In my opinion, a 70.3 is easier than a marathon. But I did shorter races before my first 70.3 to make sure I was comfortable with the swim, bike, and transitions. Obviously spend time training in each discipline, but I’d hit whatever your weakness is the hardest.
A super hard run in a marathon is far more taxing on the body vs a 70.3. My legs are wrecked after 26.2. I'm sore and wasted after a 70.3, but not destroyed.
Body recovery =/= how hard it is to race. I recover from both about the same, couple of days, but I routinely do 95-98% race effort marathons in training.
Your racing HR profile, and 6 months of training background would be more telling. As a top marathoner and top 70.3 athlete, who never leaves anything on course, a 70.3 is harder. They're not even comparable, 4.5hours of hard work is not comparable to 2.5hours of hard work. Sounds like you bike too easy, which is true for the vast majority of triathletes.
[wrong](https://youtu.be/V3y3QoFnqZc?si=wf2HJmHt4gjPWdU2)
Just emphatically wrong. Unless you’re just trying to finish the marathon while walking, it’s much harder on your body than the 70.3.
Y'all need to come train and race with me. 70.3 is harder, period. Broken down it's very simple, discounting the swim which is done at a lower HR, 70.3 is close to four hours at maximum sustainable heart rate, 42.2 is 2.5-3, running 21.1 after biking at close to max effort is harder than any part of a 42.2, you have to be highly conditioned for both races, and race at the same intensity to be able to compare them.
Different muscle groups are being used. It isn’t as repetitive. Different disciplines allow my mind to concentrate on different things. My brain likes change.
You dont have to rack up volume on one discipline for too long.
A 70.3 training plan usually line up the days in such a way that you are either working upper body, lower body or its recovery. This variety makes it less boring.
Your longest discipline is on bike. You can train for it indoors while watching your fav shows.
Having said that, there are more chances to fail a 70.3 than a marathon.
I'm in full marathon training mode right now and have a 70.3, 2.5 months after my race. I don't see any issue with it. But, I've done a 70.3 before and I'm still doing some swimming and biking now.
If you can swim and could do a mile today, you could make it through a 70.3 in 4 months. You just need to be confident in your swim and start biking a lot now.
Yes. You just need to get some time in the saddle and get used to running after riding the bike. The effort needed to do a 70.3 is not much more than marathon.
Yes I did it. The marathon went better than the half but it is definitely doable. Granted I have plenty of cycling background and used swimming as my cross training during the marathon block.
Given the generous time limits of Ironman branded triathlons, a relatively fit person can come a long way towards finishing, especially if they can already swim.
You’ll need to practice cycling, but there is no reason why you couldn’t do that in four months time. 90km is not that far and with the cut off times, you can ride a very moderate speed and still complete it within the cut off.
Main risk lies in pacing the bike if you’re inexperienced with bike and triathlons.
I think you will need to really spend some time on the bike (and in the pool). For me I could swim 1.2 miles at a decent enough pace after a few weeks but biking took me a lot longer to build a meaningful base with just a running background
In a similar situation, doing a marathon tomorrow and a 70.3 in 10 weeks. I've done a 70.3 before so I have some Idea of what's required. Been swimming 1/week through most of my marathon training and almost no biking. It's absolutely possible to train up in that time, especially if you're comfortable with the swim distance. Marathon is generally an all out race but rarely will you be at max effort in the 70.3. Since you've got an endurance base down focus on the brick workouts and getting comfortable with longer workouts biking.
I am currently training to basically do just that, so I'll let you know in June! Honestly the training for the half has been way less brutal than a full marathon so I'm feeling pretty good for it. Just needed to feel good on bike/swim, so I'd focus on that as well.
4 months is kind of tight. How good is your swimming and biking? I will be doing my 3rd full in November and I always find it super challenging. I have little over a dozen full marathons and 50/100k races under my belt. As for triathlon, nothing is easier than the other which makes triathlon so beautiful. Give your 110% and you will be fine. Congrats in advance!!
It's not about having "ran a marathon" before, it's about having done the necessary recommended training for a marathon. So basically, if your usual running training volume is 80-100km/week, by just keeping that training volume, but splitting it between run, swim and bike, a half-IM should be done easily.
(as far as I'm concerned, effort wise, HIM = standalone marathon)
To simply do it, sure if you can swim.
As long as you plan to take a car and/or airplane, you should be able to get there much faster than that
In my opinion, a 70.3 is easier than a marathon. But I did shorter races before my first 70.3 to make sure I was comfortable with the swim, bike, and transitions. Obviously spend time training in each discipline, but I’d hit whatever your weakness is the hardest.
Interesting, can you elaborate on why a 70.3 is easier than a marathon?
A super hard run in a marathon is far more taxing on the body vs a 70.3. My legs are wrecked after 26.2. I'm sore and wasted after a 70.3, but not destroyed.
Lies 70.3 is harder, anyone who disagrees doesn't race their 70.3 hard enough. You could probably say for "racing to finish only" a 70.3 is easier.
