cool stuff :)

That is very cool. How many other tri's have you done? How long have you been doing them? I would like to try an Ironman distance some day, but need some more experience and training. Keep us informed how your training is going.

Good going TDB, nothing like looking back up in the deep end and seeing where you've got to go. I'm thinking a frisbee in your special needs run bag to get you through that last 13 miles. Nothing like a frisbee flying by the persons head in front of you to distract them long enough to fly by them. Good luck with the training and let us know how it goes.

TDB - good luck in your first IM distance tri. It looks like we have a few things in common when it comes to our first IM (I'm doing IM WI in '05) and holding up family traditions. My mother, father, mother-in-law, and father-in-law have all done IM HI (as well as other IM) and now it's up to me to continue the tradition. Hopefully I'll be able to do IM HI some day, but I'll start with IM WI for now.

I just wanted to let you know that there's someone else out there in you same boat and is rooting for you and training right along with you (I'm also a part-time Adventure Racer as well).

Good luck with your training and maybe I'll see you in the IM HI someday.

You've hit on some very good points here. As a young kid my initial goal was to beat my mom in the local road races and once I met that goal I set my sight on my dad. It at least was a point of motivation for us growing up. Who knows, if we didn't have that kind of motivation we may not be where we are today.

My mom is actually a big reason why I'm doing what I'm doing. Back in the early through mid 80's she was an Olympic qualifier in the marathon ('84) and won just about every triathlon in the midwest(I believe she placed 10th in IM HI in '82 or '83). In 1990 she had a ski accident that tore her knee apart and required reconstructive surgery to repair. To this day she's never been the same and is now a 8 - 8:30 min. pace jogger and a casual bike rider. In her hayday she was a dominant biker and a sub 7 min./mile marathoner so it's quite a dramatic change for her(she's always been very competitive). In my mind I'm doing this IM for her as well as for me. She'll be there when I do IM WI and I hope she gets as much out of it as I do.

It's amazing how much influence your parents have on you isn't it. I was finally able to get my dad back into competition last year at the multi-event multi-day race called Max-O-Mania. I'm not sure how many tri's he'll do but he is planning on doing that one again. He's over 50 and still has that competitive spirit in him. I think he likes the AR's better than the triathlons now though. Have you been able to get your parents involved in AR's? If they're looking for another challenge, you can't beat the excitement of AR's(as you already know).

One sad thing for me is that if things go well for me I could be in the 10 hour range at IM WI, but that still won't beat my dad's time from IM HI in the early 80's. Isn't that sad that with all the technological advances in today's bikes and nutrition that I still can't get by his time(he was a better swimmer than me). Oh well, I'm sure we'll both have a blast doing our first IM, and I'm sure our families will be very proud to watch our success as they understand what it takes to get through one of those races. Good luck and let us know how your race goes.

Well it sounds like you've got this thing figured out. You've put a lot more thought into this next year than I have, but that's great. I think you've got the right idea though when it comes to training. Keep it fun, but make sure you're goal oriented in the end. That's the approach I'm taking (I'm no expert by any means) and that's what works for me.

I have 4 big events to "peak" for next season. Moab Xtreme Adventure race(April), Halfmax(half IM - June), Max-O-Mania(5 events in 3 days - end of July), and IM WI (Sept. 11). I'll also be doing some smaller triathlons, but those will be just for training purposes.

Maybe our paths will cross one of these day(maybe in IM HI sometime). Best wishes for the coming year, and remember when all else fails, you've still got your family behind you. :)

Congrats gents. Let me know if you need any help on the nutritional side. All the training in the world will not overcome bad fuel.
Folan

Event Date: Sat Sept 24, 2005

280 days to go TDB, how's the training?

Have you scheduled a marathon before the IM, say in June?

PoC

hey POC!

yup, i have a marathon scheduled, but I'm not registered for an official race. I was planning for a marathon in April, an adventure race (18-24 hours) in June, a double-century and another AR or half-ironman sometime in July, the birth of our NEWBORN BABY in August!!, some tapering and some late nite feedings and then the race!

Training is going well, this week has been a low mileage, recovery week, and next week I'll start picking up the hours again. I'm focusing on my running right now, but I'm really going to start working on my bike endurance. My wife's master's thesis is just about finished, and we still have this major travelling to do (which will limit the bike time, so that's when I'll be focusing on running and open water swims.

The new born has added a whole new dimension to the process, and one that i am TOTALLY excited about!

I love running so much that i decided even if it does take away from ironman training, i am going to do a spring marathon. My running club is doing the country music marathon in Nashville, TN so I think Im going to go ahead and do that. Its April 30th. I think i'll have plenty of time to recover by the IM.

I have heard that the flying pigs is a great marathon but im probably going to do nashville just because its a little earlier in the season and my running club is taking a bus trip there so i'll know lots of people in it.

I plan on doing Ironman Brazil 29 May, and love running as well. After reading "Going Long" they recommend that if you are training for the Iron distance, you shoud not train any runs longer than 2 hours. I actually read this after running the Atlanta marathon on Thanksgiving day. Hope this helps!!