re: Triathlon/Ironman/Half Iron Man Thread

IF there's one race I can comment on it's Galveston.

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I liked it much more than Galveston if I’m honest. That bay swim can get choppy. Galveston is an out and back bike too.. so much more flat but depending on the wind it can get tough. Usually it’s a headwind one way and a tail the other. The run course is a little boring but your spectators can see you a lot so that’s nice.

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It's honest and true. Galveston swim isn't great. Brackish and unclear water and like you said it can be choppy or glass. Luckily, swimming is what came easiest for me so I don't mind any conditions.

The bike at Galveston is boring. Straight out and back. Usually the head wind is on the way back. 2x it's been tailwind on the way back. Most of the time, expect about 15mph headwind back.

The run, I don't think is boring but it's 3 loops and it gets crowded when it leaves Moody Gardens on to Jones rd and I don't care for those sharp truns and U-turns. But the spectators get to see you 3x and it's fun for them. If you have a large group doing it, you get to see them every now and then on the course.

Lastly with Galveston that can be hard is it will be the first "hot" weekend of the year. You do all that training in cool jan-march weather but race day in Galveston will hit 80-85. There's bene one time where the temp when I got off the bike it was about 50 degrees. Made for a good run but way cold on the bike.

So tell us why it really bothers you? It takes every participant to make this sport. Fast, slow, small, large, etc. It's a lifestyle and Kona is only a celebration of the sport for all. There's a reason the pros are passing out finisher medals at the end. You actually get to race with the pros. Without all types participating, there is no sport. Besides, IM is not the be-all and end-all with the sport.

Let me ask, does it bother for the roll down too? Duh, you only got to Kona because an age grouper couldn't make it to podium awards or someone offers up their position for the next guy? Would that bother you? You didn't really win the right, you just got lucky the fellow didn't show up or gave it to you. It doesn't matter.

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I exchanged info with him and looked him up after the race... 16 hours and 11 minutes. He did the bare minimum. Nearly an 8 hour "run" off the bike.

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So what? You don't know everyone's story. I know a guy who battled cancer and still manage to tackle IM's during treatments. He celebrated remission by going to Kona. Are you really upset with that? That's a cool story.

A guy in our group who guided a blind athlete at IMTX and IMFL. They let him do Kona. Have you ever tried guiding an athlete?

One of my training buddies' mom did IM Chattanooga and qualified for Kona at age 69. He had already done 12 IM's. He is a 9-12hr type finisher, but he was able to do Kona with his mom in 2017. That's a cooler story than you whining about not having enough slots available even when there's a roll down system installed.

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I did Ironman Wisconsin and they only had 20 Kona slots TOTAL for the men. You basically had to win your age group to qualify. Makes me wonder how many 16 hour finishers got to go to Kona in 2024 at the expense of the 2nd place age grouper at Wisconsin.

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Sounds like they need more of those back of the pack "clowns", as you put it, racing so more slots are available at IMWisc. Those qualifying slots are predetermined by WTC or now called Ironman Group. They offer up the lottery slots because even Ironman Group know they need those available to help the sport and to even to put on a Kona or Nice race.

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I got a non-rolldown slot for Nice at IM Florida last year with a 6th place age group finish but its probably going to take a Top 3 to feel safe at Wisconsin.

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Are you going to Nice? So getting to tell people you earned a qualifying slot is not enough for you? If getting a slot is that important, IMTX is the North American Championship and offers more slots. But then again, I could be wrong. I'm not up to date with so many changes over the last few years to IM.

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I've always said the cutoff times should be staggered by age group. A healthy 30 year old male should have a lower cutoff time than a 65 year old.

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You've always said since 2022 or after you realized how good you are at the sport? Nah, don't need to change anything. You should be happy they don't do mass starts anymore if you're concerned about back-of-the-packers.

It's not compromising anything when every Ironman race is pro and age groupers are doing the same race. The pros get their start and the age groupers get theirs. The pros and "focused" top age groupers are racing. You're only talking about 200 slots in a 2500-2800 person race. Unless it's changed, it's still a lottery to be selected after 12 legacy races.

I know age groupers who have qualified and once they got the selection, training slacked off and others who just wanted to enjoy the moment because the time to train is hard to come by. That to me doesn't sound like they suited up to go hard for any championship.

It's not the world championship. It's Ironman World Championship. It's only one brand of the sport. It's not compromised no more than some old timer teeing off at Augusta.

I get everyone will have an opinion. And I can respect that. But I also think it’s silly to argue that “elite age groupers” belong there any more than a legacy athlete when justifying with “it’s not a true world championship”. If we want to go on the premise that it should be a “true world championship” then they should limit the field to about 10 pro men and pro women. Have 20 athletes race and leave it at that. Those are the only people that are true world champions.. if you’re not a pro then you really don’t matter in the category of “world champion”. Let’s not even factor in the rampant cheating amongst the elite age groupers looking for any edge.

I’m proud as hell of my journey as a legacy athlete. I’ve toed the line 14 times and finished all 14. I’ve had great races in the 10hr mark, ok races in the 11-12hr mark, and I’ve had some disappointing days finishing 14+. I had a 16.5 hour race once when crashing and having a grade 3 AC separation. Found myself in the back of an ambulance but continued on. Fun fact.. in all 14 of my races I’ve beaten some elite age groupers and pros. Most recently in Kona I actually had a bad race but still beat 10+ pro men that quit.

The great thing about Ironman to me is the inclusion of all athletes, all ages, all abilities, even the disabled. Same day, same course.. No sport can claim that. I knew a lot of legacy athletes and the crowd that did 13 Ironmans in 15+ hours just coasting to get to Kona is a small small minority.. in fact I’d bet my life that there are more elite age groupers that qualified for Kona by cheating than there are legacy athletes that did 13 races in 15 hours plus. Either way.. I raced the big island and I have no regrets.

I'm making slow progress on my swimming. Due to weather and other crap haven't gotten in the pool as much as I want but am up to 250 yds without stopping for a breather. I've also gone from riding at 145 watts for an hour on the bike to 170 watts for an hour. Should be good on the swim to do my first sprint in May or June hopefully. There's four sprints in Houston between June and August it looks like. Goal is to be ready for the Olympic distance race in Bolivar Oct. 12th.

Any tips to keep my hips from sinking when I swim? Even with a pull buoy I'm somehow forcing my hips down and am not flat in the water.

Awesome stuff bud.

Good job putting in the work. It sounds like you are on track for your goals. Good stuff. Pacing in the wind can be tricky for me so I tend to not be as concerned about pace when it’s blustery out. The head wind obviously slows you down, but the tailwind never helps enough to make up for it. On runs like that I try to think more about duration and intensity (heart rate for me).

I have been mixing in a bit of heavy (very relative term) weight lifting since January. This is what the current wisdom seems to say I need to do at my age. I haven’t done anything like this since my college days. I would rather just go for another run or bike, but I have definitely been seeing the benefits in my runs and rides. I have a half marathon coming up in a couple of weeks. I think it possible I will better last year’s time by a couple of minutes. If that happens, I think the lifting will have definitely helped.

Anyway, I have started tinkering with my training plan that will kick off in May for my September A race. I am not sure how to work strength training into it. I know I will need to back off on the heavier weight, but I think it would help me to keep doing some lifting a couple of times a week. Would it make sense to put a little lifting in after a swim session? I swim at a local Y and a weight room is right there. Time wise that would work. Thoughts?

That’s helpful. Thank you.

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still can't swim more than 400 yds without needing a break

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Do you need a break or need to kick over to backstroke? I did a mile swim last week and I had to kick over to backstroke 4 times, so 100 meters, during that