FLATEST IRONMAN/ 1/2 IRONMAN

[PJGILL]

I am looking at doing my first ironman in the next 18 months. To give myself the best chance on completing i am looking for the a flat ironman (within reason). It would preferably be in Europe, may be USA, and towards the end of the summer as i am not a great winter cyclist.

Thanks

Phil

[richwestover]

Ironman is about the challenge, not finding the easiest one just to say you've done it.

[ramones64]

I am looking at doing my first ironman in the next 18 months. To give myself the best chance on completing i am looking for the a flat ironman (within reason). It would preferably be in Europe, may be USA, and towards the end of the summer as i am not a great winter cyclist.

Thanks

Phil

The UK Ultimate TRi at Dearnford lake is Ironman distance (18/08/13) and is as flat as a pancake reportedly , I am doing this one as my first Ironman and chose it because it is flat and also around £200 cheaper than any other one ... Enjoy what you do and dont let the Egotists put you off , Ironman is an Ironman which ever one you do .. Keep on Tri'ing..

[willieverfinish]

Er.... Is this a wind up ?

Flat courses are not the easiest. Constant power output on the bike will ruin you for the marathon.

Are you after a branded Ironman or an Iron distance ?

This has to be a joke right ?

Where do you live Phil ?

UK ?

[PJGILL]

It's not a joke! Just trying to give myself a chance of completing my first to build confidence. Your support is appreciated Rich Westover. And Willieverfinish possibly I showing my ignorance but was hoping for constructive help.

[willieverfinish]

I am being constructive!

Flat courses are not the easiest! I think you'll be making a mistake to aim for a fininsh solely on that criteria.

Where do you live ? In the UK ?

What races did you have in mind ?

Ironman branded or Iron distance ? There is a huge amount of IM distance events out there, loads in the UK but if its an M Dot race you want you need to be careful in choosing the one you want to do.

It's hard to recommened one as we know nothing about you. Whats your background, do you have a history of swimming, can you ride a bike now ? To what standard, hows your swimming ?

If I was going to give you any advice then it would be go for it. Of course you can finish an IM..... but maybe think again about where you want to race.

[Zacnici]

I know some people avoid over hilly courses because of knee problems and the like but as stated a flat course is full on constant cranking at high cadence with high O2 demand.

IM Sweden, Challenge Barcelona are two that I can think of but for atmosphere and achievement a climb breaks the monotony and also gives you a full out descent at 60+kph check this out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvxBClSxVNE

Most climbs on tri courses are about 3 mins max, yes a bastard at times but it adds to the satisfaction

[richwestover]

don't think my post has gone down too well, so will expand. definitely not saying flat is easy, top end power and continuous power output are weak points for me and i fare much better on hilly courses so i know how hard it can be to finish high up the standings on a flat course.

maybe i took it the wrong way, but it was more the tone of the post i objected to. used to triathletes relishing the challenge of something like IM Wales or the UK Ironman 70.3 not looking for the easiest option. if it was phrased i'm looking for a course to play to my strengths, then that would have made more sense!

[PJGILL]

Apologies if i appeared curt.

I am average cyclist and average runner but poor swimmer. This is the area that i intend to concentrate on over the next few months to get myself up to the distance required. Currently i would struggle to do much more than 750m in any way that could be described as effcient and it is this part that i think would kill me before i have even started. I live in the UK and at present are more interested in the distance rather than the bagging an MDot. On the bike i am good on both the flat and hills, running is stronger as a continous pace rather than breaks in tempo.

[willieverfinish]

The swimming will come - that's the easy bit

You say your bike is ok - so why stipulate u want a flat race ?

You will finish - but think carefully about what race you enter