The IronMan is coming to town in my home town in BC tomorrow. It's a 2.4 mile swim, followed by a 112 mile bike ride and then a full marathon at the end (26.2 miles).
This place is absolutely buzzing, it's mental the dedication these guys go through. My room mate has been insanely dedicated to it (he's hoping for a sub ten hour finish - the cut off time is 17 hours).
Anyone done one or contemplating doing one? Got to admit I have gotten the bug and can see myself signing up for next years in Whistler after watching it play out tomorrow. I'm volunteering at one of the running aid stations so get guaranteed entry for next year and a discounted entry fee ($600 v $750).
Anyone on here fancy signing up...
@JohnboyUk ,
@Leroy_Ambrose? Am sure I could find a place for you in Whistler.
It's supposed to be insanely emotional at the end, athletes get 17 hours to complete, it finishes at midnight and the crowd stays to the end to help and cheer the straddlers through in time to "qualify" as an ironman.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhsDOiDEXzc
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I know I can do the marathon part but after a swim (urgh) and the bike ride I'm not sure my knees would allow me to do much more than hobble half of the 26 miles.
Who knows though, the dedication to training before would have to be immense - not sure I have that inclination any more.
Its the only thing that stops me doing triathlons.
I really want to have a go at a tri. I'm planning on taking some swimming lessons at some point to be able to get my front crawl up to an adequate standard to have a go but when, god knows.
Now on the hunt for a 2nd hand road bike and a wet suit.
Crapping myself and massively excited at the same time. My soft target is to complete under 13 hours .... yikes!
There's some well organized events in Canterbury, Sittingbourne, Maidstone and Ashford, which we'll be doing next year.
http://www.velocity-events.co.uk/
Dartford & Swanley Whiteoak Tri Squad put on a sprint event (think it was sometime in June this year) - 400m swim in a pool, 27k Bike and 8k run...which is an ideal starting point. There was also the Bridge Triathlon at Dartford (with an open water swim) which one of my friends entered which is supposed to be very good and has various distance options.
I will have a go at one once I get my swimming sorted out...but trying to fit that in amongst everything else I do at the moment is difficult.
http://youtu.be/9Z5tAVK62K0
Good luck.
Good luck.
@thecrazyaddick how did you get on?
My split times if anyone is interested:
3. 8 km swim in 1h 08
180 km bike ride in 5 h 45
Marathon at the end in 3h 50
Can't imagine ever doing anything as tough as that. Living in the mountains there was a crazy amount of climbing on the bike leg. I placed 120 th out of 2000 overall.... pretty happy with that for my first and only ironman!!
Practice long rides with the nutrition you will be using, I used Perpetuem (a hammer product) for the bike and then gel's and whatever I could get my hands on for the run. Where are you thinking about doing it @GNelson ?