Karen writes: The financial cost of Ironman

I made contact with someone recently, mentioned Ironman and the answer came back something along the lines that they were planning on doing IM 2013, but because of finances were going to put it off till the following year.  That got me to thinking about how much the journey to the IM 2012 that-wasn’t has cost and after totaling things up I came to the conclusion it wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been.  Bit late to be thinking about that really, given I have just signed up for another one.

Some things are a bit unclear (how do you put a price on crawling out of bed at 5am to breakfast by yourself before an early run for months on end?), some things I probably would have spent the money on anyway (repairs, running gear etc), some things I was lucky enough to already have, some are essential, some not.

So, the journey cost...

·    Registration – around $800.  That is so expensive, but it is also THE commitment.  When you scrape up that sort of money, you have no choice but to take it seriously!

·    Bike – my dear old Scott (bought second hand some years ago), without aerobars, was absolutely fine.  I did spend a bit on repairs and maintenance over the year, but probably would have had to anyway.  Most likely wouldn't consider an event of such magnitude on the rusty old Rockhopper mountain bike with the knobblies and the middle chain ring not working though.

·    Clothing – bike shorts, tri shorts, tops, all wear out, but the trick is to beg, borrow and buy on special.   To train twice a day 6 days/week for months on end does mean you need more clothes unless you are dynamite with the washing. Sometimes you luck-out, one cycle shop had a box of tri shorts for $20 under their sales table, I brought several pairs for training, they do the cycle, run and you can swim in them.   The Bendon shop factory sales were eagerly awaited too.  We were lucky enough to get some sponsorship to buy branded gear which we used for the day and lead-up events (thanks Novo Nordisk).

·    Running shoes – yes, these are expensive, but if you are a runner you need shoes anyway.  I buy mine on sale, you can find last years model much reduced.  I can get 800-900km out of mine, that is a lot of km when you think about it so I didn’t need too many pairs.  I would have spent about $500 on running shoes over the year for 2 marathons, two half ironman events and all that training in between, one pair is still going and will easily take me through the Rotorua Marathon.  Good socks are expensive but essential though, $35.

·    Cycle shoes/pedals – if you already cycle, hopefully you have these.  Mine were worn out and I got a second-hand pair of carbon soled Pearl Izumi for $50 with cleats included from Trademe, they appeared not to have ever been worn.

·    Bike service – normally I get the bike serviced before big events for peace of mind, probably had one extra service - $100.

·    Supplements – now that I have figured out that honey sandwiches are my bike-fuel of choice that helps.  If you buy gels at $5 each from the bike shop, that adds up real quick.  I keep an eye out for sales, like at torpedo-7, you can get them half price or less, and I only use the gels on the long rides and runs once a week, so would perhaps use up to 6 close to peak training. The rest of the time would be 1-3 gels/week, I would say I spent about $350 over the year on supplements (including 2 big tins of electrolyte drink powder from the supermarket and protein meal-replacement powder).

·    Registrations for other events - it makes the training easier and does your head good to have smaller (but significant) targets to aim for, Rotorua marathon ($99), Perth marathon ($100), Taupo cycle challenge ($99), Rotorua Half Ironman ($99), plus accommodation/transport etc.  Now the last bit is where you have to be tricky, for example combine the trip with a family holiday, share accommodation.  Technically these dont count towards Ironman, we would have done them anyway.

·    Wetsuit – Top of the line from Trademe - $80.  $20 for repair kit.

·    Swim gear – togs, doesn’t everyone have these anyway?  Flippers and hand paddles - $15 off trade-me.  They almost come under the luxury category, but made a big difference to my training, partly by mitigating the boredom.

·    Goggles – 2 pairs from the Otara pool shop, $15 each.

·    Body maintenance – I needed some support for my grumpy muscles, I would say I had 8 trips to the massage people at around $80 each time over the year to fix various aches and pains or help recovery.  Now that I know more about how beneficial these are I probably would be aiming to do this even without Ironman. $640.

·    Trainer – I spent about $500 on this over 6 months.   Well worth the investment.  Nutrition advice - $160, again, an investment.

·    Unnecessary but useful toys – Nike sportsband ($40 off trademe), it’s a cool toy which is more of a motivator than anything else, mini pannier to carry all that food on bike ($10).  The fancy yellow neoprene ankle thingy for the transponder I got at the Ironman expo ($5). Tri-belt ($7 off Trademe).  Elastic laces...didn't need these at all but they are PINK and you have to buy something at an expo ($10, Perth marathon), I really like them now though. I could put in the Polar heart-rate monitor here, I have had one for years, haven't figured out how to make sense of it but hope to next time, some people swear by them!

·    The trip away for the big event, fuel, food, accommodation (shared rented house), kenneling for the dog.  $300.  Taking the whanau meant it could technically be counted as a family holiday.

·    Extra food – funnily enough, extra rice and bread and fruit costs less than the normal indulgence in chocolate and cake.  Cutting the V energy drinks out saved up to $30/week so came in in credit on this one!

How much is that finish-line WORTH to you?

Total spent somewhere around $4000, (probably offset by savings on V and chocolate).   Ok, divide that up over a year = approx $330/month.   Anyway, my conclusion.  There are so many things which can put your IM dream off, and who knows what will happen in the future that could eventually make it impossible to achieve at all.   That $4000 I spent might seem like a lot of money if you haven’t got it there in your pocket, but compared to the estimates of tens of thousands of dollars some people say are needed to achieve Ironman...it's not massive.   The bonus for me of having another go in 2013 is that this time round I have so much left-over gear I expect to spend half as much!

Actually, the biggest cost was TIME.  But that is another story.