The Triathlon thread - Ironman, 70.3, Olympic, Sprint

[dangerousB]

944fan said:

Anyone braved the open water yet? Some lakes seem are open but I can't imagine they are that warm at all. There is a swim series which starts on 30th April at Box End. Was thinking of doing the 1500m but unless it is warm for the next couple of weeks might be wuss and do the 750m. Least I will be out in under 15 mins.

I've been thinking about some OW swimming, but the the lake I swim at is 11ºC and the sea is 9.5ºC at the moment

Only just got over ANOTHER bout of cold/viral infection (courtesy of my 2 year old daughter again) as well, so probably not the best idea to get involved in that!!! Think I'll leave OW for another month!!

Looking forward to getting back on the bike trainer and donning my trainers though I must say - 2 weeks of feeling well ropey makes you appreciate just being able to get out and do stuff

[dangerousB]

lukefreeman said:

What do people think to "age grouping" tri and du events?

Personally, they're a bit of a joke, and just another way to get more money into events...."here you're 50th overall, but 3rd 40-45....come race in Germany for England, but you've got to pay £100 for an England tri suit, £300 entry and sort your own flights and accommodation out".

I think they're absolutely the spirit of the sport.

They give people the opportunity and incentive to compete as long as they realistically want to and give competitors a gauge by which they can qualify there performance relative to their peer group, in addition to the the outright winning performance.

The example you cite is just what happens whenever you sign up to compete in any race - only I wish my entry fees were just 300 quid!!!!

[dangerousB]

InertialTooth45 said:

Did my first duathlon at the weekend. 4 miles, 18 miles, 2.5 miles.

Excellent work! Very jealous of of you and anyone competing at the moment as I've had an awful start to the season with THREE 'flu like episodes since christmas!! Certainly not anywhere near "match fit" at the moment, but my training restarts next Monday, so fingers crossed I'll reverse that quickly!!

briangriffin said:

Just wondering what people's opinions are on sacrificing a run session for a bike session given the hilly nature of the Welsh course and also missing a session due to soreness/niggles?

Sometimes I'm getting sore knee and hip joints generally because I'm a shift worker and i have to work sessions around that which can mean less than 24 hours between two 1hr runs.

Struggling for swim motivation too, my local pool is rubbish really and usually can't fit a full training session into the 1hr session available. Couple that with absolutely detesting swimming it's getting really frustrating/ down heartening. Any tips?

You're not going to do your race any harm by replacing a run for a bike - if you're getting sore joints, it's probably a good idea to listen to your body and do that anyway. Any IM is very bike focussed and trying to come off the bike as fresh as you're able to is the name of the game. You will never be running a "fast" marathon at the end of an IM, so you won't gain heaps from hammering your run in training (more likely injuries will be the result of that!).

As far as your swimming goes, I would definitely work on it - if you do, you will learn to love being in the water! It sounds like your weakest event and for that very reason it deserves special attention . . . I'm not sure of your IM background, but even with a rolling start, the swim can be very "busy" and being comfortable in open water is very important.

As far as tips go, you just need to try and motivate yourself and there is no greater motivation than knowing that if you don't work on it, it is a very real possibility to DNF the race you've trained for all year for in less than 60 mins - any sea swim has the possibility to be very tough and Wales has history on that front.

It's one thing swimming 3.8k in a pool and quite a different experience doing it in a lake or river. Throw in salt water, 2500 other competitors, a 5ft swell with waves breaking over your head, whilst swimming through other people's vomit and 3.8k can feel like hell on earth even if you're a decent swimmer - it's exceptionally easy to feel WAY out of your comfort zone.

Train for the worst conditions though and you'll probably surprise yourself come race day

[dangerousB]

944fan said:

I went for a ride yesterday.

Just gave you some options for helping you with that in the bike section!!

[dangerousB]

Heads up for Kona - live coverage starts 5pm at http://livestream.com/ironman/events/6435012 with MPro going off at 5.30pm

[dangerousB]

Dimski said:

A short while since any posts, I guess you can tell it's the off season!

Happy Christmas & New Year!

Now the New Year is just about here, plans for 2017 anyone?

I've booked the new Ironman 70.3 in Edinburgh, and will almost certainly do Wales again. Plenty of others I'm tempted by...

Yeah, sure can tell it's that time of year!

My fundamental plan for 2017 is to have a significantly better year than 2016!

