IM 16 - 17 hours club

The general Fink training thread is great, but sometimes I think I want somewhere to retreat to for a bit of reflection on running my own race so not to worry about the people who are swimming 3k, biking oooodles of miles and running 8 mm splits. 

And for those of us planning 16 hours + at Outlaw, are going to be seeing a lot of each other on the run so we might as well get to know each other now!

Anyone else care to join me - or is it just me that has the occasional wibble that I'm going to be spending 9 hours on the bike and limping 26.2 miles after??  Thats assuming I don't drown first.

Hello Soup Dragon, glad you created this thread.

I am with you for certain, on speed or lack of. I currently manage 1:10 for 50m swim and have managed 21 mins for 800m as part of Winterswim. My runs are at about 12 to 12.5 min mile pace, so I am aware of the need for a bit of oomph to get me through the swim part within the time limit. My cycling is pants and so I am part of Team "Steady does it with the PSOF", Steve F is my bike leg man, then I am doing the run.

Soupy, I have absolutely no idea how I'm going to do on the day.  People ask me what time I'm aiming for and others tell me what pace I should be aiming for in each leg to achieve a competitive result.  However, it's all for nothing if I don't finish. 

I'll be aiming to get over the line under 17 hours so I can lie in my tent afterwards knowing the training was worth it.  If I get out the water in 1:10 (ha!) and grind my bike towards a potential 6 hour split (I can but dream), only to bonk by a grass verge somewhere well before the finish, I could only look back and think it was for nothing.

I hope to finish feeling I am worthy of all the advice and help I got off here.  The main advice has been to train to finish, and to 'race' at the pace that will give me the best chance to do that. 

I don't know if that helps, but all things being well I'll be meeting you several times along the route.

Slagiatt - I've gone under 16hrs but not by much, can I be included in this group too? Still in for IMW up to now.

"get out of the water in 1:10" - oh ha ha ha - best I've ever managed is 1:48. As you can tell, I'm not much of a swimmer! But swimming's not everything, when I did my 15hrs 51 my swim was a horrible 2:09!

Hurray - I'm not on my own. Welcome to the exclusive club everyone.

TJ1004 - yep thats my attitude, keep training and do my best.  I'm sticking to a zone 2 heart rate no matter how slow that makes me because I don't want to burn out or get injured.  Better slow and getting to the end than not even making the start line.

I've got a swimming lesson tonight in an endless pool. I'm learning TI and still doing drills.  Not even swam more than a 25m length of the pool for the last 4 or 5 weeks. The theory is that while I'm learning a new stroke I don't want to continue to imprint my old inefficient one but its a bit unnerving.

DK - I'm hoping to only be in the saddle for 8 hours!  "only" (gulp). But  my ride at the weekend averaged 13mph.

I'm sure we can all do this. We might just need to keep reminding each other.

If it's your first IM, then 'training to finish' is very good advice.

Nice thread.

don't panic about not being able to do any of the distances yet.  If it's your first one then you won't be able to... that's why you've got months of training ahead of you still to do.

Keep the faith - you can & you will do it!  Whether it's pretty or not will depend on how much you give to it - some good DNA helps too  

and beer

kittenkat wrote (see)

If it's your first IM, then 'training to finish' is very good advice.

Nice thread.