I will be doing the IM at Cascais, so hopefully see you out there. I am beginning to think that it may actually happen
Your run is your strength, however, over-bike and you will destroy your run. I recently comprehensively beat a club mate on a 70.3… even though he can run a HM in 1h12, he made the mistake of keeping up with me on the bike (bike is my strength), and had nothing left for the run. If you are using a power meter, and know your FTP, stick to a plan. For me on a 70.3 I know I can run so long as my IF (Normalised power / FTP) is less than 80%… or in power tems, my NP is around 260w. However, I have a fair bit of experience, so you may be safer going with a slightly lower number (possibly 75-76%). If you don’t have a power meter and are relying on HR, then I would keep it in Z3 which for me is 150-158bpm against an MHR of 187)
In terms of nutrition on the bike, on a 70.3 I wouldn’t bother with solid foods. What works well is to calculate 3 gels per hour, squeeze them all into a water bottle, and top up with a little water… Set an alarm on your bike computer to go off every 20 mins, and take a good swig from bottle, this is pretty close to one gel. I have now switched to using Maurten, which is a liquid fuel (like tailwind), which also works pretty well.
On the run, I also carry some gels, and take one every 6km, at the aid stations I take a cup of Redbull and a cup of water. It works brilliantly for me. I will start the run at 4:20/km and try to maintain in the region of 4:15-4:20/km. I always seem to fininsh my 70.3 run in sub 1h31m… one day I will break the 1h30
As for the swim, I guess you know where you need to focus winter training Going from 1hr swim time to sub 40mins should be relatively easy to achieve, going from 40mins to 30mins is taking me years of frustration, and 3 steps forward then 2 back.
Do not make the mistake of loading up with Gels too early before the swim, otherwise you get a glycogen spike, followed be a low. Have a good breakfast 2 hours before and take a gel 15 mins before swim start
Avoid too much fibre in diet 48 hours before the race (which is hard for me as I have a very high fibre diet). Eat well the day before, but no need for any carb loading. Try to take a crap in the hotel before going to race start and avoid the long queue for the stinking portaloos. Drink well before the swim, there is no shame in peeing in your wetsuit while waiting for the start (now you know what those warm puddles are)