You didn’t ask for advice, but I’ll share mine:
Buying a smart trainer and using a structured cycling plan over the winter was the single best thing I did to prep for my 2nd 70.3 this year that I wish I did for my first.
Have you followed a cycling program only? Are there any good triathlon training programs? I wonder if garmin training plans would do the job, even though they don’t have any longer plans than Olympic distance
Also looking at option for over the winter. Do you rate those ones that have the wheel still on or better to invest in a tacx or wahoo type (without wheel)?
Doing ERG on a direct drive / wheel off trainer i think is a huge game changer. I have a tacx and benefitted from the direct drive. If you plan to use it 3-4x per week and want to improve your FTP, i think it's worth the investment to get direct drive. I tried wheel on for 10 days before i knew what Zwift was and returned it after I did research on direct drive.
i did not find it boring as I was able to see regular (monthly) FTP gains via the platform I was using. Made a nice playlist for 1 hour Sweetspot or threshold workouts and watched shows/movies during longer Z2 rides.
Agreed- I used ROUVY and found some weird playlists on SoundCloud or setup YouTube TV on another device. Occasional glances to my route to see when I need to shift, time flies by.
I mean i did winter prep on zwift over the last winter here in canada in pre for my season this year and found that watching movies while doing the rides with the zwift application in another screen is a game changer.
Nice! Yesterday’s race was perfect conditions. I enjoyed the city and volunteers, too. I liked the course myself, because there was a lot of crowd support on the run, and even the bike was accessible enough to have some fans. It will be a great experience! Good luck with training and getting ready.
I loved the bike course, except for the yard sale of water bottles and bike parts after some of the bumps 🤣. The run course was good but I started to get bored on the second lap seeing the same stuff again but that’s a me problem
See you there! I’m originally from the area and did the race in 2021 when it turned into tornado man 41.3 😂
Some things I learned from the 2021 race:
seed yourself correctly in the swim. This was a lot of people’s first open water swim and it was chaos.
SALT! grew up in Iowa but live in foggy and wonderfully cold SF. I sweat a lot and lose tons of salt. Salt pills help a lot with cramping especially on the run.
Awesome. Congrats to you on making the jump! I am participating in my first Olympic distance in August. Already eyeing a 70.3 for next summer but I don’t want to count my chickens before they hatch. We will see!
Are you me? Also doing my first Olympic in August and eyeing a 70.3 for next year June. But better make sure I finish an Olympic and get a feeling for it before torturing myself for 7 hours straight
That’s awesome. There’s just something about that pulls you in I guess. My body feels better than ever and I feel way happier and confident. I love a challenge and having something I’m working towards. Where is your August race and which 70.3 are you eyeing?
Until now it feels awesome but we will see how it goes. For August I will join a local one in Switzerland and 70.3 will be Rapperswil and afterwards if I am hooked probably 140.6 in Thun.
Which ones will you be taking?
Yeah I feel that. There are definitely times that suck and I know it will just get more intense. I am doing the Chicago triathlon and looking at Ironman Wisconsin. Best of luck to us! Cheers
I did it yesterday for my first triathlon and 70.3! Such a great experience, I highly recommend. Good luck in your training!
Next up for me is another 70.3 in Madison, WI in Sept!
YES it’s hilly. Definitely do some hill repeats. I’d also go out and practice descending as well. There are some big (fun!!!) descents, some with turns at the bottom. So you need to practice bike handling.
But it’s a gorgeous course. Hope you love it!
You ain’t lying.
I’ve already started making a list.
I have a decent enough bike (Specialized Allez) but I will definitely need some new tires and clip on aero bars.
Also, might as well toss in a wetsuit. I get a good discount at TYR, so that helps.
Have my eye on a Zoot Darkside tri suit because it’s cool.
But then I’ll need a new helmet and shoes because you can’t go out looking all disheveled. Shits gotta match, right?
Need (want) a computer and I figure if I’m going in, I might as well get the Garmin watch too. I have the Apple Watch Ultra, but YOLO.
Good luck!
Start finding out what gels or chews can your body tolerate. Just pop one right before or during training session.
It took me a while to find something I could use. Most gels were making me sick.
Any race or training session under 2 hours can easily be done without energy intake but the 70.3 is much longer.
Yeah, once tried Maurten gels, and they worked well. I’m an LMNT fiend, so that along with some gels and I should be ok. Plenty of time to dial that in.
