The Triathlon thread - Ironman, 70.3, Olympic, Sprint

[ED209]

redrabbit29 said:

I hate stuff like this but horrible incident in Hamburg Ironman today.

A motorcyclist crashed into an amateur competitor. All live streamed on YouTube.

Sadly the motorcyclist died at the scene. The camera man and the triathlete are both injured.

As you can imagine it's really overshadowed the event.

Sounds awful.

Got the only tri I have entered this year on Sunday. The Lakesman 70.3 and I feel totally underprepared. It will be a case of getting on the run and hanging on for as long as I can I think. If I have to run/walk then I will have to do just that.

[redback911]

ED209 said:

Sounds awful.

Got the only tri I have entered this year on Sunday. The Lakesman 70.3 and I feel totally underprepared. It will be a case of getting on the run and hanging on for as long as I can I think. If I have to run/walk then I will have to do just that.

Lakesman is a great event. Have you done it before? I'm doing the Full LM, its local for me and I've done it a few times. Will be a warm one this weekend.

[lufbramatt]

I've recently got back into doing a bit of running after I had to stop due to post covid tendon issues in 2021 that took ages to get over. Fancy doing the mid week Duathlon series at my local cycle track. They are sprint distance so 5k/20/3k.

Want to get a tri suit- have seen the Zone 3 ones for around £100. Not a brand I'm familiar with, are they any good?

Any tips for the transitions- are elastic laces worth getting?

I'm aware that currently my running is the weakest at the moment but I should be able to do a decent bike leg. Looking forward to trying something different.

[Camoradi]

lufbramatt said:

I've recently got back into doing a bit of running after I had to stop due to post covid tendon issues in 2021 that took ages to get over. Fancy doing the mid week Duathlon series at my local cycle track. They are sprint distance so 5k/20/3k.

Want to get a tri suit- have seen the Zone 3 ones for around £100. Not a brand I'm familiar with, are they any good?

Any tips for the transitions- are elastic laces worth getting?

I'm aware that currently my running is the weakest at the moment but I should be able to do a decent bike leg. Looking forward to trying something different.

I've not got a Zone 3 tri suit but have tri shorts and a cycling jersey from them and they are good value for money. Both are very comfortable and well made.

[M1AGM]

lufbramatt said:

I've recently got back into doing a bit of running after I had to stop due to post covid tendon issues in 2021 that took ages to get over. Fancy doing the mid week Duathlon series at my local cycle track. They are sprint distance so 5k/20/3k.

Want to get a tri suit- have seen the Zone 3 ones for around £100. Not a brand I'm familiar with, are they any good?

Any tips for the transitions- are elastic laces worth getting?

I'm aware that currently my running is the weakest at the moment but I should be able to do a decent bike leg. Looking forward to trying something different.

Yes.

Only advice from me is dont do what the pro’s do and jump on the bike as you leave T1. I did this once at London and slid off the saddle because I was still wet. 40km on a race bike with swollen bks isn’t much fun.

[Scabutz]

M1AGM said:

Yes.

Only advice from me is dont do what the pro’s do and jump on the bike as you leave T1. I did this once at London and slid off the saddle because I was still wet. 40km on a race bike with swollen bks isn’t much fun.

I can go one better. Foot slipped off the shoes, the band holding them level had already snapped and so it it rotated, dug into the ground and my foot went into the rear wheel. Sliced a big chunk from my toe. Just put my feet back in and rode off, was a bit painful. Got to T2, thought I'm not looking just go. 4km got stopped by a marshal as my trainer was soaked in blood.

It got infected and the doctor drew a line and said if the redness passes that line youre in deep st and might lose the toe.

[Gargamel]

Scabutz said:

I can go one better. Foot slipped off the shoes, the band holding them level had already snapped and so it it rotated, dug into the ground and my foot went into the rear wheel. Sliced a big chunk from my toe. Just put my feet back in and rode off, was a bit painful. Got to T2, thought I'm not looking just go. 4km got stopped by a marshal as my trainer was soaked in blood.

It got infected and the doctor drew a line and said if the redness passes that line youre in deep st and might lose the toe.

Ouch, based on that `I won’t tell my very slightly chaffed nipple story.

