It's in 12 weeks! Training has started on Monday for me.

Who's in?

Mango?
Miners? (You know you want to!)
Ratdog?
Aunty K?
Uncle Dave?
Muzz?

Helmet is in for #2.

Ratdog doesn't have a leave pass.

Sorry mon ami, I am doing IMNZ this year, and even 30 years ago, I don't think I could have backed up within 4 weeks.

BUT - I will be there on Cheer Squad, with (hopefully) Kazz, Jen and some others.

Happy training.

Muz

Sorry Will, as much as I would like to, recurring achillies problems have given me zero chance of toeing the line for this year's IM

Although this does mean that we will be available to join Muz, Kaz and others in cheersquad duties

Train hard everyone !

Ratdog is an early scratching due to no ticker and a family that requires me to do less than 20 hours training a week. (actually ill be trying to do the training, when the wife isnt watching.) Currently training up for Huskisson long course.

IMOZ 2010 bring it on!!!!!!!

I hope so much to be there to be part of the cheer squad.

If anyone wants a training partner for long rides, im in.

I will be up there cheering on some of my Tri club buddies as well as all the cool runners. IMOZ 2010 will be my debut!!!

Hope to catch up with the cheersquad some time Saturday/Saturday night.

Cheers
Andrew

Sorry to hear that Mango. Hope you get those achilles sorted out ASAP!

Ratdog, I'll be at Huski as well. It was my favorite race last year! Great course and fantastic atmosphere!

unfortunately not for me this year - am going to concentrate on getting myself (finally) to the start-line of 6FT uninjured this year after 4 years of trying!

I also have a super-secret race goal planned for July that I need to save my pennies for

Definitely there in a cheering capacity though

Winky and I are both in.

Winks for 5th ironman in 2 years.

Me for 3rd ironman.

Shot'is

I suppose I'll be there.

Sadly, more out of habit than anything else this year.

Hi Will,

I'm keen keen keen to be there.

I'm training as if I'm going to be competing for now. I have to get the doc's ok on 5/2/09 before i pay the big bucks for entry. Fingers crossed I have a 'minor' issue that can be sorted out quickly.

If I find that I cannot compete I will be there no matter what. Accommodation is booked and all my favourite tri-buddies are racing. It is probably time I stood around and cheered for them as they have done for me over the past few years. I will keep you posted... fingers crossed for me.

Cheers,
AK

Paul - you know you love it!!

AK

Great! Hope you get everything sorted out and get the all clear to race!

See you in Huski!

IRON MAN !!! I so want to do one when I'm 18 but heaps of training to do till then. Only can do a Half Marathon and a 2km swim and 100km bike ride. But still leaves me 3 years. I do have a question.... Is there an Iron Man event in QLD??? or do I have to go to NSW's???

Cheers,

Chris

Chris,
There is only 2 full Ironman events in Australia every year - IM Australia in Port Macquarie, NSW and IM Western Australia in Busselton WA.
QLD does have a couple of half ironman events though - Gold Coast Half Ironman and Capricorn Resort Half Ironman (Yeppoon). (Not sure if there are any more as I am from NSW.)
You need to do a half to be eligible to enter the full ironman.
Happy training!
Winks

Cheers mate. You shall see me doing an IronMan in the comming years, I hope. Um if you have to do a Half IronMan first I'll do the Gold Coast one, it's not far away

Cheers,

Chris

Ironkid94 - my youngest son is almost 13 & it is his goal to compete at IM.... just like his mum

Keep us posted on your races & progress.

Cheers,
AK

Great to have lofty goals, but it's wise to take your time in achieving them also. There are enough examples of guys and girls who've broken themselves by going too long too early in their lives.

They reckon that distance runners don't peak till their mid-late 30's. The reason isn't soley because that's when they can start affording the entry fees. There's a whole host of other physiological reasons to this.

I have a good friend up here in her 20's who competed at the top of her AG over the IM distance less than 5 years ago - and now she can't run, nor can she comfortably ride a road-bike. And it's not an unfamiliar story.

Enjoy being the age you are before you start worrying about this long stuff

Is the step up from half KIm to full IM huge?