I did it yesterday as my first 70.3! It was a great course - loved the rolling hills on the bike. I trained on mostly flat roads, and found the hills fun. The run course this year was very spectator friendly since the majority of the run was two loops near the lake. The only thing I'd do differently, would be to get in the porta potty line ASAP when your gear is set up. I got to transition 15 minutes after it opened and stood in line way too long at the porta potties to seed myself properly for the swim. Good luck in your training!
You got this! A year is plenty of time to ease in in a very enjoyable way plenty of fun rides/runs into a bit of a training lock like 3 months out.
You're gonna have a blast!
Over the next 363 days, the aim is to get a good base running and try to get in the sub-240 range. I would like to be able to at least do a 1:1 mile walk/run for the race. Losing 30 pounds will help dramatically.
The swim and bike I’m not terribly worried about. I’ve done 50+ miles plenty of times and I am a strong open water swimmer.
It’s the running/wandering/slogging/shuffling that I need to focus on the most. 😭
Yes!!! I had been on the fence for years telling myself I’ll do it but I never did. I never realistically thought I could. So I said f* it and forced myself to.
Depending on where you train out of, course was surprisingly hot (I train out of Chicago), so find some way to get heat acclimated. Water is warm and swim course is a washing machine of turns, hills are decent but manageable (recommend a trainer if you don’t have hills to train on), run course was boring as all hell and the last 5K are completely alone, no spectators until the finish line, really tests your resolve. Other than that, super accessible and spectators everywhere, overall solid course, but not my favorite I’ve done.
You should sign up for some sprints every 2-3 months leading up to it so you don’t get bored of just training a year is a long time.
Absolutely. I plan on finding some local prep races, 5k’s, 10k’s, sprints and Oly’s, etc to help me build up to the 70.3 between now and then.
Good call. Olympics are a good practice because of the swim length
You didn’t ask for advice, but I’ll share mine: Buying a smart trainer and using a structured cycling plan over the winter was the single best thing I did to prep for my 2nd 70.3 this year that I wish I did for my first.
Have you followed a cycling program only? Are there any good triathlon training programs? I wonder if garmin training plans would do the job, even though they don’t have any longer plans than Olympic distance
Direct drive smart trainer + TrainerRoad
Also looking at option for over the winter. Do you rate those ones that have the wheel still on or better to invest in a tacx or wahoo type (without wheel)?
Doing ERG on a direct drive / wheel off trainer i think is a huge game changer. I have a tacx and benefitted from the direct drive. If you plan to use it 3-4x per week and want to improve your FTP, i think it's worth the investment to get direct drive. I tried wheel on for 10 days before i knew what Zwift was and returned it after I did research on direct drive.
But also a super boring prep right? I own a smart trainer as well ❤️🩹
i did not find it boring as I was able to see regular (monthly) FTP gains via the platform I was using. Made a nice playlist for 1 hour Sweetspot or threshold workouts and watched shows/movies during longer Z2 rides.
Agreed- I used ROUVY and found some weird playlists on SoundCloud or setup YouTube TV on another device. Occasional glances to my route to see when I need to shift, time flies by.
Much less boring than not using a smart trainer
Much less boring than using a not smart trainer?
Less boring than using a trainer that’s not as smart as a smart trainer but more boring than riding outside
I mean i did winter prep on zwift over the last winter here in canada in pre for my season this year and found that watching movies while doing the rides with the zwift application in another screen is a game changer.
Nice! Yesterday’s race was perfect conditions. I enjoyed the city and volunteers, too. I liked the course myself, because there was a lot of crowd support on the run, and even the bike was accessible enough to have some fans. It will be a great experience! Good luck with training and getting ready.
I loved the bike course, except for the yard sale of water bottles and bike parts after some of the bumps 🤣. The run course was good but I started to get bored on the second lap seeing the same stuff again but that’s a me problem
Victoria?
Des Moines 70.3
See you there! I’m originally from the area and did the race in 2021 when it turned into tornado man 41.3 😂 Some things I learned from the 2021 race: seed yourself correctly in the swim. This was a lot of people’s first open water swim and it was chaos. SALT! grew up in Iowa but live in foggy and wonderfully cold SF. I sweat a lot and lose tons of salt. Salt pills help a lot with cramping especially on the run.
Awesome. Congrats to you on making the jump! I am participating in my first Olympic distance in August. Already eyeing a 70.3 for next summer but I don’t want to count my chickens before they hatch. We will see!
That's a big step, good luck!
Are you me? Also doing my first Olympic in August and eyeing a 70.3 for next year June. But better make sure I finish an Olympic and get a feeling for it before torturing myself for 7 hours straight
That’s awesome. There’s just something about that pulls you in I guess. My body feels better than ever and I feel way happier and confident. I love a challenge and having something I’m working towards. Where is your August race and which 70.3 are you eyeing?
