Where would you take that RPE from? Should that be at the very end of the set?
Possibly 6, certainly below LT2 potentially below LT1 even
(I see @Matthew_Spooner is on Zwift, where heâs missing all of these #Gainz swim tips!)
I also have no idea what LT1 and LT2 are 
Iâm guessing lactate threshold?
But Iâve never seen milk from my nipples, so I donât think Iâve ever lactated?
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Throughout, but it does all depend on how you âraceâ an ironman. You may need to go hard for 400m + and then settle to get a good group, or bridge a gap during the swim. Essentially you need to get out feeling reading for ~8hrs of exercise!
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Taking this on to swim tacticsâŚwhat do you do when you find yourself with a big gap ahead of you, maybe you canât see anyone when you sight, or maybe the group ahead seems a long way off? 1. Swim your own swim, hope for fast feet passing you 2. Up the pace until you catch someone fast enough to settle in behind 3. âŚ?
I guess the point I was getting it, for me at least, with any kind of distance event (whichever sport) over time if I keep pace the same then RPE will rise over time or if I keep RPE constant pace will drop.
I believe we generally try and keep pace consistent, therefore I experience a rising RPE throughout.
EDIT: For example on a marathon 5min/km feels extremely easy for 5km, Iâd probably say was 5/10, but creeps up .05/1 RPE every 5km? By 30km Iâve fallen apart I guess itâs become 10/10 RPE and I need to completely back off/die.
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You have two thresholds, LT1 is your aerobic threshold, LT2 is what is commonly but incorrectly called anaerobic threshold. Thin ~2mmol and ~4mmol on a lactate test. @explorerJC knows more about the science side, but tis why some coaches prefer a 3 zone system
A fairly decent article on it :- https://www.totaltritraining.com/2019/10/24/lactate-thresholds-made-simple-by-rob-bridges/
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But thatâs because a marathon is you trying to give everything and be empty on the finish line. One could argue that an ironman swim should be one hour duration at your 10 hour effort.
Obviously thatâs not quite the case because swim is generally a bit harder, and donât expect you to have the muscular endurance to do 10hr swim, but itâs a good enough way to think of it.
During the bike I try make myself imagine Iâm doing a warm up for a standalone 10k/half/marathon to remind myself how crazy it is I still have a marathon to go.
ETA @BadAsh Also, the way I feel that fatiguing over time is as an inability to work harder and raise my RPE.
To use an exaggerated example, if I tried to run 100km Iâd end up walking and be empty, unable to work any harder. But I wouldnât say my effort was 10/10 because Iâm only walking, compared to knowing that burning 10/10 intensity.
Does that kind of make sense? Might only be me that thinks that way, and maybe rate of perceived intensity is a better descriptor for that, but itâs how I internally validate effort.
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If youâve been dropped that much you can barely see the next feet then either youâve got to know youâre going way too slow and want to speed up to them. Otherwise realistically youâll speed up and still get stuck in no manâs zone.
Happened to me IMUK, first lap sat comfortably at back of three others, lost the feet in the Aussie exit/lapping others. I tried hard for about 10 minutes keeping them constant at 10-15m ahead but then I gave up. Same in a recent sprint. Got to try judge if the minute you save on a draft is worth the energy, or if you could better gain two minutes on bike/run.
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For the stattos here; has an AGer ever gone sub-9 without swimming comfortably under 70 mins? My guess is only an ex-pro cyclist could do this.
I was looking through old Roth results last night, and saw Hywelâs 8:44 in 2009 (56/4:39/3:05)
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Udo Bolts overtook over 1000 people on the bike and still went 10.02!
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Hah yes; but we know Matt can at least run!
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Not many @Jorgan
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3:02 run is very fruity!
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Dropped is relative though isnât it? Iâm no sub 9er but I swam 1h06 at IMCH so there were always going to be people ahead and people behind. I donât think sub 9 means FOP swim?
Iâm think @Matthew_Spooner has some work to do on his swim but isnât looking to be in the front pack.
Yes? I must be misunderstanding, not sure what youâre disagreeing with.
If you need to bridge a gap, then Iâm trying to say youâve been dropped by those people in front of you. Doesnât matter if theyâre FOP MOP BOP, theyâre ahead of you.
I suppose in modern wave starts you might have started behind them and not fallen behind, but in which case you donât really know what speed theyâre doing, and probably just need to focus on your own swim and see what happens before basing your effort on someone else.
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There will be plenty of MAMILs who swim 1:20 and then smoke the bike (and walk the run). But the course is so congested, following them isnât that easy.
depends on your goals, as this is sub 9 thread you could be racing and you want to end up in that âpace lineâ on the bike Id consider upping pace a bit. If you are TTâing your way to a sub 9, I would at that point settle in. Preferable though is being aware and not allowing that gap to develop in the first place
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IMO, smoking the bike and walking the run just means they didnât understand the sport they were in. My old coach used to say, train and race in a way that you can run the whole marathon.
Thatâs not very sexy though I guess 
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And this why the ex phys threads quickly die 
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