The Ironman Training 2021 Thread

Are there any age-groupers out there who broke the magic 10 hour mark?
I’d love to hear their advice on how and how much they train, structure, tactics etc.

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Happy New Year all.

I’m in for IM Mallorca in May with the goal being to KQ. Then Kona obviously! I have a couple of 70.3’s lined up for the summer as well but smaller / local races and I will also try to get some TT’s in over the summer (National 50 would be my goal depending where it sits).

All dependent on the situation with the virus and travel of course.

Pretty lucky, I can get 20 hour training weeks in quite regularly (Especially if working from home remains part of the future) which I normally split 10:50:40 between SBR.

Done very little swimming this year and it did show in the 3 x 70.3 that I did this year but luckily my bike took up some of the slack and I finally got over some foot issues that meant I had my first consistent running block for a couple of years.

I’ve got a (non erg) vasa so will be relying on that to keep some swim fitness over the early winter :crossed_fingers:

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Pick your course well…

IMVR was an interesting experience for sure, I was racing in the first series that had WC slots available (June/July) and the competition at the top end was pretty strong but looked legit, at least in my AG (M 35-39). I think the competition was a bit softer in the second series (August+) to judge from the winning times.

With a 12-hour window to get the run/bike/run done, the right tactic seemed to be to smash the bike in the morning, have a nap in “T2”, then do the second run as late as possible. Not much finesse/pacing/tactics to it, it was more a fitness test than a race per se!

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There was some chat in the 2020 thread about a group workout thing?

I’m gonna start doing an additional workout each Sunday at 11:00am PST. One of the things that’s prevented me from joining groups in the past is that I didn’t want to affect my plan…

So to that end, I’m consciously trying to pick workouts that are challenging-ish to be fun and engaging, but also not hard enough that it’s gonna suck or ruin your next workout. Think 60-90min, ~.7 if sort of stuff.

This Sundays (Collosseum -1)

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2019 IMFL in 10:27 while dealing with a cold. No doubt in my mind that if I was healthy I would have been closer to 9:30.

My advice would be to REALLY nail your nutrition on the bike. And to do so means you need to train the crap out of your nutrition. I trained myself to be able to take in 100g of carbs an hour (now I’m up to around 120-130 before I start to get sick to my stomach). But to do that it means you need to constantly consume your nutrition on your ride. And that can get expensive quickly if you buy premixed stuff (Tailwind Maurtan etc.). So look into getting bulk maltodextrin and making your own.

Best of luck.

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Happy New Years everyone!! I for one is really looking forward and hoping to be able to race again this year. Just like everyone else, deferred all my race entries last year to this year. So first up will be 70.3 St. George on May 1st with the goals to get ready for my first full distance at CdA end of June, but also to qualify for 70.3 Worlds in September. Hopeful goals would be a 9 hour something full and top 10 age group at 70.3 Worlds.

Currently 4 weeks into base and slowly building the weeks up after some easier non structured weeks. Will work up to and sustain 16-18 hour weeks targeting 5 rides, 5-6 runs and hope to get into the pool 3-5 times a week, along with some strength and mobility work as well. Just hoping for the best that we all get a chance to race again and put all this hardworking into use.

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I came close at IM Hamburg 2018. Finished 9:48 with a 6k run substituting the cancelled swim, call it a 10:15 for all intents and purposes.

If 10hrs is the only focus, then @nicco is right, pick your course wisely. HH was super fast, I had a sub5 bike split on like 170NP. Other things I absolutely nailed were my position on the bike (reasonably fast and dialed in so I never left my aerobars), nutrition (practicing and rehearsing a lot of options and strategies to make sure I am topped up all the time) and run pacing. I guess it also helped to race with two buddies and have plenty of friends along the 4 loop run course so I never really went to any of the dark places during the marathon.

Preparation was fairly low volume because life. I followed the TR low volume full distance plans, neglecting the swim a bit and doing some weekend rides longer than prescribed. I think my longest run was a 30k and longest ride 4hrs, I rarely exceeded 11hrs per week. I ate super clean, had zero social life for a few months and joined our 1yo for nap time whenever possible.

