1st year long course
Coaches or WSM's - a little help planning first year on the long course please - I have identified my first "A" race as Musselman HIM mid July - now I'm trying to lay out balance of the year - a few local tri friends are headed to IMCZ and are trying to talk me into IMCZ as my first IM. I just completed my 4th week of OS and most everything is going well.
- Question #1 - is it advisable for a 54 yr old EN newbie to attempt this or should I wait till 2012 for IM?
- Question #2- if #1 is yes - I live near Buffalo NY so outside training in Nov is touch/go - does last few weeks of EN IM plan account for possible indoor sessions?
- Question #3 - I have a few detailed questions about inserting local oly's into my plan - should I post the whole plan here for your review (seems like it would occupy alot of space)?
Thx in advance
Jeff
Comments
#1: You are the best gauge of your ability/fitness/body. From a logical standpoint a 1/2 in July then full in Nov seems like a good idea from a timing standpoint. But only you can decide if it would be too much for your body
#2: The IM plan will be the same indoor or outdoor, just doing 4 hours inside on a trainer will suck, but hey, at least you get to race somewhere nice!
#3: You can post season planning questions/outline for critique in the Macro thread. There's a spreadsheet toolkit in the wiki if you need/want help with the formatting. There's also information in the wiki on building your season if you haven't seen that already too.
One factor to consider is how much consistency and fitness you have going into this year. If you were sitting on a couch eating bon-bons just two months ago, it may still be possible to do an IM almost a full year away. BUT- you are likely going to be at a higher risk of injury than someone who has 2-3 years of Oly's, Half Marys, and overall consistent training (particularly running) behind them.
So when you say you are a 54 year old Newbie. How "Newbie" are you? Did you have an athletic past, fell off the wagon, and now are getting back to the routine again? Or were you a band/drama geek in your younger days with no prior athletic experience? Pretty sure we have examples around here of folks going from couch to IM finish line inside 2 years (Matt S I think?) but as Jennifer said- you really need to consider your own abilities.
Good advice above. In my experience, the primary "danger" of such late season IM's, especially for first-timers in a cold weather climate, is the length of your season and how long you'll be thinking about the race = high potential to drive you nuts, especially as a first timer.
In the end, the best race for you to do is the race that you can train the best for, given timing, weather, travel costs, hours of daylight, and the mental cost, for you, of potentially thinking about the damn race for months and months.
#3 - I've got the EN spreadsheet - so I'll complete and post here in a couple days
Thx again for the input
Regarding ability to train in Buffalo thru Nov. IM AZ the week before Coz this year featured a number of EN athletes from cold, snowy and or wet climes such as Wyo, western COq, and ND. I've trained for IM AZ twice in the Pac NW. As long as you are able and willing to pick and choose when yu can do you longer sessions depending on the weather, it's not really a problem. I've never done a ride or run longer than 75 min indoors.
Finally, a midsummer break away from Triathlon would be a healthy way to break the years into two. Say, 2-3 weeks vacation focused on some other activity after June or early July big race.