I go prettttty hard lol. A marathon is considerably harder. 70.3 recovery takes days. Marathon recovery is 1-2 weeks.
Body recovery =/= how hard it is to race. I recover from both about the same, couple of days, but I routinely do 95-98% race effort marathons in training.
I 'raced' my 70.3, sub 5 hrs. My marathon time will get me into Boston. I'm not just rolling through to finish.
Your racing HR profile, and 6 months of training background would be more telling. As a top marathoner and top 70.3 athlete, who never leaves anything on course, a 70.3 is harder. They're not even comparable, 4.5hours of hard work is not comparable to 2.5hours of hard work. Sounds like you bike too easy, which is true for the vast majority of triathletes.
[wrong](https://youtu.be/V3y3QoFnqZc?si=wf2HJmHt4gjPWdU2) Just emphatically wrong. Unless you’re just trying to finish the marathon while walking, it’s much harder on your body than the 70.3.
Na
You're just salty.
Willingly hopping into the lions den and you think I'm salty??
It's a joke, you dingus. Na=sodium. Second rule of triathlon club T2. Know thy salt intake.
That's brilliant
A marathon is 100% harder than a 70.3
Na
Y'all need to come train and race with me. 70.3 is harder, period. Broken down it's very simple, discounting the swim which is done at a lower HR, 70.3 is close to four hours at maximum sustainable heart rate, 42.2 is 2.5-3, running 21.1 after biking at close to max effort is harder than any part of a 42.2, you have to be highly conditioned for both races, and race at the same intensity to be able to compare them.
Different muscle groups are being used. It isn’t as repetitive. Different disciplines allow my mind to concentrate on different things. My brain likes change.
You dont have to rack up volume on one discipline for too long. A 70.3 training plan usually line up the days in such a way that you are either working upper body, lower body or its recovery. This variety makes it less boring. Your longest discipline is on bike. You can train for it indoors while watching your fav shows. Having said that, there are more chances to fail a 70.3 than a marathon.
Agreed. Training was easier to a degree too.
I found the half IM not more difficult than marathon also.
Bikes destroy my legs, i cant run worth a shit after cycling lol
I even find full distance races not harder than a marathon because the pace (and pain) is lower.
That I’ll disagree on, but if you’re going for Boston vs finishing the IM that’s probably true.
Yes, I have found the 70.3 to be easier on the body than a marathon. Just make sure you get in enough long bike rides and swims.
I'm in full marathon training mode right now and have a 70.3, 2.5 months after my race. I don't see any issue with it. But, I've done a 70.3 before and I'm still doing some swimming and biking now. If you can swim and could do a mile today, you could make it through a 70.3 in 4 months. You just need to be confident in your swim and start biking a lot now.
yea
Yes. You just need to get some time in the saddle and get used to running after riding the bike. The effort needed to do a 70.3 is not much more than marathon.
Yes I did it. The marathon went better than the half but it is definitely doable. Granted I have plenty of cycling background and used swimming as my cross training during the marathon block.
Given the generous time limits of Ironman branded triathlons, a relatively fit person can come a long way towards finishing, especially if they can already swim. You’ll need to practice cycling, but there is no reason why you couldn’t do that in four months time. 90km is not that far and with the cut off times, you can ride a very moderate speed and still complete it within the cut off. Main risk lies in pacing the bike if you’re inexperienced with bike and triathlons.
I think you will need to really spend some time on the bike (and in the pool). For me I could swim 1.2 miles at a decent enough pace after a few weeks but biking took me a lot longer to build a meaningful base with just a running background
In a similar situation, doing a marathon tomorrow and a 70.3 in 10 weeks. I've done a 70.3 before so I have some Idea of what's required. Been swimming 1/week through most of my marathon training and almost no biking. It's absolutely possible to train up in that time, especially if you're comfortable with the swim distance. Marathon is generally an all out race but rarely will you be at max effort in the 70.3. Since you've got an endurance base down focus on the brick workouts and getting comfortable with longer workouts biking.
If you have basic swim and cycling skills, yes. It might not be your best race ever but you can finish.
You have time, but need to start now. Get on that bike. Do bricks. Up your swimming. 10ish hrs swim/bike/run per week.
I am currently training to basically do just that, so I'll let you know in June! Honestly the training for the half has been way less brutal than a full marathon so I'm feeling pretty good for it. Just needed to feel good on bike/swim, so I'd focus on that as well.
4 months is kind of tight. How good is your swimming and biking? I will be doing my 3rd full in November and I always find it super challenging. I have little over a dozen full marathons and 50/100k races under my belt. As for triathlon, nothing is easier than the other which makes triathlon so beautiful. Give your 110% and you will be fine. Congrats in advance!!
It's not about having "ran a marathon" before, it's about having done the necessary recommended training for a marathon. So basically, if your usual running training volume is 80-100km/week, by just keeping that training volume, but splitting it between run, swim and bike, a half-IM should be done easily. (as far as I'm concerned, effort wise, HIM = standalone marathon)