In short, this year has been terrible for me - courtesy of my (then) 18 month old starting nursery, I contracted THREE consecutive severe cold/chest infections starting mid/late January. I got over the last one in late April. It had been so bad I went to the doctors thinking there was something seriously the matter with me. He laughed when I said I had a toddler just starting nursery!!

Started training again at the beginning of May (for IM Switzerland on July 24th), had 2 months solid training and then sustained a shoulder injury (AC joint). It was so painful I couldn't even run. LSCS, was told I had to wait until late September for an interventional Radiologist's appointment. Goodbye Switzerland race and goodbye the rest of the season. Absolutely gutted.

Shoulder is now ~85%, but I'll take that compared to what it was like just a few months ago.

Not got any races planned just yet for '17, but will get some booked soon. Just looking forward to being able to train properly again!

[dangerousB]

dirty boy said:

Some great reading here, well done those who have competed recently

Quick Question time....

I've signed up to do a Sprint Tri in June.

I've started swimming (I'm no swimmer, but my son is 11 yrs old and a county standard swimmer, so if I hadn't learnt something from watching him swimming 12 hours a week, something was seriously wrong)

Anyway, gone from doing 40m and hanging, to doing 800m non stop f/c in 6 weeks (takes about 16mins - no push - 20m pool) so pleased with progress.

What i'm concerned about mostly, is what on earth am I supposed to wear? I don't want to spend a fortune, as I'm not likely to win anything, so marginal gains not necessary.

I do drag my heavy ass in the pool, so if there's an opportunity to wear something buoyant in the lake, that would be nice, but I hear conflicting stories about what is and isn't allowed..

Some pointers for a beginner welcome! THanks

First up - great progression with your swimming, good effort!

With regards swimwear, I don't think you'll be in any danger of a "skins only" swim in the UK even in June. Normally wetsuits are barred (or dissuaded against) when water temps are over 24.5ºC or so, (in the races I compete in anyway), so it's fairly safe to assume it'll be a wetsuit legal swim, which is a good thing really as you'll probably swim a bit quicker in one.

Something like this would be perfectly adequate, give you great buoyancy (and confidence) in the water and wouldn't cost the earth. Just wear your tri suit underneath.

If you are going to use a wetsuit, make sure you get plenty of practice in it beforehand as they are very different to swim when compared to jammers/trunks and remember some vaseline around your neck to prevent chafing (not so important on freshwater swims admittedly) and some around your ankles if your wetsuit is a sod to get off!

More importantly though, if it's an open water swim, definitely get some OW coaching (if you can) or at least practice before your race, because OW swimming is totally different to pool swimming - to use a car analogy, it'd be like transitioning from short circuit racing to forest stage rallying and expecting the same experience

[dangerousB]

Scabutz said:

Hi all, I used to hang around on here a while back under a different username but flounced. Back now.

I am big in to triathlon, obsessed you might say. Strongly thinking about IM Lanza next year. Hearing some rumors about a bike course change. The 70.3 has had to change its course. It appears there is an old Spanish law which is now being enforced which states that any cycle event has to have roads closed to traffic in both directions.

Anyone else doing Lanza or heard about this?

I'm hovering over the Lanz button at the moment (amongst others!) - I've had a really troublesome shoulder injury for the last 12 months which has cycled between being a moderate irritation to sometimes being incapacitatingly painful. Finally getting it sorted and I've been told it should be OK to race on from christmas time onwards. Happy days if that's the case!!!

Competed at Lanzarote before and in every sense it is just the most amazing race. Haven't heard about any course change, but then again I haven't tortured myself by looking into before now!!

Dimski said:

Honestly this year was just about completion. Perhaps the toughest Ironman branded course, in perhaps the worst conditions experienced, I managed to complete my 3rd IM wales! Happy, and not too sore today.

Kudos fella

[dangerousB]

briangriffin said:

When is ironman Lanza? I'm considering a hot one too but want to line one up close to Wales too so I'm fit for both. Could probably do with one that's not so hot that it's non wetsuit though. Lol

I also get the impression that Lanza has a reputation for being a hard one too and I have the attitude that if I'm going to do another 1 it may as well be one of the hardest.

It's May 26th next year if I remember correctly and if the island is doing it's usual thing it is very, very tough - 38°C with 25mph headwinds on the bike when I raced there. Epic bike course though and fabulous support and atmosphere.

