Hi Duckhen
I’ll be at Wales supporting a few mates hoping to qualify for Kona. Last year one of them was about 90secs off a place last year when he was 3rd in the 55-60AG. His time would have qualified every other year previous so very unlucky. Looking forward to it, as it was great fun watching it last, (much more relaxing than doing it!)
Ah recognise your name from from a friend on Strava.
Iirc saw some handy times from you around Shepperton last year too!
will be heading down tomorrow am mate. If you’re there, give us a shout
Ah next time. 
Sunday for me this week
Hi everyone - found TriTalk recently so new here but it seems a great forum.
I’ve just done IMUK and am keen to target a sub-10h IM in a couple of years (thinking Outlaw) and want to build up to it with a sub-4h30m HIM and a sub-3h marathon. Can anyone recommend well run and fast races for those targets in the UK? I’m not fussed about the brand and I’ll be based in Edinburgh so Scotland or northern England would be even better.
I’ve not run a standalone marathon but I did the Cotswold Classic two years ago, which was great and I would do it again, although it would also be good to try something new.
Thanks in advance.
Cotswold Classic or it’s brother the Cotswold 113 is a fast course to target a sub 4:30, although not ‘up north’. Edinburgh Marathon gets good reviews now they don’t make you run up Arthur’s Seat.
How did you do on Sunday?
Welcome
Welcome to TT, you’ve done the fastest and best ran half in the UK there.
Half Yorkshireman looked quick this year, if they run it again.
Outlaw road surfaces aren’t great and the lake is mind numbing on the run - but I really enjoyed it the three years in a row I did it.
Not sure what halfs are left in Northumberland, maybe @JeffB can chime in…
Cleveland Steelman is still around. It’s small, friendly and cheap and tends to sell out.
I went 4.30 there last year and would have been a minute or two quicker but I exploded spectacularly in the last 2 miles going from 1st to 4th:roll_eyes:
The half based at Newby Hall is back this year too - now run by Freebird events and that is potentially a fast course with a favourable river swim (although you might get ill).
As for marathons Manchester is logistically easy, flat, fast and now the full distance.
Oh and check out the sub 10 thread on the old site
(I want to post the link but the new site won’t let me)
I read all 74 pages when I was first trying to go sub 10 and it was invaluable to that goal and everything since then too.
That’s all great, thanks a lot. Cleveland Steelman and Half Yorkshireman are actually close to where my family live so look perfect. Will have a look at Manchester and Edinburgh marathons and definitely read through the old thread.
@Mungo2 I did 12:02 at Bolton with 1:11 swim, 7:21 bike, 3:19 run and 0:11 in transition. Overall I thought it was a good experience but the bike was a grind as it was so slow and I never got into a good rhythm. Going from 12 to sub-10 sounds a bit mad but on a fast course in a TT position and with more bike training I feel I should be able to save two hours. I’ve averaged nine hours a week for seven months with good consistency (typically two swims, three bikes and two runs) so there’s more to go after.
First full for me…
11:57…
Being honest I knew it wasn’t my type of course, but I live local and the atmosphere was really really good.
You have the basics just need to work on what you know will improve you…
My mate did 12:15 and did 10:09 at Barca last year.
You have to be a very good climber/ descender for that course, I’m very slow on the tech descents and lost a lot of time there.
I did a 4:39 half at the Deva, on virtually zero taper and loads of long distance stuff, but everyone seemed to pb that day…?!? So that again indicated how slow that course is…
There are several very experienced athletes on here, some are fast ones too, between them they will have all the answers you need!
I’m looking for a fast half / full combo next year. And like you couldn’t give two hoots if it’s branded or not…
Deva / Sundowner are fast 70.3”s
Lakesman and the new Yorkshire one are fast ish full distance
Good luck and stick at it
There’s a very long list of Euro events that are ‘fast’. They all have their own ‘ways’ of being fast. Some are undulating but quick, some are pan-flat and some have excellent road surfaces to add to that…
Ironman: Austria, Barcelona, Copenhagen, Emilia-Romagna, Hamburg, Kalmar
Challenge: Almere, Roth.
Other: Podersdorf (AUT), Cologne226 (DE)
Feel free to add to this list
Vichy. Heat notwithstanding
Roth was my first iron distance race. I’ve been doing shorter stuff for 7-8 years and always held off the temptation to go long whilst my boys were really young. I wanted to give it my best shot without compromising family and work too much.
Over the last year I have hit 10-12 hours consistently, building toward 13-15 hours in the last 3 months. Consistency has been a key factor in my opinion.
