Welcome back and good luck, I’m glad you’re offficially over the crash and back into tri racing!
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There’s an enormous “all other things being equal” missing in my “analysis” - and since things are never equal, the conclusion is indeed to focus on your personal weaknesses, but be aware that all gains are not equal. And your approach of using your strengths to minimize efforts does indeed skew the “time passed in each section” theory.
This said, a strong swimmer who rides slowly will struggle to be competitive.
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Hey @JoeX, add me to the 70.3 list too, I’m doing IM Weymouth at the end of September 
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A bit late to the roll call @JoeX - things for me are looking OKish, certainly better than I was thinking they would be when I was on crutches for a week after the Holkham half.
I’ve had 5 weeks solid training although very limited running. The advice I got after the injury was that riding volume was OK but to avoid intensity for a while and when starting back running to build up slowly, run on non consecutive days and make it all easy so I’ve taken him at his word and been riding a decent amount!
After a couple of weeks of pretty much only easy riding and then 8 weeks until Kona I decided to follow the Traditional Base High Volume 2 and 3 which have volume and only a bit of over threshold work. I’ve added in extra recovery hour rides on the ‘off’ days so I’ve ridden everyday for the past month or so as well as extending the long ride to 5 hours and tagged 30 mins endurance onto the harder hour long ride. That’s added up to around 15/16 hours riding a week, all on the turbo, and should hit 16.5hrs this week before an easier recovery week next week and moving on to High Volume 3.
I’ve got back into running slowly over the last few weeks, all easy RPE with no pace goals and my longest run is up to 9k. Three runs per week have so far been:
Wk1 2.5k, 2.8k, 2.8k
Wk2 5k, 6k, 7k,
Wk 3 7k, 7k, 9k
The 3:10/3:15 run in Kona which was a pretty realistic target may be off the cards but I’m hopeful I should finish at least! I’ve been swimming 5/6 time a week either in the pool or sea for around 16k per week as well.
Who knows how Kona will go? It certainly hasn’t been the build I was planning or hoping for but it may not work too badly in the end.
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Where I live, we’ve got a lot of open space: So I leave some stuff near the house, or take it to a point where I can do a lollipop loop, drop it off there, and then bring it back. I have used a nathan bottle holder, which works good.
While there is some truth in this triathlon is a single sport and improvements in one discipline don’t necessarily translate directly like this.
An improved swim ability and efficiency may not just lead to a small improvement in swim time but also have positive implications for the reminder of the race in terms of metabolic cost. A ‘comfortable’ 30 minute swim will probably lead to a much better overall race than a 30 minute swim redlining it all the way.
Conversely a 10% improvement in running ability may never be seen if the cost of the bike and swim are such that your true run ability is unable to show through. In many ways it’s more important to be a ‘strong’ runner than a ‘fast’ runner and durability and endurance win through over outright speed.
I’m still fairly sure that for most triathletes the path to better run splits is to improve your riding ability, although obviously improving both is better!
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What were your run splits off these rides? Looking at the placings as you say it’s the ride that is the outlier. Maybe you should be riding harder if you think you can, maybe it’s an issue of improving aero as much as ability?
I’m glad and impressed you can train this much after the bad news 
I am thinking maybe a little more down time might speed the recovery for you but you know yourself.
Good lord. I’m lost for words 
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Finished Mont Tremblant just over a week ago and have Arizona coming up in about 3 months.
Tremblant was a rematch from my 1st full distance race there in 2018. Last year was simply to finish, this year was an attempt at a time.
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I’ve been seeing your rides on Strava. Really impressive.
I am going to predict! I will predict that you will have a better race and a better run that you were initially planning. You’ll find yourself killing the ride and when you get off, you will be as fresh as the other side of the pillow. Many times, for a well trained athlete, a little rest is exactly what is needed.
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I hope I do 
There might not be a great deal of intensity but the volume is hard in itself. Mount Bond and 3 hours of tempo intervals this morning was a struggle towards the end…I’m looking forward to an easier week next week for sure.
How’s your run recovery going?
I hope you’re right!
It shows I think how stressful running is - I’d never manage the volume of riding and swimming I’m doing with any sort of run volume. If I manage to gradually continue to up the running volume I’ll have to reduce the ride volume to compensate and just hope I get the balance right over the next few weeks.