I like many othrs have a dream to do a full IM

I am concentrating on sprint distance and you can work hard in these but the distance is quite easy to get through

So Olympic distance is next and halves - all of whch seem very achievable whilst being a huge challenge and knowing I will be spent after them - the swim for me is the most concerning - I really feel it after 1km swims in open water (lakes) so full IM open water ocean just sounds like a mountain!!!!!

I reckon pulling a mara after a 180km bike would be pure torture - the half sounds realistic but full still makes me shudder

also - any advice on bikes - does a modified road bike (with bars etc) cut the mustard or for that level should you start to seriously think about a tri specific bike - do you see many guys on full IM getting around on clunkers? - I currently ride a modified road bike of pretty good quality with bars etc and find it ok

Hi James77

Yeah, the step-up is pretty big, especially for MOPs and BOPS like myself. A whole day out of your life, and even if you are quick, you are out there for 10-12 hours.

Get some HIMs under your belt and maybe a long course or two. But, if you don't shirk your IM training, it is eminently do-able, and very rewarding.

As far as the bike goes, I have done Ironman on my Felt roadie with clip-on aeros, saddlewing, etc, and was very comfortable thank you very much! The shorter wheelbases on the tri-specific bikes just don't suit me, I'm afraid.

Keep us informed of your progress.

Muz

Yeah - slowly slowly - I am now in my thirties and will agree to all this - I have always been sport minded and did a lot of running - I actually feel better sometimes than I did in my twenties - mainly in distance stuff and most 6fters seem to eb late twenties/thirties

so hiting thirties decided for a social outlet and to keep fit to get into tris - the big goal is IM but you need to do sprint distance, them OD, then the 71.whatever, Halves then IM - all along the way being comfortable.

I train sometimes with tri clubs, run squads (full of half and full mara guys and gals), bike grous etc and to get to the individual levelof each event takes time to build up to mentally and pysically and then to pull it all together is a another whole issue - and not to mention doing bigger distances takes speed from your shorter distances

I am learning all this as I go through and it makes you understand and appreciate what IM guys and gals go through to get there and makes you freakin amazed when you see Macca and Alexander make it look easy and kick the rest of the world to the kerb

I am simply amazed at stepping into longer individual events and dealing with the speeds they can pace and maintain - a lot to learn - but one step at a time for me as I want to enjoy my IM experience

lots to answer there James, and there's many wiser and more experienced people than me here - but in response to the first question, yes the jump from Half to Full isn't just a matter of doubling the distance. It IS huge, and the training jump is an exponential one. You suddenly have to start factoring in serious nutritional strategies to the race, let alone conquering the distances in each discipline.

Perhaps from this post and my previous in this thread it could be surmised that I'm coming across a bit negative - and I'm the first to admit that IMHO long distance racing is over-rated (particularly for the youth). They're great goals to have, but so too is winning the Luke Harrop Memorial race on the Gold Coast, or winning an age group at Mooba, Noosa or Cronulla. Perhaps winning a tri series at Raby Bay or St Kilda.

Don't discount the difficulty of the sprint and Oly distances. Myself and others who've been through the IM would still count some of our hardest races as being over the sprint distance. It just depends on whether you set yourself a goal to master those distances and actually "race" them, or whether you just want to tick them off - much like it seems most people want to do with the marathon or IM.

While you're young, and (potentially) fast, then BE fast. Smash the hour in the sprints - challenge yourself to Top 10s in the Olympic and Sprint races around the State - win a Club race - race 10k fun runs "well", rather than just shamble through a marathon - etc..

Sure if you're an exceptional athlete and one who is physiologically suited to the marathon or IM, then get some proper coaching and perhaps you'll go on to be the next big thing. Otherwise, build a good base, have a great time with a fully supportive club, and worry about the IM when you start to slow down

(edit: to say that James and my posts crossed in the ether - I assumed you were a similar age to ironkid, hence the slanting of the advice to both of you

The step from half IM to IM is bigger than either that from sprint to ODT or ODT to HIM.

IM is a more difficult race to "get right". Nutrition becomes much more critical, and pacing probably does also. The price you pay for a poorly excecuted race in IM is many addiitional hours of suffering out on the course. Conversely, the price I always seemed to pay for being fit enough to race an IM really hard was a couple of hours in the medical tent and 3 or 4 litres of IV fluids.

