Thanks. Transitioning from pure runner to triathlon is hard. Knowing that is the slowest 26 miles I’ve done hurts a bit. But I’ll take it since I’ve been running about 30 miles per week the last 6 months…
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I mean I’d be very happy just being able to complete a marathon after feeling an injury let alone sub 4 hours. Nice work
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Just finished another week which was meant to be a recovery week according to my plan (before going into the last week of build and then a 1 week taper).
Decided to switch it up and do the hard week this week and then do the easier week before the taper. Rationale was that I will actually gain the fitness benefits from this hard week before the race.
On another note my swim is just not going anywhere. I can do the distance which I’m happy with, but trying to go faster in the pool and nothing happens, I just get more tired.
Keen to do a full ironman next May/June and think the first thing I’ll need is swim lessons.
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I am now 6 days out from my first full Ironman, which will be a self organized 140.6 (Will have a small support team). I think I’ve got all the logistics figured out but I have a few concerns:
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Right now, the weather for race days ia high of 66 F. Im on U.S East coast, so that would make it the coldest day of the year. I’ve got a wetsuit and the water temp will be ok, the run will be great, but I’m worried about being cold on the bike. Any tips for managing this? If I’m starting on the bike around 8am, it could be lower than 60 when I start.
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I’ve been following the plan builder for a high volume full IM. I have mostly stuck to it, but had to bail on Sonora last Monday (first workout I’ve bailed in a long time). Looking at the week before the IM, I see Adams on Tuesday which looks manageable, but Wright Peak -2 on Thursday. Why the hell is there a 2 hr workout with 90 min of sweet spot on the calendar 2 days before race day? Should I even attempt this?
Google tells me 66F is 18°C, Id be wearing a normal trisuit - what gives?
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HV is for exceptional athletes that can handle and benefit from the training load, which goes some way to explain but according to the notes this is a near expected race pace workout which you can trim to just a single interval if you prefer. 
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66 is a good temp. But it could be cool when you first set off on the bike.
I would go for arm warmers just to take the edge off, I’ve done this before and you can just roll them down as you warm up.
In races that have been warm but have had an ‘iffy’ weather forecast, i have carried a thin jacket in my back pocket, pulling it on when needed can make all the difference to the comfort of the race. And because it is ultra thin, it is easy to carry.
(just my thoughts)
Enjoy
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Short report of my race yesterday on request of @JoeX 
It was a half distance triathlon Menen (Belgium), the final race of the Belgian Ironman champ Frederik Van Lierde.
Based on feedback here I altered my training schedule a bit. I took an extra day of rest by skipping the workout on thursday. And I swapped the workouts from friday - saterday.
My form was around 18,5 by doing this. And I felt quite fresh on sunday that way 
My swim will never be the best part of the triathlon and was hoping for a bit more, but satisfied with a sub 35min. Around half pack.
My bike went ok. Was a pretty straight forward course. 3 rounds of 30k.
Goal was to get around 235W NP (85% of FTP). Last round I dailed it in a bit.
Ended up at 231NP. 36km/u for 86km. Coarse was a bit short it seemed.
Was hoping for a bit more. But this is the best I could do I believe.
position 157 / 425 on bike leg.
The run is my strongest part. I had a good transition and legs felt good.
From mid the run I had to push a bit harder to keep te pace. Very satisfied I could hold it till the end.
position 30/425 on run.
Times:
swim - 34min44 - 216/425
bike - 2u23 - 158/425
run - 1u24 - 30/425
overall - 4u28m35 - 80/425
very happy with sub 4u30 half triathlon 
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Holy smokes @kimi, it seems to me you know how to run. I always wonder how it works with the weaker bike / stronger run combination. How do you manage to retain the legs for the run if the bike is not your strongest suit? (Relatively speaking, of course - all in all, that was a decent bike performance).
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Well 66°F (18°C) is the high for the day, which means it won’t be that warm until the afternoon. The morning, when I start the bike, could be as cool as 55ish F (13 C) which is pretty chilly. This would be the coldest I’ve biked in all year and I might need knee or arm warmers, especially if I start while still a little wet from the swim
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I’ve been able to follow High Volume for many months now and have handled it pretty well, but this still seems like a hefty workout 2 days before race day. I will trust my body and err on the side of not going too hard, but I’m curious about the benefits of this much sweet spot work so close to race day
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The cooler temp will make for a very pleasant run and second half of the bike, my concern is with the start of the bike in the morning when it’s cooler and I may be wet from the swim. I’ve got some arm warmers I will bring with me. Any experience using knee warmers? I just bought a set on Amazon but have never used them. Is it possible to take them off without getting off the bike?
I’ve got some knee warmers, BUT i couldn’t get away with them. (ok for training tho)
I’d kill myself if i tried to take them off when on the bike 
I guess I’m good in something after all
Not sure why but I seem to handle the transition bike - run really well.
Feels like a new set of legs when I start running. Muscles you use are different after all.
Last year I did a IM with 5u11 bike split and ran the marathon in 3u04.
Again if you look at places it’s a big difference. 408th vs 27th.
I should try to figur this out perhaps
I do feel like that my bike could be better. But I’m a bit stuck on some plateau.
I do have a problem with the higher intensity bike workouts. Often I can not finish them because my legs are not fully recoverd/tired. Combination of bike and run seems to kill it in these workouts.
This problem I don’t have with high intensity run workouts.
If I could nail the bike workouts as well I would probably improve better.
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I would be too! Congratulations, thanks for sharing.
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Yes.
No.
I wouldnt bother removing them, your legs wont suffer in the afternoon .
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Excellent time!
Congratulations!
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I’m mainly working on my position, hence the mirror idea. (I borrowed the wife’s closet mirror and forgot to return it the other day so now I have to buy one.) So that’s more of a long-term aero idea of keeping my “good” position longer when I’m on the trainer for a couple hours. I think that once winter hits and my TT bikes lives 100% on the trainer, I’ll use a grease pen to outline the position I want to be in on the mirror and try to always stay within those lines.
For testing, I use the Chung method if I’m experimenting with if my BTA hydration is more or less aero than just bottles behind the saddle etc. Or to get a baseline for a major change in position. But I’m not going crazy with that. I also use BBS to analyze races but I don’t put a ton of stock into those numbers. Still want to see a downward trend though.
I could be, and probably am, wrong with my idea that my biggest aero gains can be had in keeping my most aero position into the latter half of longer races. My initial mirror experiment did get me noticing that is mostly the case so that’s where I’ll mainly focus this winter.
Bike pacing…putting a cap on your power?
There seems to be a bit of variety when it comes to holding back on the bike leg 85%, 100% FTP as your maximum - some people allow for much bigger surges when overtaking for example.
Thoughts?
Are you talking about VO2 Max intervals or something like sweetspot? I know with the VO2 Max ones, the prescribed intensity might need to be dialed back because some people have a VO2Max closer to their FTP and so 120% might actually be ABOVE what your interval should be. I think I’m that way.
What I do if I see those types of intervals, is I’ll knock the intensity down 3-4% for the first couple, then depending on how I’m feeling, bump the intensity up just a bit as I go along. Sometimes I have to go back down or bail on the last one, but I think that’s pretty much par for the course on those types of workouts.
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