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That’s my go to long ride (mount Bond) for HIM training. It’s a great ride. It’s definitely not easy!
I think the constant pounding of the run is the worst part for cycling. I agree with you. I believe currently my ftp is about 10-15W higher and I’m not budging it because I’m building run volume. Must respect the run
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Thank you guys, you’re all making excellent points.
It seems clear that I need to swim more. But by how much? I’m in limited time and with the commute swimming sadly is very expensive time-wise. An hour of swimming demands that I clear another hour of my schedule, that I could spend riding or running. I’m wondering if that is worth the effort and how much gains I can realistically expect. And potentially it might already be an improvement if just pull myself together and swim consistently twice a week throughout the year?
@Alen you’re right about w/cda. I arrived on raceday with 270 ftp at 66kg. Clearly not the big watts powerhouse. On flat courses last year I did IM Hamburg 4:55 on 162np and a local half with a rolling profile 2:34 on 177np. I should add the disclaimer that Hamburg was the easiest course in the world and the swim was cancelled and replaced by a 6k run. I’m really struggling to put out power on my TT bike in aero, even though I’ve had a proper fit. I guess I’m sacrificing power for aero and comfort? And I need to do more hard work in aero?
Personally I feel like not being able to run hard is my Achilles heel. @JulianM I ran a 4:09 off the bike in Hamburg and a 1:43 off the bike in that local half. Basically my run has not improved since my first 70.3 in 2017.
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Hey @bretzky, I’m looking at doing the 70.3 Amsterdam next year! I’ll be eagerly awaiting your race report 
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Ya dude i’m looking forward! Just at ITU worlds in Lausanne at the moment. This course is wild I can’t wait.
A couple of quick thoughts…
You’re obviously fairly aero with those splits off those power numbers even if it’s a flat course. Chapeau 
Swimming, more is better, frequent swimming is better than fewer longer swims. That sounds like an issue for you and if you have to spend lots of time travelling to swim it may not be worth it. That’s something only you can judge. If you could see good gains from swimming more there may be value in committing to it but that will be very dependent on your background. One option might be to do a swimming focussed block over the off season if you can find the time before reverting to a lower volume and seeing if any gains you make remain?
I would think about concentrating more on the riding though. 4:55 is a solid time but ridden at a relatively low intensity. You said you thought you could probably ride harder and that may well be the case without negatively affecting the run, and even if it does may be a worthwhile tradeoff. Many times becoming a better on the bike, both in terms of specific bike fitness and the more systemic general endurance improvements can lead to better run times without the injury risks that can come with sustained, hard run training.
I’ve no idea about your background as an athlete so this may or may not apply but improvement in endurance sports is a multi year process with few, if any, short cuts. It may well be that you are doing all the right things and just need to keep doing them to continue getting better.
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I can make suggestions based on my approach but I don’t know anything about your situation.
If I’m driving to work, I find it easiest to fit in a swim in the evening in the way back - the family don’t notice so much.
If Im getting the train I might run to a different pool near a station I can get to work from easily.
If it’s the weekend or work from home I might make it a swim to bike or swim to run using a gym bike, or treadmill.
One of the key things about time efficiency is being prepared so always have the kit you need in a bag the day before you need it.
If I’m changing job or have a business trip, the first thing Ill do is look for is where the open swimming is and where the pools are.
Holidays, hotel / villa pools are always too small so I ignore them and again look for places I’ll be able to swim a decent amount.
Lastly, think about whether three longer sessions or four/five shorter are easier to fit in. At the moment I’m trying the latter because 60-90mins in the pool means I’ll miss bedtime or be late for work, 45 mins every day I can fit in without upsetting the apple cart.
Good luck!
Three weeks and three days out from race day for me, and all was going nice and smoothly, until . . .
My tri bike frame broke on me last week. Actually, the FD cable guide rivet pulled right out of the carbon at the very end of an equipment test outside ride. It did cause me to panic slightly and begin looking at alternative frames with similar geometries that I could get my hands on. Thankfully however, the legend that is my LBS owner has managed to get it all fixed up nicely for me.
Anyway, I guess the moral of the story here is to get at least a few equipment test rides in far enough in advance of your big races to allow you to fix any issues that might crop up. Thankfully I did this time!
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