[M1AGM]

Scabutz said:

I can go one better. Foot slipped off the shoes, the band holding them level had already snapped and so it it rotated, dug into the ground and my foot went into the rear wheel. Sliced a big chunk from my toe. Just put my feet back in and rode off, was a bit painful. Got to T2, thought I'm not looking just go. 4km got stopped by a marshal as my trainer was soaked in blood.

It got infected and the doctor drew a line and said if the redness passes that line youre in deep st and might lose the toe.

Ouch. You win

[ED209]

redback911 said:

Lakesman is a great event. Have you done it before? I'm doing the Full LM, its local for me and I've done it a few times. Will be a warm one this weekend.

Yes.

Yesterday was my 4th Lakesman half, also did the full in 2017.

Wife has done the full twice and half 4 times.

She beat me by half an hour yesterday and came second in her age group and third in the national Police championships which were part of the same event.

I had a bit of an implosion on the run, knew it was coming from my first steps and it was a case of hanging on as long as I could. Managed to get to 10 miles running then it was run/walk after that. I was about 15 mins slower than last year. Still 48 hours before I was out of the race with conjunctivitis until the antibiotics kicked in so even starting was a bit of an achievement.

It was quite an eventful race, nearly had a fight mid swim with a divvy who decided to very deliberately push me down because I had accidentally touched him. It was in a section that was very shallow so I stood up and some colourful words were spoken. Then about three quarters around the swim I got it into my head that I hadn’t put any socks in my bike kit bag, my thoughts turned out to be correct so it was a good move to steal a pair of socks from my mate who was spectating on the run up to transition. Lots of people were bewildered as to why I was ordering someone to take their hoes and socks off, I suppose it prevented blisters ruining the event though.

Edited by ED209 on Monday 19th June 07:19

[Randy Winkman]

ED209 said:

redback911 said:

Lakesman is a great event. Have you done it before? I'm doing the Full LM, its local for me and I've done it a few times. Will be a warm one this weekend.

Yes.

Yesterday was my 4th Lakesman half, also did the full in 2017.

Wife has done the full twice and half 4 times.

She beat me by half an hour yesterday and came second in her age group and third in the national Police championships which were part of the same event.

I had a bit of an implosion on the run, knew it was coming from my first steps and it was a case of hanging on as long as I could. Managed to get to 10 miles running then it was run/walk after that. I was about 15 mins slower than last year. Still 48 hours before I was out of the race with conjunctivitis until the antibiotics kicked in so even starting was a bit of an achievement.

It was quite an eventful race, nearly had a fight mid swim with a divvy who decided to very deliberately push me down because I had accidentally touched him. It was in a section that was very shallow so I stood up and some colourful words were spoken. Then about three quarters around the swim I got it into my head that I hadn’t put any socks in my bike kit bag, my thoughts turned out to be correct so it was a good move to steal a pair of socks from my mate who was spectating on the run up to transition. Lots of people were bewildered as to why I was ordering someone to take their hoes and socks off, I suppose it prevented blisters ruining the event though.

Edited by ED209 on Monday 19th June 07:19

Shame about the kerfuffle in the swim but I like the socks story.

[Sarkmeister]

Anyone here doing the Holkham Half in a couple of weeks?

It's my first Half for a few years since doing the Outlaw 7 years ago. Been doing mainly standard distance since. Looks like a good event and I'm taking the family for a weekend in Norfolk at the same time.

[tim2100]

Sarkmeister said:

Anyone here doing the Holkham Half in a couple of weeks?

It's my first Half for a few years since doing the Outlaw 7 years ago. Been doing mainly standard distance since. Looks like a good event and I'm taking the family for a weekend in Norfolk at the same time.

Very late reply but I did Holkham half as my 2nd ever Tri a couple of weeks ago.

Fabulous event.

[Fergie87]

I completed my first full distance triathlon last month which also happened to be my first triathlon. I enjoyed nearly all of it and intend to do the brutal 70.3 next month. After that I'll be looking to next year and would like to do 3 full distance races, the lakesman, outlaw and finish with the brutal.

My question is how to become stronger and fitter for next year. This past year has all been about just meeting the distances with the intention of finishing without being in a real state. I'd like to be able to push harder next year, finish stronger and recover quicker. I come from a running background so know how to improve running strength/fitness but there was never really an off season. I don't really know what I'm doing for the cycling/swimming and have solely focused on getting to the distances required whilst being reasonably comfortable.

