Barcelona was peletons not 2-3 man TTS
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I did my first sub 10 at Barca, and was absolutely shocked at the peletons. 15-20 riding 3 wide, you couldn’t even bloody overtake them without being in ‘crossing white line’ DQ territory.
Although aiming purely for sub 10 so not bothered about ‘racing’ other guys for KQ their cheating still messes up your honest race as you surge/soft pedal to avoid the groups.
Worst was a Brit guy I met in a hotel, gave it the usual ‘hope there’s no cheating etc’ but saw him tucked neatly in the middle of a huge pack out on the course.
I did one more big ticket flat Euro IM, Italy, it was exactly the same. No more. Since then either ‘honest’ Euro courses (Wales etc) or North American flat races. Both Florida and Cozumel were way way cleaner than Barca or Italy.
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Interesting, do you have any sense for if this was down to better policing, if it was a cultural thing, or something else?
I felt the races were culturally very different to Euro races. Far far less strutting and peacocking about beforehand in IM Gear, not the same ‘expensive gear arms race’, ‘I want to be seen look at me I’m great’ etc. Some, obviously but massively dialled back (and probably the Euro racers over there were doing much of it).
Florida had a reputation for drafting so maybe they had got a grip, but really I saw no extra measures or draft busters just a genuine attempt to ride in a legal pace line where possible. It was refreshing. I was in a similar place in all those races (fringes of the KQ battle M50-54) so can’t really comment on mid pack.
So different was the overall feel that Mrs TRO, who had been mulling over doing an IM decided to go for it and was absolutely adamant it would be the less intimidating North American race for her first (which will be Chattanooga in Sept, Covid permitting).
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Here goes (posting to keep me accountable)
2 x 10.0x in last couple of outings - I will go again in Dec-22 @ IM Busso before runs legs desert me as I move closer to 50 than 40 in the next year or so - Mr Spooner inspiration for all however.
1.09/5.25/3.25 > 1,03/5.32/3.23 - splits both @ IM Cairns, transitions held me back 
For those that have been close and got there (or just missed) -what’s been some of the big things that moved the dial? I draw inspiration from sub 9 thread but some of those benchmarks are well beyond my realms of thought.
Plan-
12 weeks - focus on weight loss - current 86kg (185cm) need to get back to race weight 78-80kg,
12 weeks- 70.3 build in Sep - focus on CP, TT work
12 weeks - IM build
Basic training plan- (expect 80% execution)
M - 90 min (20-30min threshold) bike, 40 min swim
T- Swim squad, 50 min run
W- 90 min Tempo bike, 30 min tempo run
T- Swim squad, 60 min run, 60 min bike
F- 3h bike, 30 min run
S- 1.15 Swim
S - 90 min easy bike, 90 min run
To keep the focus I will monitor monthly:
IM HR 30 minute bike - current 212W - current
IM HR 30 min run (off bike) - 4.40min/km
20 min Power - 292w
5 min Power - 318w
5km run - 18.45
400m Swim TT - 6.45
1km SWim TT - 17.03
Any tips, criticisms, thoughts always appreciated.
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I’ve done 2 x sub 10, aged 49 and 50 and you’re numbers are marginally better than mine (quicker 5k run, quicker swim, looks like similar w/kg on bike).
Critical for me was developing real life TT biking, I chased sub 4 hours 100 mile TT for a while, and when I cracked that the sub 10’s followed. Both mine were around 1:05 swim/4:50-5bike/3:40-5 run + Ts. I’m not a watt monster on the bike but really worked on my aero dynamics, efficiency and pacing to make up for it.
Good luck, your IM run looks excellent (c15mins better than mine) so your goal is more than achievable.
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You are missing Strength and Conditioning. I neglected this for a long time and only really started this year, and it is making a difference. I also do a bit of indoor rowing, with resistance set pretty high. I have been doing this for 12 months, 30-40 mins once per week.
Interval training really helps my running, only once per week, but it is always painful. I am clearly a sucker for pain as I run 4km-6km before my intervals, then run 2km home, so typically works out as a 14-16km run with a bloody hard bit in the middle.
