lake Placid, no question!!!

[anonymous-user]

drgav2005 said:

Cheers!

Maybe I should start off with IM Austria or Switzerland

I suspect it's going to be pretty difficult whichever one we choose… but if it was easy nobody would do it, right?!

My sister used to live on the route of the Ironman Wisconsin, there were some killer hills on that course!!!

My immediate disclaimer is that I've never done anything longer than Olympic. However, if you want flat, I understand IM Florida is the one to go for. Although the heat and humidity may present other problems.

[drgav2005]

dangerousB said:

The way I look at it, you only get one chance to do your first IM, so make it as memorable as possible . . . and when I say "memorable" I actually mean "challenging"!! It'll help give you that edge when training for it

You're bang on though and I think I said it earlier in the thread - there's no such thing as an easy triathlon, let alone an Ironman. When I went to Lanzarote, one of the guys I got talking to summed it up perfectly . . . "If you finish this race, you will learn the true meaning of humility and respect."

And he was right. I learnt a lot more too, which is why it won't be my last IM!!!!

Wherever you choose though, it'll be an extremely special day and a very, very life affirming moment when you (fingers crossed!) cross that finish line Mate, if you (and your wife) do, you've experienced something amazing and you'll never forget it.

Me? If I were in your shoes, I'd go for Lake Placid, no question!!!

Yep, we're going to go for it… just need to wait with baited breath near the computer when registration opens to see if we can get in. If not, we'll try and get into IM Switzerland or Challenge Roth or Copenhagen. Hoping to do a race about a year from now, should give us both time to train up properly for it.

We've got a tri-ripped plan from Ben Greenfield in the US to follow… it fills an A4 lever arch folder

I've ordered in a Specialized Shiv to test at one of my local bike shops. The Planet X bikes look pretty good value but I'm nowhere near a showroom to try one out. Any other suggestions?

[drgav2005]

GBDG said:

Thanks for the replies. I'm quite tempted by ironman UK, as i live near the course and i cycle parts of the route quite frequently.

It feels like a big step to register!

I did a 2.4 mile swim today to see what it feels like. I took it fairly easy, so it wasn't so bad. It's strange how much shorter/easier the swim is than the other events.

Well done GBDG - it's good to tick off that distance. Have you registered yet?!

[drgav2005]

Greg66 said:

My immediate disclaimer is that I've never done anything longer than Olympic. However, if you want flat, I understand IM Florida is the one to go for. Although the heat and humidity may present other problems.

I think the humidity would kill me off I think I'd rather pick hills and low humidity!!!

[GBDG]

drgav2005 said:

Well done GBDG - it's good to tick off that distance. Have you registered yet?!

Not yet - I'm weighing up my options at the moment. I was made redundant a few weeks ago, so doing my best to conserve cash.

[drgav2005]

GBDG said:

Not yet - I'm weighing up my options at the moment. I was made redundant a few weeks ago, so doing my best to conserve cash.

Sorry to hear that - hope you're up and running on both counts soon!

[baxb]

I was in Klagenfurt this time last week, watching IM Austria & man was it hot ! A fantastic event, a shame about Philip Graves's DNF as he had a great bike leg. Sat down in a Lakeside restaurant for a bite around 4.30 & ended up next to 2nd place man Daniel Fontana (pizza & lemonade appears to be the recovery food of pros !) My Italian was as non-existent as his English but he was good enough to have a picture with me & my mate.

After supporting around the run course in the afternoon we went to the finish line for the last 2 hours & what a brilliant atmosphere, it was packed for the last 90 mins & everyone coming in must have felt like they had won it.

Picked up my entry code for 2013 the following day & have now entered. 357 days left to get in shape

[graeme4130]

drgav2005 said:

Greg66 said:

My immediate disclaimer is that I've never done anything longer than Olympic. However, if you want flat, I understand IM Florida is the one to go for. Although the heat and humidity may present other problems.

I think the humidity would kill me off I think I'd rather pick hills and low humidity!!!

Have you considered the Challenge events (ironman distance, but not branded Ironman)? Challenge Roth in Germany is the fastest IM distance race, so relatively is going to be an easier option. Roth actually used to be the Ironman European champs, but the organisers fell out with the WTC and it became 'Challenge' instead of Ironman
Alternatively, IM Austria is probably the fastest IM branded race in Europe and probably the world. IM Switzerland is a nice race and the bike course is stunning, although the amount of drafting on the course was terrible and personally, it annoyed the crap out of me

If you want a nice UK race, then the Outlaw in Nottingham is well organised and has a massive following.
IMUK has the nice IM stigma and feel to it, but it's a crappy split where your T1 is miles from T2 and again from the finish line. Your loved ones can't park close to the shopping centre finish which means you're crossing the line and walking someway to a car. You've then got to drive to get your bike from T2 and then again to get your swim stuff from T1. After you've just raced 140.6 miles, that hassle is the last thing you'll want.
FWIW, when IMUK was in Sherborne pre 2009, it was a lovely race.

Whichever one you choose, you'll love it I'm sure