I'd like to reduce my hours over winter to 8 per week but not sure on where I should be spending my time. What does everyone else do?

[Smitters]

Fergie87 said:

I completed my first full distance triathlon last month which also happened to be my first triathlon. I enjoyed nearly all of it and intend to do the brutal 70.3 next month. After that I'll be looking to next year and would like to do 3 full distance races, the lakesman, outlaw and finish with the brutal.

My question is how to become stronger and fitter for next year. This past year has all been about just meeting the distances with the intention of finishing without being in a real state. I'd like to be able to push harder next year, finish stronger and recover quicker. I come from a running background so know how to improve running strength/fitness but there was never really an off season. I don't really know what I'm doing for the cycling/swimming and have solely focused on getting to the distances required whilst being reasonably comfortable.

I'd like to reduce my hours over winter to 8 per week but not sure on where I should be spending my time. What does everyone else do?

I have two thoughts on this - the first is "where are gains best made?" and the second is "get thee to the gym".

Re gains - it depends on what will have most impact. For many, myself included, swim technique was an obvious one, but in percentage terms, the swim takes up the least time in the event, so the impact of a 10% gain here is small, whereas 10% faster on the bike is much more significant.

Re gym, a mix of compound lifts (squat/dead/bench/row/OHP at low reps), single leg stuff and explosive plyometrics plus core would be a great mix.

I'd probably do 2 hours of swimming, and 2 1/2 hours on the bike and 2 hours on running and do 2 x 45mins hours in the gym.

M - Swim (60m AM) and Gym (45m lunch/PM) - Overall effort of day low/moderate
T - Run (30m easy+drills) and Bike (60m moderate to hard) - Run to easy gym legs out, bike is harder, overall effort of day moderate to high.
W - Swim (60m (AM) and Gym (45m lunch/PM) - Overall effort of day low/moderate
T - Run (30m tempo lunch/PM) - Overall effort of day moderate
F - Bike (90m Zone 2/Easy) - Overall effort of day low/moderate
S - Rest - Overall effort of day low
S - Run (60m long/hilly/trail) - Overall effort of day low/moderate

It's a front loaded week, so the rest is necessary! Obviously mix things up so perhaps do 8 weeks where you push the cycling and let the running just tick over (Full week x 3, easy week x 1, twice), then do another 8 week block where the cycling intensity/volume drops a notch and you push the tempo or long run distance a bit. If you love parkrun, try running to parkrun, then doing the 5k, then running easy home as an alternative to a long run and rest Friday, Bike Z2 on Sunday. Lots of ways to slice it.

Lastly, and I realise it's not a cheap solution, but Zwift and a smart trainer transformed my winter riding. I went from an ftp of 180 to 240 over six months and the mix of workouts, races and gamified challenges on Zwift kept me in the saddle for ~400km per month December through to March. No way I'd have done that out on the roads. Minimum cost is ~£250 on a second hand smart trainer, ~£40 on a cassette that matches your road wheel so the shifting isn't messed up when you switch from trainer to wheel and £13/month subscription. I use my phone, cast the screen to an old Amazon Firestick so I can see things properly and it's hands down the best fitness investment I've made, ever, aside perhaps from a pair of comfy running shoes.

[Randy Winkman]

Did anyone on PH compete in the Sunderland Triathlon where lots of people got sick?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-6642142...

A big deal? Or bad luck and a lot of fuss over not much?

[Scabutz]

Randy Winkman said:

Did anyone on PH compete in the Sunderland Triathlon where lots of people got sick?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-6642142...

A big deal? Or bad luck and a lot of fuss over not much?

I didnt do it but there was a lot of talk a out it in my club and on twitter. There has been plenty in the news recently about sewage being dumped in rivers so I think it's a pretty big deal. I've swam OW plenty in rivers, lakes and sea and never once got ill

[Fergie87]

Smitters said:

I have two thoughts on this - the first is "where are gains best made?" and the second is "get thee to the gym".

