So much for “The PTO also pledges to make the events more affordable and accessible. “Our business model isn’t focused on entry fees. A good comparison is the London Marathon, which has a lower entry price than many marathons because they have a fantastic TV and sponsorship model, as well as the mass participation component.””
Gotta love the accessible and affordable $400 early bird fee for the 100K… what a difference from those other guys.
ETA: The copy/paste reply they’re giving to everyone being like “WTF?” on Instagram is “the PTO Tour events are the equivalent to a major international event like a World Championships–which with all the fees included are $600-700+ USD. We have been working hard to deliver an experience that exceeds what you’d see at a championship event, but at an all inclusive price point thats more affordable and transparent.” Reasonable, but moving the goal posts a bit from what was originally touted. Also, setting the bar high… hope they can deliver.
is this a full or half?
IM brand is 500+ 6 months out!
10 months out is 400…
so many things can happen in 10 months!
If any PTO Tour event is cancelled or postponed for any reason, COVID or other, all registered participants for the event in question will be eligible for a full refund.
This is actually a VERY good policy… is the polar opposite of IM
100K is a bit less than a 70.3. By comparison right now, IM 70.3 Calgary is $335+fees/taxes (this is also a “licensed” IM race), IM 70.3 Victoria is $369+fees/taxes and IM 70.3 Mont-Tremblant is $449+fees/taxes. The $399 for the Open is “all inclusive” which includes the Active Fees and Taxes, which IS nice to see though! (Active fees are the friggin’ worst! )
They haven’t charged for seating at the ITU events they’ve ran there in the past (not sure on the Grand Finals though…) so hopefully they go that route for this. Although, even outside of the grandstand area they setup by the finish there’s tons of places around the park to watch for the run especially. Those ITU events run similarly with AG races running separately from all the others (Elite Men/Women, Junior Men/Women, etc.) and it’s definitely fun to be able to check out the pros racing outside of your own race.
Stafford 70.3 for me this year. A double carry over.
Training mojo is lacking big time. Can’t shift the Xmas weight and for some reason I am always time crunched at the moment and swapping out 1hr rides for 30min alternates using AT.
Added strength training this year as well and it cripples me from Dom’s for a day still.
If you haven’t already, wear a heartrate monitor on your swim. I’d be curious what zone you’re in for 2:00/100m. This would give you an idea of how possible 1:45/100m would be.
I swim with a FR745 as heart rate monitor. Not perfect, but the graphs and numbers look fine to me. When doing intervals of 200m@2min my HR is about 137; 100m@1:50 the HR tops out at 145.
My problem at the moment is the upper body strength and I think I can not tolerate the CO2. Even when my HR is below 145 while swimming, the 100m feel always like VO2 max. I am breathing heavily in the rest periods with quite low HR…
On the bike my max heart rate is 181. Indoor with fan cooling I can do 290W at HR of 145 for maybe 45min.
I am interested to hear why you think 1:45/100m could be possible.
Moderate swimmer here - I took big steps when I stopped thinking about speed in the pool as a direct result of pull strength and kick strength. Getting small in the water, working to “push on the buoy” (lungs), head and hip positioning, and gliding more than fighting made it all easier and simultaneously faster. Specific to your problem of being out of breath, it sounds like you are right about the CO2 drive to dispel pushing your “out of breath.” I spent a few weeks working specifically on having a good body roll so that I could consistently blow air out of my nose slowly during the stroke, then know that I had a good chance to breath in consistently - it really helped with the panicked OOB feeling.
Swimming really is fundamentally different than the other disciplines. Fitness is obviously critically important, but IMHO you are really spinning your wheels and wasting time if your form isn’t tip-top. All the intervals and volume in the world is going to be wasted if you are dragging an anchor through the water at all times. As a bonus, like Amber said in last week’s podcast, building form also builds fitness.
Nope it isn’t. If you’ve ever swam next to a kids squad you’ll know that strength is hugely overrated. I get my ass kicked by the 11yo girls in the next lane every friday.
Your technique is holding you back. Maybe try and get someone to Video you for feedback so we can help, but at 1:45 strength should be none of your concern. And don’t start trying to fix it with paddle sets, it’ll make things worse.
HR while swimming is very different than the other disciplines. You are horizontal, you have the cooling effect of the water (a s well as the pressure), etc. It will always be lower.
I’d ignore HR while swimming, or at least look at it separately from other HR metrics. There really is no overlap.
I seen old people who can barely hold a loaf of bread lap me at the pool… So no, in swimming strength is not the problem for people like us. Sure. You can make the argument than once you get to certain point, then you need other differentiators and a ton of strength, but that’s because your technique is probably pristine…
Feb 6th I meet with a swim coach that’s going to film me and do some analysis. First time I’ll have a trained pro actually look at my stroke in 5+ years and even then that guy was a not-so-great masters coach. Excited to actually know what I need to work on.
Also, visiting a friend down in Melbourne FL (no not @Joelrivera) so I’m getting some ocean swim practice too. It’s so eerie being out past the breakers by yourself. A wild imagination and sea birds flying past in my peripheral vision makes keeping my concentration on good form a chore. I also know I’m not going to get swept out to sea or anything like that, but again, stupid imagination keeps interrupting my swim.
Did you know Melbourne is known for its surfing… and not for OWS?
Sufficient to say, its not the best for ows…
there is a “river” (actually brackish water) that is not bad… although its not the most clean water.
Yeah, still I’m getting pretty lucky with only 3-5ft swells so it’s still very swimmable. Just a mental game for me at this point. Goal race is IMFL which is usually pretty calm from a surf standpoint, but it has been a little hairy at times too. Nothing new on raceday, right Knowing I can handle rougher seas just fine will go very far if the forecast gets ugly in November.
Hope you’ll post how it goes - what’s your typical pace? Curious how much time he/she will say you can save by fixing x, y, z. Personally, I’m a ~1:30/100yd swimmer so okay for IM distance, but I’d love to get faster so my training is shorter
Also, setting the bar high… hope they can deliver.
still.
Knowing I can handle rougher seas just fine will go very far if the forecast gets ugly in November.
