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Long term effects of Ironman

WisemanWiseman
in General Training Discussions

Has anyone seen any studies done of potential long term negative effects of ironman training and racing ? As I get older, I sure do have more aches and pains, and they last longer, than when I was younger . No surprise there, but I would like to hear from the smart folks here about potential joint/etc damage effects.

Comments

  • brianrobkelly@hotmail.combrianrobkelly@hotmail.com
    So funny you posted this. I did IMOO 2 weeks ago, and have IMFL on nov 7th. I am scheduled to start back into real training today. I am having trouble shaking off soreness and stiffness. I have had some nice 1 hrs runs and bikes over the last week, but what is actually 1 hr, seems to have residual effects of a training session 3 times as long. My motivation is lacking, especially swimming. I am looking for some EN mojo, anything, to get my body and mind back in the game...and yeah, I wish I was 25 again, even 35...hell today, i would take 45!
  • Al TruscottAl Truscott
    Wm - you may have seen the studies which show no increase in joint and back issues among long-time runners. There are numerous examples, though, of people seriously hurting themselves in an IM race - permanent damage to internal organs like gut, kidney, etc and also serious muscle damage which can be toxic. While rare, these are real, and a result of "mind over matter" My take: train smart with proper recovery and rest when needed, and don't race dehydrated, and we should be just fine until the end of our time. 81 y/o Lew Hollander will be doing Kona this year, and he,s been doing it for decades.
  • WisemanWiseman
    Al, I hear ya. I suppose my real question is going to be more of how do I properly recover during EN ironman training. I've been in the system for 3 solid years and what I've experienced is HIM and less, the plan works beautifully as written, and I'm doing the advanced plans. IM years I've experienced a degradation of strength across the year , in spite of having better races. I think I've seen you post that you tweak the weekly plan to include more rest....would love to get some discussion going on that. The simple truth is a 50+ yo person cannot recover like a 30 yo, and as I start to build the plan for next year, which currently includes IMCDA, would like some advice on how to deal with it. @ Brian, same here after IMC. My first run was only 45' but felt like 2:30 when I was done !
  • Bruce ThompsonBruce Thompson

    I don't have the experience racing IMs that Al T does, but I've done numerous stand alone marathons in my 50s.  Here's my 2 cents.  There is no doubt that it takes longer to recover than when we were younger.  I've found the rule of thumb of "one easy day of recovery for each mile of racing" has worked for me really well in the past 5 years.  So after a marathon, no hard or long running for 4 weeks.  I did IM CDA in June and followed the same rule - I didn't run hard or anything longer than 10 miles for 4 weeks.  I follwed the EN post IM transition plan fairly closely and it seemed to work well.  I felt really sluggish for about 3 weeks,  then in week 4 seemed to get some spring back in my legs.  I did 2  weeks of hard intervals in post IM weeks 5&6 and then raced a local OLY 7 weeks post IM.  I definately felt like I was recovered by then and posted a nice OLY distance PR.  In summary, be just as disciplined about getting your post IM rest as you were about putting in the pre-race training.  So Brian - I suggest you give yourself another week of rest after IMMOO.  My hunch is  that you'll feel much better, then you can get serious about IMFL.  Don't worry... you won't lose fitness and the rest will get you re-charged.

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