Tri / Triathlon / Triathlons - do they float your boat?

Yes. Taste nice but they're a prime suspect in one of my less pleasant toilet incidents so I don't buy them anymore.

Jellybean do a sports version. Even one with caffeine. Nice for running as you just munch one at a time.

I only do isotonic style gels these days. Standard concentrated gels just piss me off. So sticky.

https://www.cyclestore.co.uk/jelly_belly_sport_beans_assorted_6_pack-ID_53844?gclid=CJTV48SB4MkCFYXDcgodTwwP-Q&gclsrc=aw.ds

I have the zipvit ones with 56g of carbs and 2.5 cans worth of red bull for hard early morning sessions

bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Just had 3 very interrupted weeks of training following getting sick from swimming in the thames on 21st december, and then shingles post Christmas.

On the mend now and did a 30 minute run on Friday, 2 hours at 200w on the bike on Saturday and then 2 hours at 220w on sunday, followed by a short run off the bike.

Officially back into training today and feeling very chipper, concerned by the numbers on training peaks - my CTL has dropped from 105 to 83, but don't feel that unfit, so hopefully once im back into full training it'll tick up into the high 90s fairly quickly, would really like to go on a trianign camp in Feb to try to make up for some of the lost ground but I don't think finances will allow... :(

my CTL has dropped from 105 to 83

After IMWales in September my CTL went into free fall while I dealt with some work stuff, and since December has been bumbling along pretty consistently at about 30 while I log the occasional sociable jog with my GF and a few junk miles on the bike.

I think a big part of this is no longer having a coach to tell me what to do, and also having no plans or races scheduled for next year. I've got some work to shift off my desk by the end of today but if I get it done early I need to sort myself out with a concrete plan. No Ironman I think but maybe a couple of halfs coupled with some 100mile TTs and marathons.

hmmm, I know what you mean, I self coached for a month back in Sept and through a combination of setting myself ridiculously hard training and not really feeling that accountable missed an awful lot of training.

thankfully back on it now, and it'll bounce back up, as I've got bundles of energy again.

definitely doing a fair bit of TTing this year, and have the H100/8 and E2/100 in the plan as I figure the longer stuff is really good both for confidence as well as a brutally hard brick session - I like Lucy Gossage's technique of have a Long run target, short run target or no run target - i.e. the harder you try the less running you have to do - good motivation to empty the tank!

6.20 firmware out for the 920xt, includes the extra running dynamics stuff so the watch will want to update the HRM-Tri too.

I'll see just how unbalanced my gait is once I've done my afternoon intervals. Ugh.

I don't tri, but I plan to do my first this year. Not yet looking to get a tri-suit just yet, but as I'm sure I will in the future, in order to get used to the thin padding I'm looking for some good bib shorts with tri-suit like padding. Any recommendations?

not sure I understand - you want triathlon padding without buying tri suit - what about tri shorts....?

Training seems to be back on course, and CTL will be around 115 by the end of next week, target is to be around 130 for the start of the Ironman taper, and then drop down to 120 for race day...

Didn't even know tri shorts existed. Thanks!

Skinfit are the Rapha of trishorts, if you're interested in nice but pricey.

What about 2XU?

yep, if you want slightly cheaper, zone 3 stuff is good value for money...

Thanks guys. Will get into this.

Really need to book some races for this year, if only so I have an incentive to go swimming. It's nearly the end of Jan and I still have no clue what I'm doing this year. Hmph.

I've entered some things.

Still have no real clue what I'm doing though.

Looks like my first tri is going to be the Ironman. Must read up on "transition".

ironman "transition" is different to every other tri you'll ever do both in terms of size length and the fact that its acceptable and id personally recommend completely changing between each leg, so as long as you only take in what you need (i.e. don't give yourself decisions) then you'll be fine.

Average t1 at IM wales is about 15 minutes as you have to run the mile from the beach to transition, then navigate the whole thing!

Yep, it was kind of in jest. I intend to do complete changes between each and suffer the time penalty of the changing tent. I'd rather have full pad cycling shorts and not have to wear shorts with any padding whilst swimming or running. And I think that extra comfort and familiarity will be worth the extra minutes spent getting changed properly.

The early season open water swimming (Shepperton Lake) should mean I know what to wear/do for the swim (wetsuit fit, bodyglide, etc). Do people double hat? I need to wear prescription goggles so I'd rather not have them knocked off (I'm kind of used to swim biff), so I'd look to do hat, goggles, official hat.