IM really is a different game to other tris.



The swim is the easiest leg of Ironman, (and I'm not much of a swimmer). Once you can swim 1 km comfortably, building it up to 4km is fairly easy. Building from running 10 km to 42km strongly (with dead legs) takes a lot more time.



Me too. And I have done so for quite a few Ironman races.

OK, so what age would be a safe age to do a Half IronMan then a full IronMan??

Cheers,

Chris

Appreciate the advice guys and nobody is coming acrosss negative and I undestand when I am ready I will know it - I intend to bring my sprint times down further, do some longer tris this year, some long distance road running races, some trail runs and some long cycle challenges - both social, charity type and racing

At the end of the year I will see where I am at - doub half IM wll be on this year but thinking half IM next year (wish GC half was atthe start of the year!!!!) then maybe IM following year

so for me it is a 2-3 year goal with a half decent base

In saying al this I may not like the longer distances as I get into them and simply decide to concentrate on sprint and olympic didtance and do my best times and maybe do a IM once just for that life experience - and I reckon it would eb a life experience - the understanding and learning and just the fact you have conquared something so big - then decide if continuing on and being able to age group compete and get times down is realistic or be happy with finishing

interesting issue Chris - there is an 18-24 age category for the Half Ironman series. However, the number of participants in this AG is relatively small, particularly the females (they have more sense perhaps?). Triathlon Australia also sets recommended age-limits for various race distances, but these stop at 17years, where they recommend Oly distance should be the maximum distance they cover.

The most populous AG in Half and Full IM is the Males 35-39 category, and some of the fastest race times outside the pros come from the 25-35's. That's probably a reasonable indication. For example, all the talk about Tim Berkel's win in IMWA was how he had bucked the trend and that he shouldn't be expecting to win a race over that distance for another 5 years or so.

While exceptional athletes would tend to fall outside some normal trends, look at Haile Gebrselassie who's now well into the twilight of his track career (or really, would be past competing in Track) and is only now setting Marathon WRs.

It is not quite that simple.

There are always a few 18 or 19 year olds at Port (or before at Forster) every year. A few stay in the sport long term, many others you never see again.

At 18, some guys will so strong that they are cracking macadamias between their glutes, while some might take many more years for their bodies to develop the endurance, the strength and the resilience for Ironman. Others may be more athletically gifted, but their bodies will never adapt to the workload. They might have a 9 hour engine (heart, lungs and muscles) but their chassis just isn't suited (poor biomechanics, susceptability to stress fractures, or other limitations predisposing them to injury).

When I did my second triathlon, there was some young kid who finished three minutes ahead of me. Not sure, but I think Jason Shortis is still doing OK?

Enjoy the journey. Don't become fixated by the destination. Play around with sprint and ODT, 5km, 10km, half marathon, open water swims, bike racing, orienteering....... It is all part of the process and part of the fun.

I had 29 triathlons, at least 10 marathons and even one ultramarathon under my race belt before I did my first Ironman.

Be ready by your own timetable, not someone else's.

A good read

advice ill digest over long rides on sunday arvo's training up for the big day.. Whenever that might be.

I pretty much agree with what has been said about not rushing into 226.2km of race day punishment. The longer distance races of any sort take a much bigger toll on your body than most of us appreciate.

In the majority of cases what younger athletes lack in relation to the long stuff is RUN MILES in the legs. So many training injuries come when you try to run to far to soon, hence the higher participation rate of the 30 something athletes in many endurance events. s they have just had more years of kilometers in the bank. The applies to the bike and the swim but to lesser degrees.

Where young athletes are invovled you need to consider their actual age and their age within the sport concerned. In the case of Ironman you need to look at the running age of the athlete as this is the part where it all goes wrong most often.
The big engine bad chasis analogy that Paul used is perfect. Just look at many swimmers who come to triathlon and are always injured in the legs.........

Enjoy the short stuff as there is plenty of glory and challenges there then somewhere down the track you will just know it is the year to go to the big party.

Sme people are freaks and are ready for the long stuff staight away........don't assume your one of them!


Back on topic I was in but now I'm out, broken foot 6 weeks on crutches, I will be up there however cheering on the day... Then next year?!?!