Entering soon is one sure way of ensuring that you won't skimp on winter training - it's definitely not a race you'll be able to blag

[dangerousB]

It's Kailua-Kona time again for anyone that's interested - coverage starts at 4.30ish on Saturday afternoon and you can watch it live on Red Bull TV at www.redbull.tv/ironman or www.ironman.com

In other news, it looks like Tim Don's got his pre-race excuses in early https://www.instagram.com/p/BaIiQs6FuRf/?hl=en&amp...

In all seriousness, it's good to hear he's (comparatively) OK and will mend naturally with a couple of months out - could have been a lot, lot worse.

[dangerousB]

ED209 said:

Followed the stereotype of getting a tattoo today after doing iron distance. It took me 4 months to get round to it though!

Well it is part of the ritual and a finish (or even a start) is not something that is easily achieved, so why not celebrate it? Good man!

Well, my shoulder rehab is actually going well for once - I've not entered anything for next year as yet, but still got my "watch list"

If things continue as well as they're currently going, I may well just have to pull the trigger on a couple!

Anybody got races booked for next year?

[dangerousB]

Well, when I say "nothing booked", I have got my name down on the ballot for this beauty, but given my luck with ballots, I'm not getting too excited just yet!!!

Bloody love it if I did get a place though!

[dangerousB]

Scabutz said:

I hear the ballot is quite hard for that. Bloody difficult race it looks like, I hope you get a spot. Jumping off a ferry puts the hibbe-jeebes up me for some reason.

I have entered IM Lanza. Currently in a shed as much weight as I can phase.

I've tried before without success - there's 250 places up for grabs and around about 3300 normally apply, so better odds than the London marathon ballot at least (which I've tried 6 times without success as well!). It would be nice to get a place - nothing like a really tough race booked to make you knuckle down to some good work.

Talking of really tough races, Lanzarote is certainly one of those good luck! It's one of my early season "possibles" for next year so I may see you there

esuuv said:

possibly 70.3 Marbella

It's funny you should mention Marbs as well, because that's my other possible for the early part of the year!

[dangerousB]

Dimski said:

Just back from the 1st Long Course Weekend in Mallorca. It followed the same format as the LCW in Tenby

The event, based in Alcudia is in its infancy compared to Tenby, but was massively enjoyed. The bike course in particular was flat and fast. I'll try to do a bit of a write up later

The Alcudia/Puerto Pollensa area is one of my favourite bases for training . . . it's got everything.

It'd be great to hear about what you got up to and what routes you did . . . I'm feeling the need for a bit of winter training in the sun already!!

[dangerousB]

Dimski said:

Long Course Weekend Mallorca . . .

Thanks for the write-up - looks and sounds like a cracking weekend's training and a great excuse to do it in the Med!! Did you get a chance to cycle over any of the Tramuntana whilst you there? Awesome climbs and views.

Dimski said:

Stung twice by those little stingy jellyfish

Yeah, I had a couple of welts left by them after I got out of the water at IM Mallorca - the water was 26°C so no wetsuits and no protection from them! TBH, I prefer them as you can't see them (well, I didn't anyway) - those barrel things over here scare the crap out of me - they're massive!!!

skintemma said:

Any thoughts?

I'd say just get one entered and that'll be all the motivation you need! Enter one that gives you sufficient time to achieve the level of preparation you'll need and then plan what you need to do - I've got some fairly generic plans if you need some, you'll just need to alter them to factor in your strengths/weaknesses & daily schedule of other stuff!

Talking of getting stuff entered, I got involved in the ballot for Norseman - as expected, massively over-subscribed and I (yet again!) didn't get a place

However, every cloud - I also entered the ballot for the inaugural sister event in Sweden and only damn well got a place!! Problem is I don't know whether to be pleased about it or not - I think it's safe to say it's not a PB event!

Come August 11th though, I'll be on the startline and I can only be sure of one thing - the scenery will be stunning!

[dangerousB]

Torture chamber ready . . . just need to tidy everything up and mount the speakers properly, but my winter training is now totally sorted!

[dangerousB]

Scabutz said:

Hows everyone's training going? I have 100 days now till IM Lanza. Training going ok, although I have a cold now. Struggling to lose weight though. For no other reason than I like eating chips and cake.

Really need to lose a few kilos to make those hills easier. Long rides in this weather is becoming depressing though.

Mine's going well - had a reasonable start to the year, still got a niggling shoulder injury, so have laid off the swimming until now, but have had a load more sessions (and all good quality) during January and February than normal.

