Thank you. Missed QK by 12 minutes, ugh. I will writer more later
Bill - I would love to hear more details about the new KQ stuff as it relates to both you and the overall field. I’ve downloaded the Age-Graded results and tried to do some analysis. I’m interested in someone who wants to qualify (myself lol) and the absolute worst case scenario of zero people turning down their slots:
- 55 Total Slots available
- 22 Age Groups had at least 1 finisher (“winner”) - Auto Slot
- 8 of those winners were outside of the top 55 age-graded results.
- Therefore, performance pool would go to 47th Place
Looks like your Age-graded results were 74th @ 11:12 ~ 9:15 Age-Graded
If you missed by 12 minutes == 11:00 ~ 9:05 Age-Graded (~55th Age-Graded)
So can i assume about 6-9 people turned down their slots? Does that sound about right as far as what you were seeing on the day at the roll down ceremony? That definitely feels like the new age-graded system is resulting in way more people opting into their kona slots.
It rolled to Number 56 which was 4th in my age group
Ok thanks. Wowsers. I’ll be entering the 40-44AG next season. With the 40-44 multiplier i would have had to go 9:23. I just threw up in my mouth lol
The female slots are interesting. 11 Slots were awarded. 10 were AG group winners. You basically have to win your AG.
IM Maryland
Friday morning at approximately 3:00 AM my right calf cramped. Spent the day in compression sleeves, coating the calf with Bio freeze, and Foam Rolling
Swim- Not my best sport. The out length was rough the in length and the cross lengths were smoother. First loop I didn’t encounter any Jellies, but on the second loop I got stung a couple time. In my opinion the Legend is greater than the result, yes, I got stung but the irritation went away quickly.
T1 Slow is smooth, smooth is fast. Got the wetsuit on, grabbed my Bike bag put helmet on, grabbed my shoes and ran gingerly to my bike. I was about 30 yards from the bike exit and return. I set off at a relatively easy pace for the first 20-minutes or so then picked up the pace. There was a section of the road that was a no pass zone (25 and 75) felt like a gravel ride. A big oil tanker was on the course and was going slow for about 4 miles, with traffic building up behind. Mark Allen often said that the race begins at mile 80, mile 80 for me is where it got lonely out there, there were fewer people out there to pull back. I was averaging 20+ up to mile 90 where the wind became a steady headwind that we battled all the way back to T2. Ended up at 19.75.
T2 Racked the bike, left the helmet at the bike, morning clothes bag already there and surprisingly not a lot of bikes were racked. I took another easy run to my run bag no calf issue. I was a little slow in the changing tent, once I got my shoes on I should have headed out, but I took my time and put on race belt, hat, and stuffed pockets with nutrition.
Run Just as I started it started sprinkling. I created a Garmin run workout the first two miles were set between 8:40 and 9:00, the remainder 8:25-8:50, the calf never bothered me. And for the first 21 miles I hit those numbers. This was a very comfortable pace, I do not remember getting passed except by one person who I pulled back later. I only walked part of the aid stations up to mile 20, somewhere after mile 21 I walked a few times between aid stations.
Total time 11:12:16, 6th age group, Swim 25th, bike 10th, 2nd fastest run in my age group. Age Adjusted finish 75th.
The staff, the volunteers, the crowd, and the local residents of Cambridge and Easton were spectacular.
Roll Down. I knew that since this was a return to Kona year for the men that all the fast dudes would show up. The last slot of 55 went to #56 who was 4th in my age group, 12 minutes faster than me. I know some people are upset about how many women got slots but if you look at the percentages it played out perfectly. Females made up 20% of the athletes, 20% of 55 is 11, 11 women got slots. I know I can do better, so after Marbella I will sit down with a coach friend, a pro friend, and some of my training partners and make a plan to try and get a KQ.
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Well done. Sounds like a great race overall given your twingy calf. Best of luck in your continued pursuit of the KQ!
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I got one more race done this weekend, last of this year:
Can’t believe I’ve done ten of these things already. I’m already dreaming of the next one.
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Always love these written reports. You’re as much a story teller as you are athlete! I’d been strongly considering this for my first 70.3 but raced a full marathon on the 14th and just wasn’t sure if i’d be recovered enough for a 70.3 I’d rather my first be one that i’ve trained specifically for. I didnt realize how fast the river swim was. What is your standard pace over the 70.3 swim distance in a non current setting? 1:12 is blazing and must have felt so fun (coming from a 1:55/100m guy mysefl)
Have you done 70.3 Victoria? If so, which of that, CDA, and tri cities do you like most?
