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

Yeh I was pleased with that. My transitions were slower than everyone above me which I didn’t expect and my swim is 3 mins slower than everyone ahead of me so definitely some easy wins to be had!
I really want a tt bike but they’re so hard to get hold of now, wish I’d kept all my tt gear ten years ago.

Yeah I was lucky one came up nearby me, but I’ve to do some work on the fit and spend winter getting comfortable on it! Oh and some new wheels!

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Arh yeh that would be ideal if something like that came up!

As part of my training for a 70.3 next year, I wanted to bring my running up to scratch first. I've been working with the same coach for cycling for over 2 years now, and she's mainly a triathlete coach. Started Tri training 9 weeks ago with 3 run, 2 bike, and 1 swim per week, last 3 weeks phased out cycling to focus on running because I signed up for a half marathon for today.

Ran a 1:39:07 which I am incredibly happy with, and I can say with a 100% certainty that I haven't left a spare second on that course, I gave it everything. For reference, my anaerobic threshold on my last (cycling) test was at 187bpm... and that was my average for this run.

Now shifting focus to learn a good front crawl technique and not drown...

For reference, my anaerobic threshold on my last (cycling) test was at 187bpm... and that was my average for this run.

My running HR, both threshold & maximum, is significantly higher than my cycling HR, even if I'm staying out of the saddle - being upright plays a big part, and larger limb movements have more of a pumping effect too.

Good work though!

Oh I know that! That's why I wanted to mention that the test was cycling. Haven't had a running lactate threshold test just yet. My triathlete friends tell me that transitioning from swim to bike can also spike it as your body adjust to suddenly being upright. I can also pinpoint on my HR graph the exact moment where my body was just like "nah, had enough" (below).

I'd say about 18k of holding this pace was on merit, the rest was just stubbornness.

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Brutal, well done on suffering for that long.

Kona predictions?

Not a clue but it'd be great if Joe Skipper could win it.

So with limited experience (2 sprints and 1 Olympic) under my belt, I’ve decided to throw my hat in the ring for 2 bigger events next year; TriAthy double Olympic, and IM 70.3 Cork.

Why?

Swim is my strongest discipline, followed fairly closely by bike, and I’ve gotten around a couple of half marathons this year at 4:55-5:00/km, so hoping the longer distances will suit me.

The events aren’t til 03Jun and 19Aug respectively, but the latter is very much peak holiday season and with full IM on the 20th I wanted to get accommodation locked in asap. They should help frame my winter training though!

Good luck with the training. Check out Will Cowen on YouTube. He's one of the best AG triathletes in the country and still ripping it up on an old Boardman and has done some bike fit and aero upgrade videos on his bike. Deeper wheels, getting your front end and position dialled will really help your bike speed way more than the latest mega expensive tt frame on its own. The Boardman is still a quick bike just be careful with new wheels as there's not loads of clearance in those frames. I reckon 28mm external rim width max.

Wide rims is indeed a concern, I have hunt carbon wheels on my road bike, which I think are 27mm external, and have been meaning to try them on the boardman for size.

1. Ride bike fast in a relay, finish top 8
   
2. Qualify for Challenge Championship
   
3. Start training for triathlon
   
4. Do a relay again, but this time swim/run to work on weaknesses
   
5. Acquire Championship finisher medal
   
   

My diabolical plan is working so far! It will be very funny to see us qualify with a 5:03, and do this with a 6:03 :D

Ps: 8 weeks in, still cant swim for shit. :( Very slow progress, but hopefully I'll get there

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Good tip on the YouTube channel, enjoyed watching some of those.
If we’re doing goals/ event plans for next year mine are
Get a TT bike sorted!
Apr pool based sprint in under 1.20
May x terra uk and maybe Southport tri sprint
July Windermere tri sprint- beat last years time in all 3 disciplines. Maybe go top 10
August British sprint champs just for lols
Sept maybe sandman but not sure yet
Oct duathlon at oulton park- long shot to aim for GB qualifying but very unlikely

Need to plan my training now! I’ve bought a wall planner so far as I’m old fashioned. Then find some local TT’s, 5km races etc to keep focus between races.

Huub are having a massive online sale loads of stuff half price or less
https://huubdesign.com/collections/daily-deals

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Thanks for the tip! That suit looks awesome.

On another note: Coach interjected, I will be doing only the cycling in the Samorin relay...because I'll also be doing the oly distance the day before :D Quite excited about it!

Such a good deal on a top end wetsuit
https://huubdesign.com/products/albacore-2-wetsuit-mens

Has anyone got a tried and tested 70.3 plan? 32 weeks from Saturday so anything around that distance out from event

Ride a lot, run a lot, swim as little as you can get away with. Take a few days off before the race.

Let me rephrase that, any time crunched parents that wanted to be competitive in a 70.3 got a tried and tested targeted plan?

This book is really good i managed a 4:21 70.3 pb a couple of years ago after using the advanced plan down from 4:38 the previous year on the same course. Quite high volume low to moderate intensity which is different from my usual smash myself fit approach which often ended with me feeling smashed rather than fit come race day. This has 3x16 week plans for get round, intermediate and competitive. I can screenshot the workouts for you if you want but the book is better as there's lots of other useful information in there. I only swam 2x per week less than the plan prescribes as i hate swimming so i just swam enough to get efficient and bought a super wetsuit which helped me a lot. Apart from the workouts all the boring shit that supports it really helps and now I'm in my 40's poor sleep, rest, diet, hydration not enough S&C too much alcohol catches up with me way quicker than it did 20 years ago. Who new? We've also got a baby so i found efficiency is key with early nights and early morning workouts with everything ready to go the best way to get it done.

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Time crunched:

Your swimming is good already, so don't bother swim training. The marginal gain from improved swim time is not worth the training cost. Do some kitchen / bath transitions, taking your wet wetsuit off.

Cycling: stick with the commute, or a weekly longish ride* - All of your gains will come as a side effect of:

Running: focus on run training. Find a half marathon / full marathon plan that fits your schedule.

* make them brick sessions as your training volume increases.

Triathlete.com have free plans that you can then adapt

Ta, I've just ordered a copy of this. I broke my leg 2 weeks ago, hopefully I can read my way back to fitness over the next 4 months

Shit i hope you recover quickly 💪 I've had bronchitis for nearly 2 weeks which has completely done me so thinking about training is as much as I'm doing at the moment as well as reminding myself I've already got a pretty fast set up so don't waste any more money on kit or fuck about with my bike position whilst I'm bored at home.

All of your gains will come as a side effect of: Running

Fair point.

I was looking at some of the trainingpeaks training plans you can buy for about $100, and a pal is using one atm, but it doesn’t seem too much more interactive than just taking a free plan and saving the cash, plus I’ve a few big swimming races planned as my secondary focus for the year so don’t want to limit my swim time to 1-2 days a week like almost every plan suggests.

Thanks @Retro_Bastard, might pick up a copy for the bookshelf, and @Tallboy will take a look!