Re gains - it depends on what will have most impact. For many, myself included, swim technique was an obvious one, but in percentage terms, the swim takes up the least time in the event, so the impact of a 10% gain here is small, whereas 10% faster on the bike is much more significant.

Re gym, a mix of compound lifts (squat/dead/bench/row/OHP at low reps), single leg stuff and explosive plyometrics plus core would be a great mix.

I'd probably do 2 hours of swimming, and 2 1/2 hours on the bike and 2 hours on running and do 2 x 45mins hours in the gym.

M - Swim (60m AM) and Gym (45m lunch/PM) - Overall effort of day low/moderate
T - Run (30m easy+drills) and Bike (60m moderate to hard) - Run to easy gym legs out, bike is harder, overall effort of day moderate to high.
W - Swim (60m (AM) and Gym (45m lunch/PM) - Overall effort of day low/moderate
T - Run (30m tempo lunch/PM) - Overall effort of day moderate
F - Bike (90m Zone 2/Easy) - Overall effort of day low/moderate
S - Rest - Overall effort of day low
S - Run (60m long/hilly/trail) - Overall effort of day low/moderate

It's a front loaded week, so the rest is necessary! Obviously mix things up so perhaps do 8 weeks where you push the cycling and let the running just tick over (Full week x 3, easy week x 1, twice), then do another 8 week block where the cycling intensity/volume drops a notch and you push the tempo or long run distance a bit. If you love parkrun, try running to parkrun, then doing the 5k, then running easy home as an alternative to a long run and rest Friday, Bike Z2 on Sunday. Lots of ways to slice it.

Lastly, and I realise it's not a cheap solution, but Zwift and a smart trainer transformed my winter riding. I went from an ftp of 180 to 240 over six months and the mix of workouts, races and gamified challenges on Zwift kept me in the saddle for ~400km per month December through to March. No way I'd have done that out on the roads. Minimum cost is ~£250 on a second hand smart trainer, ~£40 on a cassette that matches your road wheel so the shifting isn't messed up when you switch from trainer to wheel and £13/month subscription. I use my phone, cast the screen to an old Amazon Firestick so I can see things properly and it's hands down the best fitness investment I've made, ever, aside perhaps from a pair of comfy running shoes.

Thanks for taking the time to write this out. I've got a smart trainer but it's intermittent with zwift so I might have to reinvest. I'll take all this on board and to be honest 8hr weeks will seem like a break. I'm just really looking forward to getting stronger on the bike more than anything. I'm specifically going to look at hills on the bike and will probably do that on the harder day.

[Smitters]

Fergie87 said:

Thanks for taking the time to write this out. I've got a smart trainer but it's intermittent with zwift so I might have to reinvest. I'll take all this on board and to be honest 8hr weeks will seem like a break. I'm just really looking forward to getting stronger on the bike more than anything. I'm specifically going to look at hills on the bike and will probably do that on the harder day.

No worries. Zwift has added some classic TdF climbs so you can do some long hard efforts virtually too, along with ADH, Ventoux and the normal Zwift KOM, Volcano etc.

[Gargamel]

Fergie87 said:

Thanks for taking the time to write this out. I've got a smart trainer but it's intermittent with zwift so I might have to reinvest. I'll take all this on board and to be honest 8hr weeks will seem like a break. I'm just really looking forward to getting stronger on the bike more than anything. I'm specifically going to look at hills on the bike and will probably do that on the harder day.

I feel like this doesn’t have enough bike.

Bike is most of the time and biggest impact, decent aero position and the ability to hold an average on a closed road of above 30 Kmh is very useful. Invest a bit longer in some road biking, climbs and descents and critically some long grinds into the wind in a high ish gear,

[Fergie87]

Gargamel said:

I feel like this doesn’t have enough bike.

Bike is most of the time and biggest impact, decent aero position and the ability to hold an average on a closed road of above 30 Kmh is very useful. Invest a bit longer in some road biking, climbs and descents and critically some long grinds into the wind in a high ish gear,

My best effort for the 180km was at 27 kmh with a total incline of 1200m so fairly flat from what I've seen. My problem is I'm not hugely confident at steep declines and tend to hold the brake, I'm also slow on long inclines. The wind is what I'm used to, where I live it is permanently windy, just not a great of gradients around. I actively have to search for hills and plan the route to utilise them.