Urgent advise needed !!
6 months ago, I was too late to sign up for Ironman Lanzarote and got on the waitinglist...
Didn't think much about it, and eventually signed up for Challenge Roth and another IM later in the year..
But, this morning I received an email informing me that a spot had opened up for me at Lanzarote...!!
...and I now don't know what to do...
The race is in May, which don't give me much time to do race specific training..
The race is 7 weeks before Roth, which is my A race
I have done Lanzarote before (2003) and promished myself to come back and do better one day...
I have 96 hours to decide... what to do...
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Comments
---Ann.
Once you committed to Roth as your A-race, then started a Dec OS, the Lanzarote wait list was an emotional thing only unless you're willing to change your plans completely.
Bo, what is your experience with doing multiple IMs in a season?
@all... I'm leaning towards not doing it...and keep the full focus on Roth... if there was only a way to do it that would not compromose my Roth preparations...
still need to think a bit before making the final decision..
Most in EN will recommend you skip Lanzarote. I would wager the coaches would recommend skipping Lanzarote. My vote is to do Lanzarote. It's not optimal prep for IM #1, but there's time to get a lot of work done as you march towards Roth. By my count, you could get 12 wks outseason and 11 weeks of in-season done before IML. There was once a time in EN when the OS was 16 weeks and Inseason was 10, so it isn't such a crazy idea.
In my experience, my second IM of a season - with a turnaround between 4 - 8 weeks between #1 and #2 - has always been my better race.
Just do #3 for fun. That's why we do these things, right?
Lanzarote will always be there and it's TOUGH to gear up for a "surprise" IM in only 3mo. Doing IMLZ would absolutely not be a good thing for Roth, if that's your priority.
That said, this is all just a game and if doing both of them sounds like fun, sometimes fun is a good enough reason to do anything. But fun doesn't always mean smart...not that it has to be smart...just sayin'.
@rich and others: Would it be possible to do Lanzarote without jumping out of my current schedule...and just do Lanzarote for fun...and still have the main focus on Roth? i.e. ignore the race until raceday and just train as if Roth awas the first race of the year?
..maybe it could be fun to do an IM without any pressure or expectations....??
---Ann.
Becareful with that one. I tried to do Hawaii for "fun". When it got tough I backed off as I was doing it for fun, only to be disappointed with myself later. I now know that I am not able to do a major event for fun...it's just not my personality.
Just make sure you can really do it for fun and have zero expectations. Many people can, I can't.
Sounds like a very expensive training weekend to me, but like Rich said if it will be fun for you, go for it. I've done plenty of fun things at the potential cost of future performances.
Just an experience of mine....a few years ago I got into a bike crash 3 weeks before IMWI, broke some ribs and my hand. Being the stubborn triathlete that I am, I decided to do the race, "just for fun". While it was a great experience getting to that finish line, I had to power walk the whole marathon due to the broken ribs and extreme discomfort when I ran, and ended up over extending my hamstring which has led to a mutliple year chronic hamstring problem because I was not used to powerwalking 26 miles (running, yes, who knew walking would be different?)
Anyway, while thats a bit off topic...you never know what could get in the way of the big picture. Id forget Lanzarote and focus on Roth. There is always next year!
Any Ironman can be "fun" until about mile 13 or 15 of the run. Then, no matter how you want or wish the experience to be, it becomes very, very hard...and goes downhill from there
. If you're not properly prepared for it...I know I wouldn't have much "fun" with the experience. Just sayin'
And an IM, pretty much no matter how you do it, is going to knock you on your ass for a good 2-3wks afterwards. That plus a taper on the front end = a 5-6wk hole, minimum, punched into your Roth training.
But will it? There were rumors a while back about their contract with WTC coming up for renewal and the potential for things not to work out. Rumors are just rumors, however. I imagine some organizer would continue the tradition there even if WTC didn't, a la Roth...
My goals for Roth are too ambitious to risk loosing xx' minutes because of fatigue/lack of focused training leading up to the race...
But, I guess I'll have to do Lanzarote next year then...anyone else...? :-)