Yeah, those times look well crap @poet!
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TBF Wales probably wasn’t much cheaper, although he did have relatives there.
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Not when Bluestone cost me about £600!
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And I’m sure you’ll have a mate with a bike box, although you might need a mechanic at the other end
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Ha ha ha - it’s all personal innit 
I really couldn’t give a crap about my missing seconds on run PBs, as all of those were just ran for triathlon.
But not getting a sub10 really grates.
Then I see Wurf and Frodeno are >40 and knocking out decent times
(This is tongue in cheek!)
For me, the “cost” is many-fold.
There’s the initial emotional cost, of committing to it, getting the buy in of family etc.
then there’s all of those “wasted” weekends. A 165km TT bike ride, or a nice little day trip somewhere
Or it’s using up additional “bought” annual leave.
Then there’s all the frippery of nutrition, new kit, parts, bike fits, physio etc.
Basically 16 weeks of “unstructured” training before the actual 20 week plan.
It’s a long effing time.
You then drop £2k on going to a foreign race, costing another 5 days annual leave, only to get ill/feel untrained/mechanical/three punctures etc etc.
It’s a massive gamble.
And I don’t like gambling.
At all.
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Yeha and that’s what I’ll talk myself down. I managed it this time with no annual leave used and didn’t miss a single family event/walk on the weekend etc. But I paid for that on race day I guess.
But those little bits really add up like you say. Nutrition, hike fettling etc
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I always save the posh nutrition for race days. I know Maurten works for me and it’s super pricy.
I just use high5 for regular training and keep that to a pretty low level too.
6 Maurten gels and 3 sachets of 320 mix got me round the Tenby bike last weekend. That’s with a bottle of water at every aid station mini top ups of Gatorade and a bonus mars bar in the first hour
(And those gels were ‘free’, courtesy of my walk around Bolton)
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I shall not mock. Ironman is a hard taskmaster; creator of dreams, provider of nightmares.
Pretty much same as me; my best times were 2008-13. I was 39 when I did my last sub 10.10 of which there are too many. My last one was Hamburg aged 45, where my 10.41 was probably a 10.30 if the bike wasn’t 186km!
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It’s bloody addictive!!!
I know what I need to do, how I need to do it and now know what level of training I can cope with.
And how to enjoy it!!!
@adam - I’ve got 72 Wiggle gels for £2.97, still got some free shot blox from 2020 (?) and use cheap High5 (BBE gone, crap flavour etc) for training. I have Trek bars on longer rides. Which are now £3 for three 
With race entry, nutrition, travel, days off and “trimmings” …
Outlaw would “cost” around £1.5k
Copenhagen more like £4k, or £6k if the other half came.
I’ve got far better things to spend ~£5k on
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Yeah I don’t use posh nutrition any time other than racing. Tbh I probably didn’t fuel up at all enough in my training runs and rides! Was using cheap packs of high5 hydrogels towards the end, way out of date shot blocks and high5 zero tabs that I buy year round tbf.
My interest and motivation will likely wax and wane over the next year or two. I reckon I’ll probs just end up at Outlaw though on a solo smahs and grab weekend if I go again.
70.3s will be the way forward I think. Got a mate that wants to do his first next year, and there’s a local half in May down in Roadford Lake just outside Okehampton. Hilly bike, lumpy off road run. Will be really low key, but a good laugh if we can get a group of us down. Then the families can go for a play and have company as well. ‘only’ 145 quid as well.
I do fancy Swansea 70.3 as I spent my formative years there in uni and love the area. But it’s over double the price of the Roadford one.
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Agreed.
70.3 is a brilliant distance.
Pretty impossible to detonate on!
I’ve done two off just 200 calories now
Bolton70.3 price is obscene.
And swimming in the Dee at Chester is too much of a gamble for me 
Abersoch/Windermere ROC look class.
But they’re both ~£300
And I’d rather do Outlaw for that 
Anyways, I heard that @mw22 has offered to put us all up for Outlaw
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In the camper outside hopefully, his nipper will keep us up all night (jokes obvs!)
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Yeah that’s my training too tbf
Also quite like the look of the Swansea 70.3 but I’m keen to smash a couple of quicker courses having spent a couple of years doing hilly races. Need to get my time under 4:30 (wasn’t far off at Outlaw half 2020 with the silly long transition)
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You’ll also notice that you can be streets ahead of someone in a 70.3, then 6 weeks later they beat you in an Ironman. They do need different training and execution.
@Poet I think HIM was probably your best distance. Oly probably would have been mine, if there were enough of them! They were more popular in Germany.
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The only HIM I trained specifically for was Cots113 in 2019;
100km 6:30am TT rides at 230W
Loads of 42min 10km training runs.
And 3.5km swim sets at 1:30/100m
But yeah - deffo my best distance.
Although my only overall podiums have been in duathlons and sprint tris!
All the others weren’t really 70.3.
Vitruvian was 85km bike and 21km run, managed 1:29 there. Was just always knackered after the season!
Bala was 2km/80km/20km, but at least they were honest about this! I ran a 1:20 there trying to catch Lou Collins
Belvoir was whack ‘cos of the swim in what is really a puddle. That was also odd distances 1.9/75/21. Although I ran a 1:24 there
Cotswold I ran a 1:28, which could’ve been quicker had I had anything to eat
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Outlaw not yet open for entries.
Although I noticed last year there was only ~700 entries 
Might go up this year with the loss of Bolton, Lakesman and MidnightMan?
Or is it RIP Triathlon 
?
@adam - 2019 wasn’t a quick year, most records set in 2021 
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Why, are you planning to enter? Is this the 2024 TT throw down (because Wales will have horrific weather in late Sept obvs)?
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My wife asked “if I was that race in Nottingham again?” So that’s implicit permission granted
So yeah, I’ll enter.
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Notice they are trying to branch out and roll out other events, such as a sprint and standalone events.
Entered the swim this year but majorly cba and never showed up….
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@TROSaracen and @jeffb had a great bike, both having solid runs, Jeffrey had slowed a little for while but has sped up in the last split. Come on fellas 
ETA: oops, wrong thread, sorry
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