Sub 9 Hour Journey

For me:
1h10 swim
4:35 bike
3:05 marathon
5 min transitions (they are fast in Roth)

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Roth is the same date as IMUK isnā€™t it? So 7 weeks out!

You feeling like youā€™re in good shape for it @Matthew_Spooner ?

I remember when a 4:35 bike was pretty much Pro-level only! Going back to the 90s now. Bike tech has made a big difference I guess.

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I donā€™t think itā€™s just bike tech, as such.

Are you including indoor training as ā€œbike techā€?

I mean - rollers and wind trainers have generally been available for a long time, butā€¦IMOā€¦the indoor training platforms have opened up training 24/7/365 for everyone.
You no longer need a temperate climate or daylight to effectively train.
I also think that indoor training is more likely ā€œbetterā€ for people like us (I.e. meddling amateurs)
Itā€™s focussed, short, sharp and intense. For the most part.

Swim times have got worse, like.

Run times are pretty much static, arenā€™t they?

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@Jorgan - your ā€œfaveā€ athlete Luc Van Lierdeā€™s 2:36 Roth 1997 marathon time was only passed in 2021 by Felix Hentschel, with a 2:35. Albeit that was also aided by a 168km bike leg :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

Speaking of the Roth 2021 bike legā€¦

@Matthew_Spooner - What did you get the bike leg at in 2021?

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My bike splits are bottom quartile pro times in my recent races (Roth and Salou), and top 5% for AGers but there is still a pretty big gap to the top proā€™s. I would guess that in Roth, the fastest bike time will be around 4:05

I am down around 30 mins in each leg of a tri

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I did 4:28 last year, so letā€™s say 4:43 for a full distance. Bike last year was 10km short, but similar elevation. I think I am stronger on the bike this year, hence my estimate of 4:35, but that will be tough

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in a raceā€¦the athlete is on target for sub 9ā€¦we just need to eke a little more out on the bike to give some breathing spaceā€¦

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Just get him to race on Zwift with BL13ā€¦ @daz will sort him out

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People who follow my progress on Strava, will probably notice a big shift in my training. New job is playing havoc with the hours I can train. Cycling has taken a major back seat for past couple of weeks. Running volume is up massively, partly because I am fully injury free and run fit and partly because this is easiest to do when short on time. Now lake temps are survivable, I am doing much more OW swimming. S&C has disappeared, so I must focus on getting some S&C time in.

Did a great Tempo effort ride today, my second fastest on regular 46km loop, however, really feeling it today. Not sure it its due to less recent activity on the bike or effects of 110km running last week

Not dared to stand on scales after US trip, have a feeling that need to shed 2kg over next 7 weeks

Here is my current form self appraisal

Running 9/10
Bike 7/10 Iā€™ve neglected cycling and need some really big days in the saddle, time is against me at the moment though
Swim 6/10 All was looking really good in the pool, but early season OW swimming has been OK, but not stellar

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Weirdly after you earlier comments Matt, Iā€™ve been woken up both last night and the night before with hammy cramps.

Whilst my volume is pitifully low compared to what youā€™re doing, I have made a marked increase in the last two weeks. Calves are super tight and have been close to cramp as well. Think I need some physio, and quickly before I tie myself up in knots

Too true. This relates to Mattā€™s comment about ā€œtoughā€ bike targets. They need to be realistic/comfortable if youā€™re running a marathon on tired legs afterwards. If you want sub 10, be in 9:30 shape; for sub 9, maybe 8:40 shape.

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A guy in my old club who was a TT1.0 regular 15 years ago once said to me about Ironman when i was first getting into it, you need to be riding 100miles regularly at the pace you will on race day so it feels easy. Now looking with a coaches hat there might be some issues training wise with that depending on your individual physiology but the general point rings true, if you cant do 100miles easily at target race pace, you donā€™t stand a chance to run a fast marathon off it.

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This is the dilema for me in Roth this year. Last year, I think I had a great run as I took it pretty easy on the bike. Realistically I need to take 25 mins off my time from last year to go sub 9 as bike will be 10km longer. I should be OK to take 10 off the swim, and I am in great running shape, so 5 off the run, but that leaves taking 10mins off the bike, which could push my bike effort from easy to brutal

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WTF :exploding_head:
I rode 7 long rides (162-205km) in prep last year.
They ranged from 27kmh in the snow, to 34kmh in a hailstorm. Most were done at 30kmh.
All with training wheels and a normal helmet.

Race day I rode 5:15 at 34.5kmh, for 0.70IF 211W NP 259TSS.

That corresponds to the ā€œ5:19ā€ on the chart below (which I assume is a typo and should be 5:15)
Thatā€™s firmly in the ā€œsafe zone for unsure runners and novicesā€
I still ended up walking most of the marathon.

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I felt like my IM times improved thanks to long multi-day activities. Have to check back but I think when I did my 2 lejogs (about 100m/day with camping gear on the back over peaks, lakes, inner and outer hebrides), and hiked pennine way and coast2coast (again with camping gear, on my back) this really toughened my legs up as well as mental resolve, fortitude.
Also recommend a 1min time-out from T2 to stretch out the back, hamstrings, quads. I did this on my sub9.

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Thatā€™s interesting and where individual physiology comes in, You read about "ride at 0.70IF but its so individual, in this case maybe you might have been better at 0.65IF? it all depends where that first threshold sits and why the faster you get/more competitive you want to be proper testing becomes far more important.

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Nah - I lost my nutrition at 20km and the on course water and High5 tasted of detergent and parabens so I hardly had anything to drink :face_with_peeking_eye:

I then forgot my inhaler leaving T2, went back to get it, had a minor panic attack, then couldnā€™t breathe properly for the rest of the day :sob:

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Yes, 10 mins is a lot when youā€™re talking sub 5!

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yer that wouldnā€™t have helped either :rofl:

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