What is as important as your weekly program is those “key session”. My recent races in Zurich and Salou are certainly key sessions. I have a 500km ride planned in early June and my birthday 65km 4500m trail run in May
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Fair play although in the spirit of the changing of the decades, it’s a shame the run is not 50km with 5000m
Also hope you are planning that iconic swim set, 50 * 50m off 50s on your actual 50th
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Watch this space
Not thought of this… I wonder? How about 50 * 50 off 50 in a 50m pool - Right it’s in my schedule
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Someone on the old TT1 did it and it’s always been on my long range radar. Can’t remember who… are they still here, or did their family stage an intervention in anticipation of their 60th?
Expect I’ll give it a bash when the big day comes. The 500km bike and the 50km run… Er… Not so much 
(Although… 50km run🤔…)
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That genuinely sounds like my worst nightmare. Arse hurting, knees in bits, gooch in tatters.
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And that’s just the birthday party
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50/50/50 is harder than it sounds, the problem is its tempting to set off too fast but you burn matches too early, need a fairly easy 45’s with just a 5 second reset throughout.
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I did 15 x 50 off 40s and my head felt like it was going to explode at the end 
I must’ve been at least 917° in the bath that is the local pool
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Hi everyone. I’m not a big forum/social media user so don’t post on here often but I’ve found Tritalk a great source of occasional advice/info so thought I’d post to say thanks and give some feedback on Ironman Hamburg, which I did at the weekend. I know lots of people have PBs/time goals in mind and Hamburg would be a great choice for these so I highly recommend it.
I did Bolton in 2019 as my first IM and finished in just over 12 hours. Given how slow that course was I wanted to find the fastest possible course to try and go under 10 hours. I had read the negative reviews of Hamburg on the forum (also 2019 I think) but I saw that the bike course had changed since then, the numbers on Best Bike Split looked good and the early season timing worked for me.
It was a fantastic event. Everything was centrally located with all aspects within a 2m walk of each other right in the centre (I stayed in an apartment called Boardinghouse Rosenstrasse 5m walk away through Booking.com, which I’d also recommend if you’re interested in this race). Organisation was slick, volunteers were great, no negative comments really on that front!
My goal was 1h10/5h10/3h10 with 10m for transitions and 20m spare and I did 1h12/5h13/3h09 with 10m in transitions for a total of 9h45m.
The swim was one loop and I was a bit concerned that a city-centre lake could be a bit dirty but it was fine. The water visibility was poor but it felt clean, safe etc. I was a bit disappointed with my time but don’t swim enough so can’t really complain.
The bike course was rapid. Almost totally flat with long fast sections and excellent road conditions. I knew the main challenge would be holding the aero position (particularly neck pain) so I’d had a bike fit, trained entirely in the TT position, got shorter 155mm cranks and worked hard on mobility and keeping my head/neck as neutral as possible. I think this was key as my NP was 181w for an average moving speed of about 34.5kph (I stopped at special needs for more nutrition so lost a minute or two). I was prepared to hit a NP of 200 to stay on track but didn’t need to as my speed was okay and it was fairly hot so I thought I’d save myself for the marathon. Only slight downside was that there wasn’t much support once you were out of the city centre as it was not very populated going out along the dyke/river.
Run was similarly flat and fast. There were a couple of narrow points but nothing too bad so no complaints. Very slick aid stations. Run course support was also fantastic throughout and it was cool to run through a proper city centre.
Transition was long but fast and the course and easy location more than made up for this.
So that was that! Happy to share more specific info if needed. Thanks again for all the great info on the forum. Good luck to everyone going for their targets/PBs this year. If you want flat and fast Hamburg is the place to go!
Guy
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So have they ditched the 2x40km loop around the port now? They obvs still have the dyke road, which was windy AF 3 years ago.
JAYSUS!
Well done (clap)
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Nothing to add apart from that’s awesome.
To run 1 min under target is special.
Well done.
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I did IMUK 2019, now I’m fat and old.
A great effort!
Brill bike, well done
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