Already know what I'll need for the cycle in whatever conditions there are on the day (it's Wales, expect all weather). Should know by mid-April what works for me for running. Just need to start the list of important things to take (vaseline, micropore tape, etc). Good point about not having to make decisions, I like that.

Was it you who mentioned having a bigger bag in the beach shoe bag so you can completely remove the wetsuit to make the run to t1 easier? I'd probably prefer to do the run to t1 in jammers, guess I'd need a tri top on underneath the wetsuit if I'm going to remove the wetsuit for the run.

Oh, and I need to sort accommodation and to work out how I get there and back (ideally without a car, and I can't imagine driving 150 miles the day after a possible 13h-15h Ironman would be sensible at all). What have people done after IM Wales?

(This serves as a useful distraction from the middle of my week of 60km running.)

as the swim in now wave started, its less likely to be violent, I think I had hats on but cant really remember TBH - the hat they give you for ironman is very good quality - I still use the same one now - 1.5 years later!

I wore a tri suit under my wetsuit as it meant I couldn't fall foul of anti nudity rules when taking of wetsuit in t1 part 1, I didn't mention the extra bag but not a bad idea, although if I was doing it again, I might be tempted just to run the whole thing in a wetsuit and shoes a wet wetsuit is a heavy and awkward thing - make sure you take an extra pair of running shoes for the beach - transition run as well.

I then changed into a skin suit with the aid of a lot of talc then in y2 changed into tri seperates, the pockets in both the shorts and the top made this a no brainer as I was using my own nutrition and I needed to carry quite a few gels at any one time.

the other thing to mention is the run special needs zone is just a stretch of road where your supporters can give you anything you want, I had a spare pair of shoes as well as plenty of spare gels and a small pharmacy (buscopan, ibuprofen, Imodium, paracetomol) just in case -you see them twice a lap, so you could forewarn

I also took my own water bottle, with a hand strap, as they hand out drinks in cups and although your never more than 3k from the next one, I just got 2 or 3 volunteers to put whatever I wanted in the bottle each time I ran low, letting me sip when I needed it rather than having to stop at each aid station - I also got them to spray me with water towards the end!

the best place to stay is somewhere on the run course, ideally near the beach - as it allows for a short walk in the morning, and means you can go home again after re-checking your bike/removing bike cover in the morning rather than hanging about for hours - it also means families are having to traipse about miles, so they can see you at the swim, half way on the bike and then multiple times on the run without having to do a marathon themselves.

Reading this makes me want to do an Ironman as well. Not sure if I can actually achieve it though. I have never done any triathlons. I ran a marathon in 3h53m last October, but haven't ran much since. I biked 150+km with ease 3 years ago, but am most definitely not in that shape anymore. I swim like shit. Is it reasonable to hope to do an Ironman (distance) triathlon this year?

I've got quite some free time so made this training schedule which I'll be starting tomorrow. The red blocks are gym workouts. The swims won't be as determined in the beginning. I will have to start with a zero-to-1mile-plan before I can start doing any specific training anyway. Papzakdag is Dutch for fatass-day.

There's nothing to stop you completing one, anything is possible with enough commitment, but why the rush, it would be a lot better to aim for a middle distance race this year and then sign up to an ironman the following year if you enjoy it - admittedly the pace for a middle is a lot faster for most than a full, but it'll give you a good idea...

Looking at that plan, i wouldnt recommend a beginner double trains, let alone triple trains, looks like a recipe for injury, or worse, becoming really slow.

Thanks for the advise. But I'm a stubborn guy so will try to stick to that schedule and see how my body reacts. Will consider the middle distance though.

Off to the pool. Got this simple 6 week plan to get from 0 to a mile swim. They recommend not to focus too much on technique those first six weeks, but advocate that it comes naturally if you stick to swimming thrice a week, up to a certain degree. They also mention that after those 6 weeks when you manage to swim a continuous mile without breathing stops, technique is everything and should be focussed on. Is this advise something you could concur with?

You can do it no problem. I did an IM 6 months after finding out what triathlon was (was drunk, met some triathletes, signed up to do IM Western Australia). Stood on the beach waiting for the starting cannon, I'd never done more than a 2km swim, 100m bike or half marathon, but still got round. With the time you have for training, you'll get there easily if you want to.

Haha, brilliant! Do you have a race report?