I hate that 3km run, those 11 minutes seem to go on forever
run faster? 10 minutes isn’t as long 
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Pah. Don’t be messing with double digits, it’s twice as hard right?! Get in the 9s!
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Im counting my split virtual race today, so transitions excluded…~2h35
S: 27m45s
B: 1h11
R: 0h56
Good, close-ish, but no cigar.
Lake was very choppy, and is a 600m loop that my watch either counts as 750 or 550, so I did what i considered to be 2.5 loops and checked my watch. I realised this was never going to be accurate as a race simulation because I cant be sure of 1500m, half a lap means 300m against the wind, and swimming solo and without a wetsuit, is nothing like race day really. Add in the swim back to shore, checking out of the lake, and the longish drive home…yeah, no.
The bike on rouvy wouldve been okay except it stops transmitting or reading my power occasionally. Probably cost only seconds, but when youre grinding well over you vo2max up a hill and your avatar has stopped its very frustrating. Happened about seven or eight times. So an hour and 11mins just outside what I wouldve wanted and a 0.82 IF just reinforces that I will need to choose an appropriate ie flat course at this stage anyway.
The good news of the night was running the 10km in just over 5:30 kms which was exactly what I was after this evening and it was no problem. Could I push that down to even 5s? Well I felt good, but cautious with my calf, so maybe.
All this is really to say, I think I will just have to park it and wait for a real race. Obviously I have some work to do on the swim, but London 2021 is a year away so plenty of time! 
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Well done, actual racing would drag you along a bit quicker although there’s transitions to add in.
Looks like the running will make the difference.
Great effort @joex - as Jeff said you can find a little extra on race day with carrots up the road to chase
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Go to Dartford next year, get that run down to sub 50 and bike closer to 1.05 and you’ve got it.
A memory came up yesterday, 2010 I did a mid 23 swim, 1.06 bike but only ran 51 but still went 2.24 because short transitions at Dartford. My 2.18 there was a mid 25 swim (it was long, I led out my wave) biked 1.02 and ran about a 48 iirc . All my sub 2.30 have been with slowish runs, (think my best is 46 at London Tri)
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I think @Matthew_Spooner just smashed out an informal one this morning. 
2:12 ish, if I can add up properly
First Tri of the year done 
It was brilliant: together with a couple of members of the local cycling club, I organised an informal “fun” triathlon which was open to members of the local tri club, cycling club and running club. No entry fee, just register, turn up and have fun, followed by a BBQ at the craft brewey (Bachweg Beer), who are one of our club sponsors. Bachweg is next to the lake, so ideal location for transition as well.
Even though IMVR has been fun, it is not a patch on the thrill of a real race. I was pretty shattered before we started, after doing IMVR13 on Saturday, as well as an 85km club ride.
30 minute swim, in almost ideal conditions, was a bit slower than I would have liked, but I was not exactly pushing hard. Out of the water and onto the bike, leaving my helmet in transition, so had to jog back 25m to retrieve it. On the bike, my legs really felt the exersion of the previous day, I was struggling to maintain 260w and my heart rate remained stubbornly in Zone 2. One of the downsides of informal racing like this is that you have to obey traffic regulations, and I got caught at one set of lights, which cost me around 30s, but it was the same for everyone, and most people got stopped at some point. I completed the 38.5km ride in 57m (including stop), at an AP of 255w. A clear run without stops and pushing 300w I would have saved 3-4 minutes.
As I got to T2 a friend of mine, Artyom, who is also a 70.3 WC triathlete was just leaving transition. I had a really fast transition and set off in chase. I was amazed that I was running at 4:03/km. After 2km I overtook Artyom, and went in chase of Christophe in second place, about 500m down the road. about 250m before the turn around, I met Andres on his return leg, he was around 200m ahead of Christophe. just after the 6km point I overtook Christophe, and went in chase of Andres. with 1km to go I was within 20m of Andres, but unluckily for me he was just able to maintain a gap, finishing 10m ahead of me. A sub 41m 10km was better than my wildest expectation: unlike the solo 10k for IMVR, which was pain from start to finish, this was pure enjoyment, the motivation of catching people ahead, seeing them in the distance and slowly hauling them in was awsome.
I finished in 2h13m, which is not not a bad time
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Cracking stuff
Nice. Is this tritalks first actual triathlon of the year?
Hi all.
Don’t know where my 1500m swim is, but “all-out” is what I’ll be doing. If I’m lucky 26mins, if not 27 I think.
I have no stats for the bike from my Sprint two weeks ago, but the strategy there was go “all-out” all the time. I held a fairly high HR during the run 163avg for a 5:05/km on lumpy mixed terrain but if you take out the hills I think I was under 5:00 maybe 4:50 at a guess.
I was planning my first Olympic this season to go for 270W/threshold on the bike and see what run I can do, aiming at 4:50/km but happy with anything then refine for my second Olympic?
Or is 90% threshold more useful gauge, particularly as my FTP seems to have declined since December?
And so Dartford Bridge is this weekend. My target race is London for sub 2:30 at the beginning of August so this is a trial.
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You certainly don’t need to be close to 60 mins for the ride to go under 2:30 overall; that would be a very uneven distribution of splits. The few times I’ve raced an Oly, the guys going under the hour for the bike were low-2 or sub-2 finishers. My best time was something like 23/63/40 for a 2:07.
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My best must have been mentioned earlier but both at Dartford
2.18
25.58/1.24/1.02.35/0.47/47.50
Swim was probably long that year, I was first out water in my wave!
2.23 on same course
23.43/1.35/1.06.47/0.49/51.39
I also did a 2.28ish there iirc, 3 year progression!
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I guess the problem in my mind is two-fold, I’m not sure if I’m a stronger runner yet, and I’m not sure how much the bike impacts my run either.
My run training plan is aimed at a 47min 10k in august, and I’ve hit all the targets so far, only missed a couple of runs never ‘failed’ a run. So if I have faith in that I guess I’d want to see 49 this weekend.
And to give that the best chance then I shouldn’t rip it up on the bike.
Okay - thanks for helping me talk it out. I’ll aim lower on the bike.
Is Dartford a dragstrip? If it’s a busy course, you may be able to slingshot or get into a pace-line depending on those around you.
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Bike just has those dead turns that ruin you.
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Bike route is slightly different this year according to the organisers. It looks like the same basic route to me.
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You turn at the second roundabout as opposed to a dead turn at the end of the carriageway
Then it looks like you have the dog leg they use for the Midnight Man, going left at the traffic lights (tight turn that), dead turn, then fly past transition
Run looks like the Midnight Man route
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Thanks mate. I emailed them about it but got no response.
I did a reccy before, so it sounds like I won’t see so many horses in the fields and paddocks