Train safe

2010 with me Ratty. Gives us around 60 odd weeks to train. By that time we will be immune to the boringness of the long rides and actually start to enjoy them!!!!

Cheers
Andrew

my 1st Ironman race was my 57th triathlon...couldn't get my head around it for years...
maybe a bit similar to people lining up for their debut 5km fun run and being asked what they think of a marathon !!
I still love doing the sprint races and just going out hard and giving it to yourself but the longer races call for a lot more planning - pacing - nutrition etc.very satisfying when it all works .
as the good advise above no need to rush to race long.enjoy the shorter races ...practice transitions etc...when you feel like you can race them maybe look at longer races for some new challenges.

as for IMOZ 09 I will be there for #4 in a new AG too.

Hi All,

With less than 6 weeks to go, who has paid up entry yet??

I noticed today there are only 997 entries so far.

You have until the 27th Feb to enter, so better get to it!

Cheers,
AK

Haven't entered yet. I will do it tomorrow or thursday. I think it will reach 1100.

Happy training!

Gulp!

Yep I've taken the plunge and paid up entry to my first ever Ironman. Now I just have to do some longer training! My longest run is 90 minutes so far (and that was at Huskisson on Sunday in the Long Course triathlon)

Also I wanted to mention that if anyone is struggling to find accommodation, I just put a deposit today on a 2 bedroom apartment in Port and we'll only be needing one bedroom.

good luck to all those entering - wish I was at that level - maybe I will take a crack at half IM this year and see where I sit after and take the plunge in 10 or 11

I was talking to a lovely lady at bribie who gave me some confidence boosting on the start line of the Bribie long course - she has done several IM's and did hell of the west so if you are on here I assume you ae going so good luck - and the same for the rest - just completing puts you in another class....

Thanks Aunty.

I must give Helmet a nudge.

kb

Shot'is and Winky confirmed entrants. Bring it!

i am doing it.hopefully i can get my body healthy for the event.

Okay people,

Lets get a concrete list of Enterants and spectators for this years IMOZ in Port Macquarie.

Im heading up late Saturday night and coming home very late sunday night after watching all the excitement.

So that others can track your progress on the day can you also put down your:

bib no
swim time
bike time
run time
total time
and if you have decided on what gear you are wearing, put a description of it also, so we can spot you from afar.

Ill be taking my video camera and still camera so that you can relive the moments.

Damn, im not even racing this year (next year for sure) and im getting excited.

Best of luck to all.

I will be there in a spectating capacity - hopefully in time to see the swim start.

Like Ratty, I am putting in a big day, but then I only live about an hour's drive away.

RD, I'm getting excited too!

Muz

ratdog - i'm getting very excited also. This is IM No. 5 for me

Bib no: 690
No idea of times due to recent surgery. Finishing IM without any medical issues will be a win for me.
Gear: I'm wearing 'Balance' tri-gear. Yellow, black, green nicks + matching cycling jersey.

Cheers,
AK

Hubby Rob aka Helmet race no. 765.

Like AK he will be wearing Balance Tri Club gear.

Ratty posting times is akin to jinxing yourself.

I will be doing the 5km fun run again and probably the ocean swim too.

See you up there.

Cheri

RD,

No firm committments from me other than race number which is 165. I fully support KBs view on published race times for Ironman.

Winky is now a confirmed non starter.

Take care all and happy racing

Winky is a confirmed supporter. A very important role

I am hoping she will be keeping myself, Swazi and the esky company

kb

I'll be setting the course for you and more than likely marshaling at the far turn-around at Town Beach. Wear the CR cap so I can see yourself and any other CRs running it as you come through.

btw, haven't organised anything for Saturday night drinks/dinner yet - anyone keen this year?

Sadly we will be missing the buzz and excitement this year. We will be in Geelong where I'm hoping for a new Oly PB

So all the best for our CR competitors and if anyone wants to keep me updated during the day, that would be great.

this is all very exciting.
I would love to come down and cheer. Will have to consult the family to see if i can get a leave pass to come down Saturday afternoon.

Unfortunately Mango & I won't be there this year either

Good luck to everyone competing & cheering; it's a l-o-n-g day so keep your food and fluid intake high

I would say good luck but you won't need it