She's definitely logging some serious miles and is well on her way to be trained and ready, but it's all those other things...food, clothes, special needs bags, pacing, and so on!!
For example, one woman told me that as a female participant do whatever you can to get a men's colored swim cap. Huh? No explanation, just those words of wisdom. Can anyone confirm or deny this bit of advice?
She's also toying with the thought of a 1/2 iron less than a month before IM. Good or bad idea? Why? (For the record, I said bad: taper and rejuvenate before the big day.)
What was your most useful piece of advice as a first time endurance athlete? Ironman? Marathon? Ultras? Whatever it is, share the love.
Don't let me down interweb, pay the tri love and knowledge forward!!
2 comments:
Personally I think the Half a month ahead is a bad idea. When I started my taper I realized how exhausted I was and definitely needed downtime- not recovery time.
I've never heard anything about getting a men's cap- unless you want to blend in since the races tend to be about 2/3 men. However, I say embrace the fact that you're a chick that rocks! Make those boys work for the swim. But be prepared to take some punches in the swim. No, not taps or bumps, full-on punches.
As for the bike. Take it easy. Seriously. It's tempting to push hard. But then there's that little thing called a marathon looming ahead. I got lucky with my second IM, I tagged onto a cool guy around mile 9 of the run and we wound up going the distance together. All the way to the finish line. While I wasn't hurting nearly as much as my first time having that additional emotional support made all the difference as our good and bad times came in different waves.
Best advice I can give though is to smile and enjoy it. Really truly enjoy the day. Remember everything you can because different people will ask you a hundred different questions and then stare at you in awe. And you want to remember how great that day was and how you deserve that stare and then the comment that usually follows "You're nuts"
Tell your friend I say good luck!! And even when she's feeling like she doesn't want to continue, most likely the next day she'll be thinking about pulling out the ole credit card and adding to its balance.
I'll email you with ideas...as I am sure i will get lengthy with the amount of detail I will offer. Keep in mind what I write worked for me and it is how i trained and prepared for WI but it may or may not work for your friend.
I am in the car driving back from Door County, so I'll write more between tomorrow and Thurs :)
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