Swim
Typically I used to swim twice a week for about a total of 5k. Over the last year I have moved towards 7-9k per week over 2-3 longer sessions.
I started wearing neoprene swim shorts which really helped me and has me swimming at a CSS of around 1:32/100m.
The sessions were a combination of tri club interval sessions and solo long 2.5-3.5k steady swims.
Bike
I started using TrainerRoad for the bulk of my bike training from mid-2018 onwards. Specifically doing all indoor sessions on the TT bike in the aero position. I did SSBLV 1 and 2 with high compliance. Then Sustained Power Build twice, which was a mistake as I was trying to add long weekend rides on top. As a result my plan compliance wasn’t great from about May onwards. Went into the race with an FTP of 265w @ 63kg.
I rode a 1.58 in a 50TT 6 weeks prior to the race.
I intended to ride a 100TT but had to DNS as it was Father’s Day.
With hindsight, I was undercooked on the bike going into race day. I didn’t do enough of my long rides in the TT position.
Run
Running is my strength, albeit not necessarily longer distances. To give context, based on my 10k and HM times I should be looking at a ~2.35 marathon in Dublin in October (we’ll see!!).
I did 8 long runs over the last 3 months, building to 32k as the longest run 3 weeks out. I practiced hydration/nutrition/race kit on the longest runs. Life (wife) dictated that my long runs were starting 5-6am so they were somewhat fasted to start with.
Other stuff
Some other basic stuff but I think it all helps:
Multi vitamins - might be a coincidence but I haven’t been ill for over 18 months.
Cleaner diet - not perfect, but tried to reduce processed food and refined carbs in my general diet.
Hydration - drunk more water daily, and drunk 500ml per hour in training and on race day. I used Precision Hydration in the last 6 weeks.
Nutrition - worked on about 70g carbs/hr in any session over an hour and on race day. Used High5 powder and SIS gels.
Race
Swim 1.02
Bike 5.13
Run 3.09
Overall 9.30.36
I lost my head in the final 40k of the bike but kept feeding and hydrating with the promise of seeing how I felt in T2. Legs came back to life on the run and held 3.10 mara pace. The anticipated implosion didn’t happen (until I crossed the line).
Awesome, thanks for the input.
For swim and run my two sessions each per week haven’t been very structured so they can be improved. Also haven’t done much swim technique work or group sessions yet so should see gains there.
For the bike I also used TrainerRoad but followed the entire low volume full distance triathlon plan, which has got me to 252w FTP at 67kg. It’s been my first time following a set plan and using power, and I’ve really enjoyed it. A few questions for you on the bike training:
Why did you choose to do SSB and Sutained Power build rather than a Tri plan? Did you do a specialty plan?
Is your FTP based on doing their ramp test in an aero position as well as all your turbo sessions? This will be one of my biggest development areas as I did IMUK and all training on a road bike on hoods or in drops. Have to say doing some of the hard turbo sessions in aero sounds savage though!
Just looked at IM Vitoria-Gasteiz results and that looks like a fast bike course. I think it’s a straight shoot up between France and this for 2021.
I didn’t follow the TR tri plans because I only wanted the bike element. SSB and SPB seemed like the best fit for me in terms of volume and intensity. I didn’t do a speciality plan as I switched to road riding coupled with a few sweet spot/threshold TR sessions. Next time I will definitely look at the tri plans from TR as my bike was my weak point on race day.
I did all my FTP testing on the trainer using the ramp test in the aero position during the build for Roth. Prior to mid-2018, I used to test on the hoods and, like you, I feared the tests and hard sessions in the aero position. The best thing I did was park my ego and accept the 35w drop in FTP (from the first aero position test) before I started SSB part 1. Since about January I rebuilt my FTP in the aero position and closed the gap to my road bike FTP. I reckon I am currently 265w in the aero position and probably ~275w on the road bike.
i finally got my Ironman arse onto the right side of ten hours at copenhagen on sunday. Its only taken me 9 IM’s, a sh&* load of 70.3’s and a fair bit of coaching. BUT, i’m Fu*&^%$ delighted.
9:45, 12th 50-54
57 swim
4:55 bike
3:43 run
Turned down the Kona slot which is a tough one to swallow, but with Nice 70.3 WC in 3 weeks and all the family in tow, the triathlon money pot is kinda drying up for this year. But really pleased to have made the cut and looking forward to seeing how far i can stretch this ageing body!
WELL DONE @chickenboy
Though, you must be the only dentist to turn down a Kona slot 
You can come get it at Bolton
Foggy is about your weight…so don’t you go moaning about them thar hills