Two IMs in one month?
What's the closest time between IMs that is realistic without doing more harm than good?
Background: I signed up for IMKY as a backup race in case I did not KQ at IMMOO. Good news is I did qualify, but now I'm thinking of racing in Louisville as well.
I broached the subject with Coach P who said no, take some time off and enjoy life...nothing good can happen. While I agree that there is little to gain I have an urge to still race. My thinking is the following:
1 - I've already paid for it, so why not?
2 - I think it could be a good experiment to see how I race with a non-traditional build and recovery.
3 - My body feels great...other than my road rash which is almost healed. I haven't done anything in the last week, but I did do a very short run and my legs were begging to go faster/longer. So I think my body is ready.
4 - I have yet to have a 'bad' race and the risk would be higher for a bad race which (similar to #2 above) would help me experience what that feels like, where/how it sets in, etc.
So....Maybe a little to gain, but is there really anything big to lose? Even if my body is torn up I could take six weeks really easy and be ready for DOS.
Comments
Both my own experience trying doubles, and observing others here do them with varying degrees of success, here are the things you might want to ask yourself:
Bottom line for me: I strongly suggest only doing this if you are willing to commit to a high performance goal. Like winning, or at least qualifying again. The people we've seen here do this with some success in the recent past (Jenn, Dave Tallo, Tim Cronk) all had top level goals staring at them for the second race. You're a smart enough racer, and will be well trained enough that you will not go over your limits, out into the zone where long-term injury might become a risk.
"Only bad things can happen" - I don't agree. Each time your perform well, that adds resilience and confidence, for which there is no substitute. There's nothing quite so satisfying as passing on a Kona slot cause you've already go one. I've experienced that 3 times, and it's really a kick.
http://www.endurancecorner.com/Justin_Daerr/bridging_ironman2
Because you have punched your kona ticket, you really can make this a learning experience ... maybe experiment with a week run focus and week bike focus in the buildup. Or, try out a "run / walk" strategy to see if you clock a faster marathon. Or move "Mile 18" to "Mile 16" and see if you can start your push with 10 miles to go in the run. (edit: or go all Von Hoenacker, and push right on the edge all day to see if magic happens). Although I agree that putting together back-to-back A efforts isn't realistic, I think people are surprised when they end up doing a double in a month, or some other significant overachievement, because it just seemed so unfathomable before you actually set out. Kinda like the IM distance looked to us all at one point ... and now it's just a tick on the odometer that you pass on your way to "really, really far."
If your head is clear and all your parts - bike and body - are up for it, I say go all in. My pointers on a methodology were set out in this thread ( http://members.endurancenation.us/Forums/tabid/57/aft/19465/Default.aspx). The only other point - and this is lifting from the same site that Paul linked to above - it recover like it's your job. Actually, read that article on that site to give you a full sense of how that recovery would look. I think it would eclipse what you (or most of us who are not pros) would normally do, but an extraordinary achievement calls for extraordinary measures.
Look forward to cheering on the Lou Crew virtually