How much experience did you have before IM?

[mnowac]

I am just curious to hear from the people who have done an IM or are signed up for one now; how much race experience did you have beforehand? How many years and what distance? I myself have never done a tri and will do my first this summer and also signed up for a HIM in the fall. I was inspired by a friend whose first endurance event ever was IM, no marathon before hand, just straight to IM. So, I would love to hear just how long it took all of you to make the jump....

[robreddy]

this could be interesting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i have some strong views on this but will hold off - really want to hear what people think and even more so WHY

r

[timritt]

i had run 6 marathons the prior 3 years. signed up for GFL 06' in nov of 05'. Did my first Olympic downtown cleveland july 06' , GCT half august 06', then GFL october 06'. Not a bad way to go but i did not know how to swim so it was tough the first couple. I think a strong running base was pretty important for me in the begginning. Working on the others so we will see in a couple weks in AZ. I have met a few people who have done IM as there first marathon and i would consider them rockstars because I think thats nuts.

TR

[RoviChris]

Race experience before signing up consisted of the Summitriathlon Sprint. If you don't go back to the 80's when I did a handful of Tris'.
Ran 4 marathons from 2005 to spring 2007.
Decided no better time than now to sign up for IMLP with a 1 year old and fast approaching 40.

Did Little Smokies and Mountaineer 1/2's in 2007 as prep work.

IMLP Race day was a well paced event that kept me within my comfort zone. Seeing others having nutritional issues kept this on my mind all day.

Also couldn't have survived the swim without RR's sessions.

[benmiralia]

I think that a lot depends on your level of fitness prior to and IM. If you are an experienced athlete in any sport then you already have the mental tools and discipline needed to train for any distance event. If you are a fairly sedentary person without much direction or experience as an athlete than although you could probably train and race an IM as your first race it is probably better to begin by training for and racing a 10K or 1/2 marathon to get a better idea of what it involves. Many first timers never even make it to the race because they become injured or they simply give up because of the enormity of the challenge and the pain involved as well as the hundreds of hours involved. To be safe I would race some shorter distance tri's first to build up a love of the sport instead of jumping into the big daddy and perhaps becoming discouraged and giving up on it altogether.

[Jack Carney]

I had run three marathons and done several century rides. I then did a sprint and a couple Olympics as my first tri's and was talking to someone who had done an IM and mentioned I was going to sign up for a HIM the following season. His advice was forget the half go for the gusto and do a full the training isn't that much different. I then checked with my coach who informed me the person giving the advice had DNF'd his first attempt and that if I wanted to really have a great experience and be ready to make it a two year plan.

I did two HIM the next season and boy was I glad I took my coach's advice. Both of them were learning experiences that would have been very painful if I had gone straight to IM instead they helped me to really learn nutrition and pacing. I did 2 more HIM the following year leading up to IM MOO where I had an awesome experience and finished faster than I had expected and feeling fine. So my advice is if you have the extra time to get prepared take it.

[Aussie Rob]

I'll say it, I'm an idiot. Worse yet, i know im being idiotic.

I got off the couch last year and dove straight into tri. Did Huntington in 1:08 (from memory) and GCT half in 5:49 (f**k the penalty and missing my wave that i couldnt get adjusted). Prior to that i mtn biked a lot, but thats not at all like what tri is like, i was nudging 200lbs.

I'm signed up for Moo. I know it's not the smartest thing to do, and i know more experienced people might think i'm being stupid. (I am, ive already given myself one injury), but honestly, i dont care. I'm doing the best i can, and i throughly believe i will have a successful race in September. I'm in it for the challenge, lets see what i can really do. I'll probably do better in the coming years if i stick with IM.....but right now, it's mainly just about pushing my limits and seeing how far i can push them.

[sarazim]

I started with a sprint tri in '01, and then went straight to a marathon in 2002. After that I did the MS 150 Pedal to the Point and started road racing and sprints/olympics pretty regularly. Did another marathon in Spring '05 and my first HIM in September '05 and signed up for IM MOO '06. For me, it seems to have worked out perfectly as I avoided all injuries and had some great experiences along the way. I know lots of people that have done IM on a faster timeline than me and done very well, but personally I wouldn't change a thing.

[Charlie]

I am a strong believer in experience.
After 7 years of short course and marathon racing, I made the decision to do Ironman. I began a three year plan that included two seasons of 70.3 training to develop a solid base.
I think the experience of nine seasons that included a wide variety of issues related to training and racing gave me the tools I needed to train and race for Ironman. This is what worked for me. If I had to it over, I would do it the same way.

That said, Chrissie Wellington had little experience. She also had great coaching.

I think it is important to understand the kind of commitment and sacrifice that has to be made to train for this distance. Also,discuss it with your family. Help them to understand what to expect. The sacrifices you make will have a strong affect on those that surround you.

[brycerapp]

I'm signed up for the Kentucky IM on 8-31-08. I thought it would be cool to just jump in with both feet and do IM distances right out of the gate. It will be my first triathlon. 3 years ago I sold my car to give the money to a church 2 of my friends and I started. I started riding my mountain bike around for transportation. I hold a 2nd degree blackbelt in Tae Kwon Do and am an instructor. After I got a little bike fit by commuting year round, I anounced to my class that I'm going to try a marathon. I trained for and ran the Cleveland in the spring and Towpath in the fall. I didn't know how to swim so I bought the book "Total Immersion" and started swimming in August. My official 6 month training program started 2 weeks ago and I'm feeling great and having a blast!

[MattCollister]

My first Ironman was my third triathlon.

[jodi]

I just had a little over a year experience in the sport. I had done:

1 super sprint
1 sprint
1 Oly
1 Half Aquabike
1 Half
2 Half mary's

I had a blast and finished under my goal time. It may have been a bit premature, but I jumped the gun because I knew it was the last year I would have the time to put in the base I needed. Don't regret it one bit. I plan to be back someday, but I'm focusing on 1/2 IM now. More manageable for training with heavy work hours.

Jodi

[debbie]

Jumped in Head First!! didn't set out to do it, it just evolved into it. As Nike says... Just Do IT.... but know your limits and abilities.

2001 - couldnt do 10 mins on treadmil. AGE 40 no prior running, or biking esperience, comforatable swimmer.
2002 - walk/run 5ks
2003 - sprint tri's
2004 - Half Ironman
2005 - IM Florida - 16:40 (Never ran a marathon until then)
2006 - IM Florida - 16:20
2007 - DOUBLE IRONMAN 36 hours!!
2008 - I"M going back for the DOUBLE !!!

[robreddy]

20 years experience before 1st IM

I think the real questions is - how many people got injured training for their first IM

My guess is there is a relationship between jumping in fast (experience) and pushing the body too far/to fast and getting hurt

r

[JenCollister]

I'm with Rob. I'm a little more conservative and really needed the base of several years to build confidence, avoid injury, etc.

2002 - 3 sprint triathlons
2003 - 1 sprint triathlon, lots of golf
2004 - 1st Olympic distance and many sprints, 1st marathon
2005 - 1st half-IM, some Olympic and sprint
2006 - 2nd half-IM, more Olympic and 2nd marathon
2007 - 1st IM, 2 half-IMs
2008 - training for the fun of it...priceless!

We all have opinions, but you really need to do what works best for you. If you go up in distance too fast and get injured, well, you've been warned. If that doesn't happen, then, well, you can say "those people were too conservative!" Good luck and most of all, have fun!