Kicking myself so hard now. Paid for 70.3 Texas last year, deferred to the option in November and when that got cancelled, I chose to defer to a later possible race (Atlantic City 70.3) thinking Texas wasnt going to happen in 2021. Excited to see how the pro field goes though, a lot of big names
Wattie Ink posted a blog yesterday regarding what it takes to Kona qualify. I found it interesting and figured I’d share. Disclaimer: There was one dig on TR re: FTP inflation (which is not why I’m posting article—not trying to stir the pot on that topic).
I’d be interested to hear from anyone in the thread who has KQ’d (or is training to KQ) if the training hours/volumes mentioned in article aligned with your experience.
https://www.wattieink.com/blogs/blog/what-does-it-take-to-get-to-kona
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2022 is my KQ goal year, and in general I think it looks pretty accurate and aside from a nit here and there is absolutely spot on. The only real difference with what they’re recommending and what I do is I do less swim volume. In my opinion it’s really all technique and so that’s what I work on vs big numbers in the pool. I’m also blessed with pretty good body awareness so I can get away with 2-3 swim sessions per week and keep up good form. (Once bagged me a 1:09 IM swim with 3 total pool sessions in the 3 months leading up to the race.)
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No rest/recovery days?
Ah. Sorry for reminding you then(!)
Amazingly I’d say that both Monday and Friday are recovery days.
The one thing that blog post probably doesn’t do a good enough job discussing is the amount of time you’ll spend doing active recovery so that you can have quality sessions 7 days a week while also not breaking your body. But no “off” days is an accepted practice in IM training at the pointy end of the race.
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It rings pretty much true to me. 2x KQ here.
I had a 5 year plan to get to Kona which I missed by one year. First KQ was 2017, qualifying in South Africa but then ‘accidentally’ KQ’ed again in 2019. I was targeting The Outlaw (UK Iron Distance race) the following year with no real intention of going to Kona again but DNF’ed with a mechanical on the bike and entered IM Maryland in 2018 which was 8 weeks later in a fit of anger and won the AG there.
I’m a relatively poor swimmer and decent cyclist and runner so generally tried to swim a decent amount but overall I generally trained around 18hrs a week most weeks of the year. That year in total I averaged over 15 hours per week including all the recovery/easy weeks. Unless it was completely unavoidable or in a post race recovery period I didn’t have a day off. Some days were just easier than others.
I’ve been pretty durable generally with the training volume and followed the gist of the HV cycling plans (cycling through HVSSB and Sustained Power Build), often replacing a weekend ride with a TT race and another with a long ride midweek. I was lucky enough to have a Masters swim group with a triathlon focus and like using Pfitzinger run plans and tried to do a long run, a medium long run, one interval run and an easy run with some strides each week.
More than happy to give more details you’re interested but the high level view was that it was a good few years of consistent training at a decently high volume. Unless you are exceptionally genetically gifted which I’m not there really aren’t any shortcuts.
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For IM Maryland what % of FTP did you aim for the bike split (subsequently what was your FTP at the time) and do you reckon you could’ve pushed harder or would it have compromised your run.
Looking to do very similar split times at Tallinn this year.
One of the things that I do agree with that Wattie Inc article is that FTP is a less relevant metric for long course races than people give it credit for.
For context though, looking back though my FTP in TR around that time was 270/280 at 61kg so around 4.5/6 w/kg
Of more importance though I’d ridden two 100 mile TT’s that year, a 3:55 at the National 100 off around 215W and a 3:44 on a fast day/course off around 220W so rather than look at FTP and percentages I know what I can do over longer timescales and base rough targets off that so for Maryland I was aiming for just over 200W but actually riding to feel rather than numbers.
Those TT’s were the best gauge of race targets, especially as I generally did a brick run after most of them, so I ran 5 miles at 4:30/km off the 3:44 100 mile TT and also 5 miles at a similar pace off a 1:47 50 mile TT a few weeks earlier and those gave me a far more realistic gauge of where I was at and what to aim for than an FTP number ever would.
The ride time for Maryland doesn’t tell the whole story though. I got a puncture only about 8 miles into the ride and lost 8 minutes to that - rode too ambitiously for most of the ride to ‘make up’ time and then died a death in the last 10-15 miles, so not the best way to ride a bike split! What difference that made to the run split who knows?
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Friends. Am I the only one who still uses a saddle bag/pouch/purse on their TT bike (at least for training rides)? If no, do you have a specific type you recommend? I may, ugh, need something slightly larger
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Nope - I still use a small under saddle bag for spares/tools 
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I use an under saddle bag large enough for a spare tube, boot, lever, two co2 cannisters, spare valve and adapter. Training and racing.
But then, I also have two bottles on the frame 
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and thats what I fit in mine… I’m just considering trying to carry 2 tubes, just for my own mental well-being. I guess thats overkill though.
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Not if you double flat. 
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There are several other options that don’t look like saddle bags if that is what you’re worried about 
I use an x-lab storage solution that wraps around the rear bottle cage. It holds heaps and is aero as well.
Hi everyone.
Anyone following a Palladino Power Project plan? I saw this one and was wondering if it could be a good option for my 70.3 prep
I am. Liking it. He does not have tri specific plans but I adapt, like a few others have done, the HM to a 70.3 for example. Right now I am just about to start the FM plan tweaked to a full ironman. I usually keep the long run and the two faster workouts every week and then add a fourth shorter brick run every second week or so. Fine tune your target run power a few times prior your race using some simulations keeping in mind some rough guidelines for targets (eg, 85%-90% of CP for half iron and 75-80 for a full). Let me know if you want more info.
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That’s awesome. I was thinking about doing the General Build MV plan, but the HM probably is more appropriate.
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Agreed. I just finished the GB plan leading into the FM plan. Cheers!
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I’m 27 weeks from my HIM, from your experience do you think I should do the GB first, and then switch to the HM plan 14 weeks before the race?