I did many long, very hard Granfondo’s on the bike so I also like challenges. And my challenge is now to go for a 70.3 and try to be as good as possible on those 3 sports and combined in one perform as good as my body let me do.
But for a full IM…no way I am thinking for that now. That run, you have to build slowly so…I give myself more then a year time to think about those events ;-).
I will for sure post here in this topic regulary. I even had some kind of swim breakthrough yesterday. Started my swim journey in August (only swam in school). First 400m was 9:40, 2 weeks ago I did 8:46. But something was holding me back. So yesterday I wanted to improve my kick (was uselesse before) so watched some 2 beat kick videos. In the begin of my session, it was horrible. My brain did the opposite of what i needed to do…but suddenly, step by step, it did go better, first right, then also left…and after 30min of swimming…i did 100m in 1:55, 1:56 (before it was always 2:05-2:10). I did a quick 200m test (not even all out) and did it in 3:36. That is 30sec faster then 2 weeks ago when I did my CSS test. I could not believe this??? What a game changer…some puzzle peaces fall together I think? kick, rotation, glide…no idea…but it worked…
I’ve been tempted after watching Ledecky in the Olympics. I’m unclear how you can kick from the hip on a two beat, or at least that’s the struggle I’m having.
It’s almost a 1.5 beat kick for Ledecky. Breaths to her right, As her head come back in she does a powerful left leg kick, but the right leg hardly moves by comparison later in the stroke. Certainly super effective though.
I’m kind of the same, although I breath left so opposite, and would not consider myself even 1% of her ability wise so by same I just mean my right kick is way stronger than my left.
I’m not great at helping with swimming technique since I basically don’t remember learning and half assed my way through being decent competitively until I quit at 18. But…
Usually my advice to people to go faster is do more shorter sets harder. As in do lots of 50s, point being that you reset after each one and can evaluate what you are doing wrong. It is much easier to see if you are going slower because of something you are doing wrong when you go from 34 to 35 seconds than it is from 1:12 to 1:15 even though that was more time. Nailing your technique on the short stuff will help with endurance and help with dropping your times on the long stuff.
Probably still don’t want to do long sets while trying to adapt a 2 beat (I literally had to go find a video to realize this is the term for how I swim) but I think the best way to work on it would be to slow down not speed up. This is more a smooth is fast thing, smooth being more not wasting energy. You are just using the kick to make your stroke smooth, not propel you forward like you would be in some sort of rapid kick for a sprint.
I get “accused” of not kicking while I swim all the time. In a wetsuit in a 70.3, that might be partially true. Apparently not kicking is just 2 beat.
Yeah but I did go from 4.06 to 3.36 after just 30min of focusing towards a 2 beat kick. Almost hard to believe. ( Have to wait my next session for another confirmation ).
Like I said…in begin it was horrible. I did opposite what supposed to be correct. but suddenly…snap. and after checking my garmin. Could not believe it. And I also saw Katie Ledecky’s video. Wonderfull style…
And indeed. It has nothing to do with Force or propulsion. But the correct kick for me…made my rotation, breathing, glide…so much better…I guess…
Pretty good month for me, and basically the end of my season:
Highlights:
Ironman 70.3 Washington Tri-Cities went about as well as I could have hoped, really nice way to wrap up my triathlon season.
Lowlights:
I was hoping to settle into the off-season and enjoy some fun outdoor rides before winter arrives, but unfortunately we have a couple pretty big fires nearby and the air quality is terrible. I actually had to cancel my last race of the season, the Jackson Hole Half Marathon, because the AQI was over 200. Zwift season might start earlier than I hoped…
No more races until May at the earliest and the post-race blues are hitting me pretty hard.
I haven’t entirely decided what to do now. I think I might set up one of the new TR plans until the end of the year and see if I can work on bringing up my FTP a bit, and do some Zwift races along the way, before going back on the triathlon plans in January. I’m not sure yet which races I’ll do; I’ve already signed up for St. George again but there’s a chance I might move to the east coast next year so I may need to transfer. If I don’t move, I might add Coeur d’Alene and Tri-Cities to the calendar as well (and maybe Boise since it’s close, but the date makes me nervous with wildfire season).
@gesteves I live in northern CA. We’ve been lucky with fires and smoke this year. The last few years have been terrible. Nothing like being locked inside to workout during the best part of the year…
Training is going great, less than a month out from IM California. Time in the pool hasn’t been great, but I’m feeling ok with that as it is what it is. I’ve already pre-swam the course and it’s FAST so I’m not overly worried about it. Stats for the month:
September was a good month…able to complete progressively more difficult workouts in all sports. Ran a 15K and despite not pacing well got 3rd in my age group. Had a half marathon scheduled for October but cancelled due to hurricane damage. Have a cycling race mid October, and in mid November targeting a weekend of run racing with 5K and 10K on Saturday and half marathon on Sunday. Seriously considering a 140.6 for 2025 but may need some talking into it.
Stats from the month…
Run: 14:47:00, 128 km
Bike: 25:01:00, 707 km
Swim: 7:18, 20400 m
TSS: 2927
Thanks for the roll call and good luck to everyone else.
I was cleared by my neurosurgeon to start backstroke and sidestroke, also can start doing very light weight training on machines only. He also cleared me to do Ironman Maryland next year and is encouraing me to chase the Kona slot. Last month I was able to do 120 miles of cycling and 75 miles of walking.
September was a fun month for me and the end of my season.
Totals, including Ironman 70.3 Tri-Cities
Swim: 5:16:15, 16,087 yards
Bike: 22:51:53, 314.90 miles
Run: 9:13:25, 60.26 miles
70.3 Tri-Cities was a great course and I am glad I did it even though I had started the year planning just to do some cross country mountain biking and one Xterra race. I know I would enjoy going back to Richland in better shape and seeing how much I could improve my finish time there.
Starting this week, I made an off season shift to a low volume Olympic distance plan with weightlifting added four times a week. I’m feeling the DOMS from lifting after slacking on the weights for quite a while.
Good luck to everyone with the rest of their race season!
After ramping up in August I didn’t hold on to consistency in September. My first planned 70.3 simulation was underwhelming, 36min pool swim was okay given I’ve chosen to sacrifice swim for run, but my bike effort I backed off at 45km and cruised in for 3h10 and felt too shagged for the run.
Running is still, bizarrely, going backwards. I’m tempted to bail but will carry on to my next 70.3 sim on Kona day, then decide on a November marathon attempt.
Just back from the pool for my new CSS test. 400m in 7:45 / 200m in 3:35
That is 1min faster then last month (and 2min when I started 2 months ago) for 400m, and 32s faster on the 200m.
Your experience is similar to mine, I was a 1:45-1:50/100 for years. A couple years back did 1 session with a coach, dropped to 1:38/100. This year my best CSS test came in at 1:35/100, so not much different. I think the real path for success is working with a coach. I’m thinking this winter I may spend more time working technique and worry less about actual yards in the pool. Turning out yards doesn’t seem to do much for me regarding getting faster.
Is there to be a new thread for 2025? I have just signed for my first Ironman. Ironman Wales 2025. I will be doing it to raise money for cancer charity having been diagnosed with prostate cancer about this time last year and having prostate surgery on 28 February 2024.
