results from my recent half distance are here and got me thinking. I am going to take a few weeks off and do fun stuff, a road race, a trail marathon, possibly a local enduro race before I’ll dive back in for 70.3 Oman in February. I’ve spoken to my boss and will reduce weekly hours so I can commit a bit more. I really want to make dent in February, maybe even see how close I can get to a slot for Taupo next year. However, it seems that I am in a rut right now. I would appreciate feedback and opinions from the experienced guys here.
Here’s what’s confusing me. I don’t swim much, I average 1.5 swims per week, rarely more than 2k per session, I learned to front crawl 3 years ago at age 34. Most of the year I don’t swim at all, because it is the least effective in terms of time when I count time to and from the pool. In races the swim is always my best performance, under good conditions I’m close to 30 minutes.
My bike is usually where I perform worst. I work the hardest on my bike and having raced some form of bicycle from age 10 on I take particular pride in my riding. I’m at 4.1w/kg, I’ve done sub5 IM rides. Compared to the other sports however it is significantly slower. In my recent race the swim placed 30/270, the bike 80/270. The run is somewhere in between. I usually could ride faster, but I’m sure I’d pay for it on the run. My recent run placed 40/270.
So what’s my plan for February? I guess lifting my run form is required so I can ride harder? Should I work harder on my swim and see if I can squeeze out another minute or two? How do I improve my biking? Should I continue my program and rely on a stronger run form or do I rather work harder on the bike, while continuing to neglect my swim?
I’m really stuck here and need outside opinions and criticisms, here or offline to not clog up the thread.
Okay, interesting. First off, all this is just my opinion;
Generally improving - take stock of everything in life, try to be objective on the strengths and weaknesses by talking it through with other athletes who have seen your sbr.
Life, work, health, nutrition and recovery - you’ve mentioned a career entertaining clients, you’ve spoken to work to help that, but look at these other elements too.
Swim - This looks like the easiest opportunity to be a better triathlete; injury-risk free training, you can build a better aerobic engine and stronger body. You’re okay with spots of training, 3-4 times per week could be revolutionary for you. Getting out of the water nearer the front puts less pressure on your bike/run, and if you’re getting out feeling fresher than the people around you then you’re giving yourself an even better shot.
Bike - you don’t mention your training load, presumably there isn’t much more to add? Sneak in some more volume with commuting if you can. How close to 80% ftp was your last bike? Try doing a long brick at 5% greater to find where your run really breaks. Look for aerobic gains and efficient execution across the course.
Run - I think this is where you need least gains, and where you could damage your chances most. How has the run training been, how did your last injury come about, rather than increase intensities can you simply be more consistent with a gradual increase in volume?
See if you can find the qualifying times at Oman 70.3 for your age group, or ask Ironman.
Had a crack on Zwift today at the gym on the wattbike with an iPad.
I’m thinking it might help with long rides over 2hrs next season…I did 20mins at 80% ftp got a little bored and saw a pop up for a Simension Data tri group. Joined that but didn’t really understand what was going on.
Thx for the RR. Congrats on your first.
That is a great result for your first 70.3.
Try to be a tad more conservative on the bike especially when you have to go about 3 hrs of it.
Overall a great result and great improvements in all 4 areas.
It’s very rare for me to take nutrition during a run. If I feel lightheaded after a bike during a brick, I’ll take a GU. But otherwise maaaaybe for a long run over 16. But my pace is slow enough that it’s bit necessary. FYI, I’m a 18:30 5k guy and my easy runs are 9:10-9:30 pace.
It is really worth it, the scenery is breathtaking and so are the climbs. It’s an independent race, if you’re used to Ironman fees it is an absolutely bargain at any rate.
I think you’re looking at it from The wrong angle. Rather than comparing everything to your swim strength, I would say that your swim is the outlier here. Your swim time is at the top end of the field with limited training. So either you’re very talented at swimming or you’re going too hard on the swim and therefore don’t do as well on the bike and run.
As for the bike, 4.1w/kg is very good but that is only one slice of the pie. What is your ftp, weight, and post a race pic on the bike so we can see position and equipment. What was your AvgP when you biked 5hr IM split? Don’t forget that most people tend to overbike so your bike leg may be not as high as the other legs.
I would say that you need to swim more. With more swim endurance, not only you’ll have a great time but you’ll come out of the water much fresher and have better bike and run splits.
Hi again All. I feel a bit guilty for joining the thread albeit with best intentions, and then ditching it. My original plan to do Dubai 70.3 early this year was out of the window due to injury (bike crash), and though I replaced it with a Stafforshire entry my training never really got back underway properly and I decided against toeing the line under prepared.
Since July I’ve managed some good base training, and so I’m giving it one last attempt to race in the 2019 season at Bahrain in December.
A recent outdoor ride averaging 74.4% of FTP ended up way faster than I expected and gave me some real confidence, and I ran a standalone HM event at a controlled effort in 1:27:25 the next day so I’m very happy with that as well.
Into the build phase now and fingers crossed I can maintain momentum and avoid injury
The average time split of a half ironman is 12% swim, 50% bike, 38% run. A 10% improvement in each of these disciplines will yield you a 1.2%, 5% and 3.8% overall improvement respectively. It’s clear where the focus should be… and where it should not.
For an Olympic tri, these numbers are 18%, 47% and 32% respectively, giving a slightly higher relative importance to the swim in those than in half and full ironman. And if the bike is draft-legal, then the swim gains a large amount of importance, since you either make the front pack or you don’t.
Totally agree on FTP vs weight; in most cases (i.e. unless there’s a lot of climbs), it’s really a question of FTP vs CdA.
@rocourteau The top section of your reply is very interesting to me with the yields by discipline. I knew the math before but did not think of it this way. Thanks.
I’m afraid that I disagree with the assumptions implied in this approach, and the conclusion, even if it is often proposed…but if it means that I continue to compete against people who are poor swimmers
Focus should be on your personal weaknesses, we mustn’t forget this is a single sport, not three sports in isolation. All three need to be trained for you to perform in a triathlon.
As a standard baseline I take “trained” as three times per week, per discipline. If I think Im weak in running make it four or five times a week to make it a focus, and three time swimming, three times biking.
That said, if you are doing 3x3 with TR you are probably putting more time and intensity into bike than the other two anyway.
Offseason, fine cut down to just a single sport if that suits, but in the run up to an event I wouldn’t recommend once or twice per week in any discipline. It can be done, and I’ve done it, but it’s not the best approach.
