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

Well done! At first I thought that was a 5k swim and was looking for the missing "2:" at the beginning of the swim time.

60km around Richmond Park today at my "I could sustain this for 3 times as long" pace. 2h23 so looking good for a 7h 180km. Only 172W with no aero aids, plus I'm still 8kg over target weight.

Early is anything in April! I'll look into Dorney. Little Beaver might be a bit close to the 70.3 but I do love the name so maybe I can make it work...

Also, this is great!

I entered (havent done it yet) my first tri a while back. I bet this is pretty typical. But I picked it as a pretty fun focused event With a short swim (500m). Trouble is the ride is 6,2km and the run 1,8km. Up the side of a mountain. But still a bit short and intense for my tastes really. Then a mate waved this under my nose...

http://www.axtri.no/Home.html

Epic looking bike ride, and a Nice half Marathon run. But 1900m along a 11C fjord is way Beyond me.

I need talking out of this......

It looks amazing. DO IT!!!!!

The swim will be the easy part once you get your shit together :)

I'm not even sure I can manage 1000m. I do 1000m at the pool. But I need to stop to check the kids havent drownded every few laps.

I love the look of the ride. Paced Climb - smash descent - paced Climb - smashed descent.
The run would be Perfect for me, if I hadnt just done the other bits.

Really not sure about this one.

A couple of kms in 11C is easy enough in trunks - in a wetsuit you'll be laughing. But get in quick - I think they're the guys who do Norseman, so it's likely to sell out fast...

That looks stunning.

And cold.

So very, very cold.

DO IT!

do it, 70.3s suit you as the swim is such a proportionally small part of it, (pack leader at even a decent level race is likely to be 27-30 minutes) and even if you do a very very steady swim you're likely to be less than 50 minutes, so no matter how much you lose on the swim you'll be able to make most of it back vs the crap cyclists and slow runners!

The bike ride was apparantly freezing last year. One of those 'oh shit I need to get Down from here but fast feels colder' descents. Except you double back and do it in reverse after. The mate offering me the Place, says it was the hardest ride he'd ever done because of the Cold. He wasnt much of a climber at the time though. I reckon he popped hitting the peak the first time.

This is an awesome helpful answer. Cheers.

Makes a lot of sense. Definitely wouldnt describe myself as fast on the bike. But over 3000m of climbing I could do a decent pacing job and reel folk in before the run. Probably a middle of the road runner. So I should avoid coming last.

I was thinking that it might tricky to warm yourself up on the bike after the swim...

Depends on how long you have to run in a neoprene wetsuit in transition from swim to bike. Warming up sometimes isn't a problem.

I don't think I've ever got on the bike thinking, i'm cold, I have definitely been 5 miles into the bike and thought holy hell i'm freezing!

the good thing is that for most 70.3's it is acceptable to change in transition, its obviously a big time penalty but then so is being uncomfortably cold.

I changed between each leg at ironman, as I decided that id rather be comfortable than save 2 minutes, and I went through transitions faster than a lot of people who were "hardcore" and didn't change...

I think I've now got all my races decided for the year, even if I haven't necessarily entered them all,
2x sprint
3x Olympic
4x70.3
and one 3/4 distance team time trial as its always a good laugh - and I will make it into my club "a" team this year!

I have no experiance of starting a Climb wet. But I am the most inefficient organic engine in the world. Half my availible Power goes to brain boiling heat Production. I tend to be in an open lightweight jersey riding With folk in long sleeve thermals.

I think the issue is the 1400m peak. Then the descent. Then pretty much doing it again. I can see that being tough.

Pack a windproof gilet / jacket, and you'll be fine.

Or, at least, not as badly off as no windproof gilet / jacket.

Maybe some gloves with fingers on.

I can lend you one lobster glove if this would help? I'd like it to go to some use since some fucker stole the left hand glove.

I'd probably just have a jacket and gloves rolled up under the saddle.
I could really do with some windproof gloves. Hmmm.

Trying to sort this. Not sure the date works.

surely there are other 70.3s where you are, or does the toughness of this one particularly appeal...

ive seen quite a lot of people putting on something similar to a long sleeve rapha pro team jersey in t1 at races with everything they want in the pockets which looks like a quite efficient way to do things for colder races, although with this one you have the challenge of getting stupidly hot on the climb if you did have a jersey on....

thinking of which I wonder if I could squeeze a windbreaker into to the food storage bit on my bike...

There really isnt much near me. An event that you dont need to Catch a plane the night before, for. Is a rare thing.

I'd probably use my toptube bag thing. If I can find it. Cram that full of calories. With the windjacket stashed under my saddle. Aero isnt going to come into this.

7 pints after 5-a-side is never good preparation for my Friday training day, and so I surprised myself by getting right into the groove on this morning's swim. A few 100m sets to warm up whilst they swapped the lanes round and then straight into it almost non-stop.

4137m swim in 1h26.

Half of that was pull as my left ankle was a bit sore from 5-a-side, but even when kicking I don't put in that much effort with my legs. Amazingly my arms didn't seem to tire and my technique didn't fall away. Lovely feeling of speed through the water. Cramped up a bit in the last 5 minutes but that's my amazing dehydration preparation and forgetting to bring an electrolyte drink.

Took a leaf out of your book and took today off, got to swim with with some people I usually look and am scared of in the pool, and actually I can just about keep up. Then went home had breakfast and set off for my long run, for some reason I decided I didn't need any water but took a pound for some on the way and a couple of energy gels, it was 10 miles before I passed my first shop, with just under 10 miles to go this was a fucking stupid idea! I was supposed to drop the hammer at this stage and try to go as close to 4 minute kms as possible in reality I had nothing, trying to focus on form kept the pace basically respectable, but I then had to sit down once I got back on the Thames path as I was seeing stars!

I am idiot!

Planning, who needs it eh?

When/how did you enter Ironman Wales last year? It's my target for 2016 and wondering if I need to do anything special to make sure I get in. I wouldn't be too fussed if I didn't get a place, I'd just look at doing something else like Challenge Weymouth instead.

It's 'relatively' slow to sell out as its so hard, I think it opens for entries the day after this years race, although I think that's only if you are in Tenby, and it's a few days later for everyone else! Although that may completely change if some of the rumours about a move to Cardiff are true...

Weymouth should be better this year and hopefully they'll have some of the catastrophic errors worked out!