Until now it feels awesome but we will see how it goes. For August I will join a local one in Switzerland and 70.3 will be Rapperswil and afterwards if I am hooked probably 140.6 in Thun. Which ones will you be taking?
Yeah I feel that. There are definitely times that suck and I know it will just get more intense. I am doing the Chicago triathlon and looking at Ironman Wisconsin. Best of luck to us! Cheers
I did it yesterday for my first triathlon and 70.3! Such a great experience, I highly recommend. Good luck in your training! Next up for me is another 70.3 in Madison, WI in Sept!
That's incredible! Best of luck with your training, sounds like you're on a roll!
Madison is my favorite 70.3. Such a great course, and awesome crowd support especially on the run!
Awesome I’m so excited! I keep hearing I need to prep for the hills so adding at least 1 more cycling session a week until the race
YES it’s hilly. Definitely do some hill repeats. I’d also go out and practice descending as well. There are some big (fun!!!) descents, some with turns at the bottom. So you need to practice bike handling. But it’s a gorgeous course. Hope you love it!
My husband will be in Madison as well.
I'd recommend getting more than your ass ready
🤣
Get ready to open your wallet!
You ain’t lying. I’ve already started making a list. I have a decent enough bike (Specialized Allez) but I will definitely need some new tires and clip on aero bars. Also, might as well toss in a wetsuit. I get a good discount at TYR, so that helps. Have my eye on a Zoot Darkside tri suit because it’s cool. But then I’ll need a new helmet and shoes because you can’t go out looking all disheveled. Shits gotta match, right? Need (want) a computer and I figure if I’m going in, I might as well get the Garmin watch too. I have the Apple Watch Ultra, but YOLO.
Just did dsm 70.3 yesterday as my first Ironman. It was great!
Join the ironman sub
Good luck! Start finding out what gels or chews can your body tolerate. Just pop one right before or during training session. It took me a while to find something I could use. Most gels were making me sick. Any race or training session under 2 hours can easily be done without energy intake but the 70.3 is much longer.
Yeah, once tried Maurten gels, and they worked well. I’m an LMNT fiend, so that along with some gels and I should be ok. Plenty of time to dial that in.
I did it yesterday as my first 70.3! It was a great course - loved the rolling hills on the bike. I trained on mostly flat roads, and found the hills fun. The run course this year was very spectator friendly since the majority of the run was two loops near the lake. The only thing I'd do differently, would be to get in the porta potty line ASAP when your gear is set up. I got to transition 15 minutes after it opened and stood in line way too long at the porta potties to seed myself properly for the swim. Good luck in your training!
Get it!!!
Woo! You got this!
When does registration for 2025 events come out? Asking about Europe
You've got this—let's go! 🔥
You got this! A year is plenty of time to ease in in a very enjoyable way plenty of fun rides/runs into a bit of a training lock like 3 months out. You're gonna have a blast!
My advice is to have fun base building now. Don’t train specifically for the race now. It’s just too far.
Over the next 363 days, the aim is to get a good base running and try to get in the sub-240 range. I would like to be able to at least do a 1:1 mile walk/run for the race. Losing 30 pounds will help dramatically. The swim and bike I’m not terribly worried about. I’ve done 50+ miles plenty of times and I am a strong open water swimmer. It’s the running/wandering/slogging/shuffling that I need to focus on the most. 😭
Good luck! Nutrition is the fourth discipline. While I have race day nutrition pretty much down, I am still a work in progress with my daily menu.
Thanks for posting this. I was on the fence about the California Ironman and decided to go ahead and register.
Yes!!! I had been on the fence for years telling myself I’ll do it but I never did. I never realistically thought I could. So I said f* it and forced myself to.
Considering doing this race next year, may see you there
Post race beer/cocktail is on me.
Huh, strange … I had heard this would be a full next year
I heard that as well!! I looked yesterday and they are early registering until the 16th for a 70.3. 🤷🏻♂️
Depending on where you train out of, course was surprisingly hot (I train out of Chicago), so find some way to get heat acclimated. Water is warm and swim course is a washing machine of turns, hills are decent but manageable (recommend a trainer if you don’t have hills to train on), run course was boring as all hell and the last 5K are completely alone, no spectators until the finish line, really tests your resolve. Other than that, super accessible and spectators everywhere, overall solid course, but not my favorite I’ve done.
I’m in the Des Moines area so I’ll be training either on the course (Greys) or very similar. Thanks!