Hello all,
This August, I finished my first Ironman (IMKY) in 12:59:54; now I'm hooked. Sure, maybe it sounds crazy, but I've decided I'd like to work towards qualifying for Kona before I turn 30 (5 yrs). Given that this is my long term goal, I was wondering what shorter-term objectives I should set for myself this year, especially with respect to race selection.
Given the time demands involved in full IM and the sacrifices required, I was considering spending next season working on building speed via 2 HIMs (Steelhead in July & Austin in Oct) shooting for something in the low 5s, and building off that speed base in 2011 whence I could resume full IM training in a more time-efficient manner.
The alternative would be doing Steelhead in July (for fun, it's very close) and IM Arizona in Nov as my A race (though I do have some concerns about shifty Chicago weather in Nov).
The former option (the two HIMs) seems more practical, but I just wanted to be sure that it wouldn't be detrimental to my longer term development as an IM athlete. Thoughts?
Thanks,
J
Others may disagree - but
Others may disagree - but you may actually have a better chance qualifying for Kona before getting into the 30-34 age group (3-4 years vs. 5 years) - those dudes (assuming you are a dude) are crazy fast.
Whatever you decide... Good Luck
Maybe those that have been
Maybe those that have been following triathlons longer than me can chime in. I believe some of the best IM athletes went fast before they went long. It might not translate to age group athletes, but it's worth considering. Doing 2 HIM races and maybe some olympic races seems logical to me.
TryScott wrote: I believe
[quote=TryScott] I believe some of the best IM athletes went fast before they went long.[/quote] Que jtrimom and tonistri...
I think TryScott has
I think TryScott has something there... build speed then keep the speed while increasing distance. What is the qualifying time that you're going to be shooting for? Sub10 I think.
30-34 has more qualifying spots on average per race so I think that might be a good bet.
JWillia: I don't know that your assumption is entirely accurate. According to [url=http://triathlete-europe.competitor.com/2009/08/18/dreaming-kona-takes/]Jim Vance[/url] (last figure) 25-29 is a little faster than 30-34.
I too dream of Kona one day. As long as everyone keeps stoking the tri fire, we'll keep going strong. (Probably will even if there was no 'fuel', but it certainly helps alot.)
jwillia852 wrote:TryScott
[quote=jwillia852][quote=TryScott] I believe some of the best IM athletes went fast before they went long.[/quote] Que jtrimom and tonistri...
[/quote]
heeeheee, I didn't even see that 'coming' ;)
+1 to getting fast. Crazy
+1 to getting fast. Crazy fast on the bike and the ability to hold a sub 8 MPM pace during the marathon.
I would focus on sprints and OLY's for a season or two. That doesn't mean you can't do HIM's and even an IM. But not as the A race.
speaking for myself... i'll
speaking for myself... i'll be heading into my third season in a few months and I've focused on HIM swim and bike speed, and have decided to start running long and not worrying as much about speed but just being able to keep running no matter how bad i feel. I figure my IM marathon is going to be a war of attrition, if i'm going to qualify for kona someday it'll be by outlasting people in the marathon, so i'm going to do ultras for the next few years. i'm only 23 and figure i'll try to qualify at 28/29. personally, i don't define my success as an athlete by whether or not i make it to kona. if it happens, great, if not, oh well.
jtrimom wrote:jwillia852
[quote=jtrimom][quote=jwillia852][quote=TryScott] I believe some of the best IM athletes went fast before they went long.[/quote] Que jtrimom and tonistri...
[/quote]
heeeheee, I didn't even see that 'coming' ;)[/quote]
Giiiiiirl, you are so bad!
Jw, I can only assume you are referring to the fact that jtrimom and I wicked fast AND doing our first IM next year, right? right? oh well, it was worth a try ; )
jwillia852 wrote:Others may
[quote=jwillia852]Others may disagree - but you may actually have a better chance qualifying for Kona before getting into the 30-34 age group (3-4 years vs. 5 years) - those dudes (assuming you are a dude) are crazy fast.
Whatever you decide... Good Luck[/quote]
Believe he would be 25 so has 5 years till that group.
Thanks for the responses.
Thanks for the responses. I'm not so concerned with the pro/cons of trying to qualify at 29 vs 30+ (it all seems pretty speculative anyway), but more in the type of races to select to maximize my development as an IM competitor over the intermediate-term.
It seems like I'm hearing that developing speed at threshold and adding distance later seems to be the way to go. Has anyone seen other articles or data validating this approach. Are there any naysayers out there?
If it makes a difference, my weakest link is the bike, FTP of ~205 watts. I am a top quartile swimmer and good for a 3:35 open marathon, but wrecked legs coming off the bike leave my tri-run mid-pack.
- J