I swam St. George and Coeur d’Alene this year in 40:36 and 41:47, respectively, for reference. They mentioned at the race briefing that the last swimmer last year at Tri-Cities finished in 41 minutes. It’s a really fast swim.
I haven’t done Victoria, but I’ve raced in Coeur d’Alene three times (once as a full, and twice as a half). I love it and will probably do it again next year, but I do think it’s a harder race. The swim is fine, and it has one of the best run courses I’ve raced, but the bike is pretty hilly and the weather can be unpredictable. There always seems to be some shit every year: a heat wave in 2021, a hail storm in 2023, high winds in 2024, and a cold snap this year. Tri-Cities feels like an easier version of CDA; downhill swim, less hilly bike, just as good a run, and hopefully more predictable weather. For a first time, I’d probably choose Tri-Cities.
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Only downside to tri cities is its time of year. Not exactly wanting to wait 12 months 
Thanks for the input!
Question for the expierenced athletes. Maybe asked this before but still not sure how I plan my journey. Well…Registered for my first full IM in 2026 (June). So, very motivated to work. I don’t like off-seasons so my idea was to improve my running with some simple endurance running. Also incorporate 3 swims a week to improve my swimming. Simple.
But then the bike (which is my best of 3). I lost some FTP compared to 2024 (10-15w) so my idea was to do the running in Z2 and build up my FTP back untill the end of 2025. And from 2026 start for more specific work towards the full IM. Is that a good idea? Or should I start working for the full IM from now on?
And if FTP is a good idea? What plan is best to choose? A low volume bike plan? Or better to build my own SST-FTP-Vo2max plan? Or are the TR tri plans good enough to build FTP?
Hi,
Of my 6 IM’s I followed a 30 week training structure (10 week blocks). I raced IMCDA, its later June, so training starts late November. I am a MOP racer, but here are some of my thoughts.
I would say, for now focus on any weaknesses, time on feet for running, swimming technique, or body comp. I wouldn’t worry about FTP as my priority. You will have plenty of time for that in training.
There are a ton of plans online, books, TR, Training peaks, they are all pretty similar, I like the cycling portion of the TR plans, but I generally went with my own running and swimming based on my needs. I am a FOP swim, MOP cycling, MOP/BOP run. YMMV for me, my favorite training plan is the advanced plan from Don Fink Be Iron Fit books. In the chaos of training for IM, its simple, straight forward, easy to follow.
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September was a relatively lighter month of training due to (1) work and personal travel and (2) stupidity-induced illness.
On the latter point, decided to end a training block the weekend before a rest/travel week with a 4300 yard swim on Friday, 5 hours on the bike followed by 30 min run on Saturday, followed by a 15K on Sunday. Significantly more volume and TSS than prior weeks. Monday morning 7AM flight starting 8 days of conference meetings, train rides, work meetings, etc…and as I should have known…within 2-3 days a full blown head cold developed that turned into a sinus infection I am still fighting a bit…Rookie error. Ugh….when will I learn that travel weeks aren’t “rest” weeks and no hero days…sigh.
Still, overall getting stronger and have a few weeks to specialize before the season ending “A” race.
Good luck everyone with your training and racing.
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August had a new FTP for the first time in YEARS. Went from 215W to 240W, which is a huge jump. But I just did a 3x13 threshold workout pretty well, so despite my disbelief it very clearly was a real thing.
September went sideways in lots of ways. Had to do a lot of travel, got sick, lost a ton of energy… I’m sure you’ve been there. Training time and work done got cut in half… 9:22 total, 11 activities (1 swim, 7 bike, 3 run), but I seem to have survived without losing any real capability. Running speed seems a few seconds per km faster, with Z2 runs now at about 8:45/km. Bike power is doing VERY nicely.
Trying to get consistent in October despite two work trips.
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Good October with lots of racing. Did a half marathon, international triathlon, and North Carolina 70.3. Got second in the intl triathlon and beat my time goal by almost two minutes in the 70.3. Found a couple of things to work, but happy with results. The 70.3 convinced me to never ever want to do another 140.6 lol
Have a 5K Turkey Trot, and IM Florida 70.3 left in the year.
Good luck everyone!
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An outstanding month of training:
-
Swim 60,700 yards working on Z4 pace
Bike 503 miles, Climbing focus
Run 104 miles
Strength 5 hours
Leaving Sunday afternoon for Marbella #2093 There are 171 men in the 60-64 age group I am just looking to finish, maybe have a top 50 run
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Holy cow, that’s a great month. Good luck at world’s. Will be tracking.
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68.5 lots of long slow hill workouts