re: Triathlon/Ironman/Half Iron Man Thread

Chiming in because I am a 6x Ironman and IMWC qualifier. Love helping people out with this stuff as I want to do my part to grow the sport.

Many will say to do a shorter event before your 70.3 but I don't think its necessary - I went straight to full Ironman for my first tri. The first time I did a shorter distance was a 70.3 after I had already done 3 Ironmans, and I never felt the need to do a shorter distance during my first Ironman.

There are 2 ways to do a 70.3, compete or complete, since its your first I suggest complete. That doesn't mean you have to half arse it and take your time, still push yourself but I've always said your real first race is your 2nd one because you apply all the lessons you learned in the 1st one. There are a lot of things you can only learn by experience in a race, that you can't prepare for until you have been through it.

The swim is what scares most people for their first race, and Des Moines is a lake swim so you won't get the benefit of a current or anything like that to make it easier. Extra time in the pool helps, it will help you swim faster and the recovery time is less than it is than for biking or running. It's easy to say you will stick to a certain pace or effort before you get in the water, but upon getting in the water you'll find that you want to get out as quickly as possible because you are having to swim around a bunch of other swimmers who are blocking, getting in your way, or swimming over you. This is something you can't train or prepare for. I always suggest lining up in a corral slightly faster than what you think you can do so you can draft off of slightly better swimmers.

Transitions are another one of those things I suggest you take your time with for your first race - you can practice faster transitions in later races. Coming out of the water you'll probably be a bit rattled, disoriented and wobbly legged. Take a second to compose yourself in transition.

The bike is where most people, whether it be first timers or seasoned veterans, ruin their race. This is where I strongly suggest having a power meter. Most people go way too hard on the bike. You'll see people at the start giving their all out sprint triathlon efforts - ignore them. Pick a set average normalized power number and don't go over it. Des Moines has some rollers - the hillier the bike - the easier it is to spike up your normalized power. Coming out of the water, with tapered legs full of glycogen from a carb load, you are going to feel like Lance Armstrong at the beginning of the bike and feel you can push high wattage forever. This is a lie and its why so many people ruin their race on the bike and cook themselves. Yes, they may still be moving forward, but they are no longer racing. I've been here in a full Ironman - I feel every person who has done a long distance triathlon has experienced this at least once - you don't want to be here. It sucks. It makes the rest of the race miserable. At my last 70.3 I chose to hit 224 NP on the bike which represented about ~83% of my FTP and ended right at 223. Fortunately, for a 70.3 its a shorter distance so the punishment for overbiking isn't as drastic as it is with a full.

Your run will 100% be dictated by how well you executed your bike leg, not just in terms of keeping your normalized power in check, but also nutrition. I've done two 70.3's and I felt the run was particularly easy. Granted running is my strength, I had the 9th best run at my first 70.3 and the 5th best run at my 2nd 70.3 - but I nailed the run because I nailed the bike. Ironman and 70.3 run courses are filled with walkers who went too hard on the bike. I pace my Ironman and 70.3 runs by heart rate, not an average pace. For a 70.3 I generally shoot for an upper Zone 3/lower Zone 4 effort. My threshold heart rate is 174, so I try to target an average heart rate around 165-168, with the lower end of the range at the start and upper end at the end. I've yet to bonk or run out of gas at either of my 70.3 runs with this approach, but again it all begins with your bike execution. This is the biggest difference between a 70.3 and a full. I feel I've only been able to execute a flawless Ironman run once out of 6 tries, where I've been 100% successful in my 70.3s. There is a wall you hit around Mile 16-18 even if you feel you paced the bike properly and nailed your nutrition - but fortunately at a 70.3 you don't get that high.

Nutrition is the other thing you have to nail. Fortunately for a 70.3 your margin for error is a lot larger than for a full. Keep it simple. 100% carbs only. I go with powdered gatorade mixed with sodium citrate for the bike and the on course Maurten gels for the run. I've trained my stomach to be able to handle 110-120g of carbs per hour on the bike. Start at 60g and go up from there in your training. For the run its 1 gel every 3-4 miles. I've yet to deal with any stomach pain or discomfort using this approach. People who deal with stomach pain or discomfort get there by either overfueling or eating the wrong foods. It's why I suggest keeping it simple with 100% easily digestible carbs. Stay away from anything solid such as gummies or bars. Anything with fat and protein will only slow your digestion down and cause stomach issues. Foods with fat and protein can wait until afterward. Also I try to target about 1200mg of sodium per hour, which is why I supplement my gatorade with sodium citrate and Nuun tablets on the run.

As far as training is concerned, the more time you spend in the pool the better of a swimmer you will become. I hired a coach after my 3rd Ironman and she helped me go from about 1:42/100y in a full Ironman swim to 1:32/100y in my most recent Ironman. It's just a 10 second improvement but progress in the pool comes very slowly once you reach a certain point. Also, that 1:42 pace swim I did at an average heart rate in the 170s, my 1:32 pace swim my average heart rate was 152. I became faster AND more efficient.

The best way to get better at running is actually to bike more. It took me a while to learn this - I thought more running = better run during a longer distance race which is true for stand alone road races - but since your run in a long distance tri is dictated by your bike execution, the better of a biker you are the stronger your legs will be for the run. More time in the saddle is always a good idea, but still get 3-4 runs in per week.

2 weeks out I suggest doing a race sim of sorts. Bike the entire 56 miles at the same effort you plan on giving for the race, and do a 45 minute run off the bike at your planned run effort. This will give you an idea of where you stand and if your bike strategy is too ambitious.

I am here to help - myself I have 3 Ironmans on the calendar this year and two 70.3s (may add a 3rd). My goal is to qualify for Kona at Ironman Wisconsin in September.