Had a week away skiing which has interrupted things (albeit great cross training) and am now just getting over a stinking cold as well, but should be back on it next week - fortunately I've got a bit longer run-in than you (5½ months now), but don't want to get too comfortable about that!!

[dangerousB]

johnwilliams77 said:

Roughly how many hrs a week are you guys training for this?

Generally fewer than I'd like!

My last race (IM Barcelona) I averaged 3.7hrs a week over 18 weeks, but Barcelona isn't a particularly arduous course and I was in reasonable nick at week 1.

My next race is a proper ball-breaker of a course and I'm coming back from injury, so I won't be taking those sorts of liberties - currently ticking along at 7 - 10hrs/week - peak weeks in a few months will be IRO double that.

That's the plan anyway - fingers crossed, life/work/illness/injury won't be taking too many bites out of my itinerary (if any hopefully!).

[dangerousB]

Rich_W said:

Scabutz said:

My training is going good. My weight loss is not! No problem other than I can't stop eating, all in my mind and not my body. Problem at the min is the training is ramping up so much I need so much food to keep going.

Quietly stting myself that I have 11 weeks before Lanza.

Assuming IM at Lanzarote?

Don't get hung up on weight loss!

I wouldn't get hung up on weight loss, but I certainly wouldn't ignore it either - it would depend on just how much timber you're trying to lose. 1kg? Neither here nor there. 4 or 5kg? Different matter entirely - if it's that sort of amount I would give it priority. Certainly for Lanzarote anyway.

Let's put it this way - when you leave Famara on the bike, you've got a 40k drag up to Mirador del Rio. Most of it uphill. The last section is 15% or so. I wouldn't want to be carrying any more weight than I needed to up there, NO mistake.

Weight management needn't be a brutal exercise - you'd need to be pretty stupid to push yourself into gluconeogenesis. Just cut out the st from your diet - everyone knows what that is. If you feel like chips or chocolate or biscuits or cake or alcohol, just ask yourself the question "am I willing to carry this all the way up to Mirador in 100 days time", because come the day, you won't trust me! Especially if the winds howling in your face and it's 38°C. You'll feel like you're in a fan assisted oven and that's without the exertion.

Rich_W said:

so running at single digit fat numbers is daft.

Why??

[dangerousB]

johnwilliams77 said:

Seems a dangerous thing to do: trying to drop 6kg whilst training hard.

Not at all - depends how you do it and over what period of time.

Rich_W said:

When you're 9 hours into an ironman, cant stomach anymore gels or bars and have resorted to taking on calories via drink. Your body will try using fat for fuel. Be nice to have that option for a while at least! I'm not saying be obese or have 25% BF. But it's a source of fuel nonetheless.

I genuinely have no idea what you’re trying to say, but I do have a couple of questions.

a) How do you think your body’s been fuelling your efforts prior to this arbitrary 9hr point where you have GI issues? Any ideas?
b) What does “Be nice to have that option for a while at least” mean? You appear to be implying that someone who has a single digit body fat percentage doesn’t have much fat to metabolise?
c) On that subject and at a rough guess, tell me how many calories of fat do you think an average someone with a single digit body fat percentage has available to them for fuelling effort? Let’s arbitrarily say 75kg @ 8% BF.

Rich_W said:

Try cutting your daily intake in half and then do a 5 hour training ride

Why? Where did I suggest the OP do this?!!! I simply said “cut out the st from your diet”.

If it’s a choice between the OP undertaking a crash diet (the one that you’re inexplicably referring to) whilst training or maintaining his current body composition, the answer’s obvious, but there is another way.

It’s very easy to underestimate the calorific value of what’s going in. In a similar vein it’s easy to overestimate what’s going out - as you’ve demonstrated with your 1hr 10k run - 900kCal?? How frikkin’ heavy is your subject?!!!

If the OP listens to his body pre- and post-training, asks himself “do I really need this” every time he reaches for something he knows is a bit indulgent/a weakness (unlike you, I think macros are important), given he’s 2½ months out, cumulatively it could make a big difference come race day . . . to his body composition, how he feels physically, how he looks, his mental attitude and ultimately his performance.

I do realise this common sense approach would mean it’d be harder for you to use your ridiculous hyperbole, but there you go - an additional, positive, unintended consequence. Everyone wins

Rich_W said:

should point out I'm not a trained nutritionist

You really didn’t need to!