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See you in STG! You’ll love CDA. Great course. I haven’t raced the CDA full but lived there and biked it for years; it’s excellent.

That was arranged by @Scheherazade @Michael_Tate and others were interested :+1:

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10h on low volume plan makes me very jealous!!

Nice! Link? I’d be down to join some sometime too

We have a discord channel for group workouts, might check that out as well. Good to find someone on short notice to join.

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Happy New Year All.

This will be my first season training with Trainer Road and this is also my first forum post!

I’m signed up for Half Ironman Staffordshire on June 13th. Before then targeting a sub 1:30 half marathon and the odd Olympic Distance TBC. Potentially a second half ironman later in the year.

Completed Staffordshire 70.3 in 5:20ish and IM Wales 140.6 in 12:17ish in 2017. Since then I’ve kept active, running a few half marathons in the 1:32-1:35 range. Was supposed to be doing Staffs 70.3 last year but it was cancelled due to Covid. Instead of racing triathlon I used the fitness base to progress my running, increasing volume up to about 70km/week in the summer, which is significantly more than the 40-45km a week I peaked at pre IM Wales 2017. Have managed to carry most of that fitness through to the start of Jan 21.

30 years old. Max HR around 196-198bpm. FTP 285w @ approx 85kg so 3.35w/kg. Z2 run pace approx. 5:20/km.

Swimming is a major weakness as not able to train due to pools being closed. Capable of getting to around 1:40/100m with three swims per week. Hopefully pools open up in the next couple of months, otherwise it’s going to be a short training period in the open water to try and get ready.

Bought an indoor trainer a couple of months ago, hence starting to use Trainer Road and so far its definitely having a positive impact on my bike training in terms of quality and frequency.

Will stay tuned into this thread for the season!

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We just organized one, as a one-off to see how it went. We can do more if people are interested. I’m doing TBMV right now though, so I’ll wait until my next recovery week (w/c Jan 11) to schedule something.

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CdA is a great race! Done the 70.3 3 times, a number of sprint races there and have been vacationing there since a little kid as my family is from the area. But I have a soft spot for St. George, done the 70.3 there 4 times now, and was signed up for the full last year. I love the area, the course is excellent and honest and I always look forward to use it as my first big race of the year. See you there!

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Don’t be, it was not my intention to brag. Rather to point out how finish times are course sensitive and chasing a certain number starts with course selection :wink:

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Going all in for IM Hamburg in June this year and will be my first full distance which could make my goal of a sub-9 finish sound quite mad.
Standard training week is ~21hrs (TSS ranges from 1100-1400) with a split of S:3 / B:13 / R:5 but often changes during specific discipline focussed blocks. Volume likely to change from February onwards due to Masters’ Thesis work commencing.
Hopefully have a few University sanctioned races in May prior to the IM in which I aim to break 2 for the Oly Distance.

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13hrs per week on the bike, wow how much indoor vs outdoor? I peaked at 12/wk on the bike when I was an outdoor only athlete.

Great to see elite fitness on the thread, my own target is a much more middle-of-the-pack sub 13h at Barcelona, one of the faster courses out there. I averaged only 8h per week training last year which was actually my most consistent training season since 2016. I endured two 16h+ results one in 2017 and one in 2019, which is a long way of saying…athletes with simply a target of finishing are welcome here too! :smiley:

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Welcome to the forum and the thread @AlGray

Staffordshire was my first Ironman event so holds a special place in my heart, I’d like to go back but it’s well over subscribed :smiley:

If you’re new to indoor training and TR, I’d advise going easy on yourself as there is plenty of time to go hard on yourself. I know you weren’t asking but Low Volume Sweet Spot Base is a good place to start if you’re not already on the half distance plan. And don’t worry if you have turbo trainer issues or struggle with the workouts, any creases will be ironed out in time for race day.:+1:

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