Firstly I know that this is not prescriptive and there’s no one size fits all for how many weeks you should put in your plan!

Anyone who is or has done an IM 70.3, how many weeks did you leave to train for it? And what was your experience with this?

I’m looking at a race in Sept 2025 and don’t know when to start - I know the sooner the better but I also don’t want this to be too long that it becomes too monotonous or hard to maintain! (For context I have done a sprint and an Olympic most recently in June of this year)

Any thoughts on this much appreciated ☺️

I'm looking to replace my forerunner 745, since i'm training for a couple ironman next year, and the battery simply doesn't last for the projected 12 hours i need it for, last year i did a 50km trail run and it got from 98% to 2% in less then 12 hours. I have a 400€ budget and was looking between these two watches, but i have some questions before. Which is better for swimming? I alternate between 25m pool, 50m pool and open water and need good measurements, expecially on turns. Can you modify the activity screens on the watch or you need the app? Are there better alternatives instead of these two in that price range? Also how are they on cycling? Do i need to wear a chest strap everytime?

I know this is the millionth "what watch should I buy" post, but I'm not finding discussions on my particular issue anywhere.

Seemingly unlike the majority of people in the sub, I do my swim training in the ocean. I've had problems with my Garmin Forerunner getting sticky/inconsistent buttons for a bit after going in the ocean. To be fair: I could be better about soaking/rinsing after each use, but I still think there's probably differences in which watches handle saltwater better.

Does anyone else train in the ocean and find success with other brands models? I do also care about accuracy of runs/bikes, but i think the difference is marginal enough that it's not as important to me.

We're going to try out something new for a bit: a daily chat thread for people to share how training is going, ask minor questions, and get to know one another.

Put on your recovery boots, grab your post-workout banana/espresso/breakfast burrito and join us!

Quick update: We're trying out "Contest Mode" for the daily comments, which basically means they will be ordered randomly and not sorted by votes. This is so people coming in later in the day don't get buried at the bottom. Please let us know what you think! We can always revert if it's not working.

Went out for my run this morning and it was 28 degrees Fahrenheit. Wet my chest strap before I went out but halfway it started disconnecting from my watch, this has never happened before, but I also haven’t use a chest strap in as cold of weather as this, assuming it’s because I wasn’t sweating that much and the sensor dried up, has this ever happened to anyone else with a chest strap? Or is it just mine

Hi all,

Really want to enter Weymouth 70.3 for either 25 or 26. I can run a sub 1hr45 half marathon and cycling isn’t an issue but swimming, especially in the ocean, is daunting for me.

How do you train for open water swimming without access to open water? Is it worth getting a PT to start me off in the right direction?

Thanks

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Have fun!

My wife and I had our first born 6 months ago. Between the lack of sleep and lack of time I have not had the chance to train hardly at all. Hoping to get some recommendations on YouTube channels to help me get my motivation back. What do yall like to watch for fitness YouTube? A few personal favorites of mine… Jenna & Miguel, Nick Bare (before he got big). It doesn’t necessarily have to be just Tri athletes either.

How you all traveling with your bikes. Do you use a hardshell bike box or a soft one? What have been your experiences flying any damages?

Training advice

I’m looking to complete a full Ironman in the future and just wanted to get some insight on the timeline of training.

For background,

20-Male

I just completed my first 70.3 this past weekend in a total time of 5hrs 37 mins 54 seconds. Swim-32:39 Bike-2:54 Run-2:04

Overall the race went very well.

I am currently signed up to run a marathon on New Year’s Day with a goal of sub 4 hours. (Should be attainable)

Wanting to get some opinions on if it’s a realistic goal to race Ironman Texas April 2025.

Thanks!

Hey! I’m planning on doing my first Ironman 70.3.

I’m a complete novice at triathlons, I train doing CrossFit 3/4 times a week, cycle weekly and can sea swim well, can run 5k in less than 30 minutes.

I want to prove to myself that I can do hard things, so, saying that, is 9 months long enough for me to train for an Ironman 70.3?

So, like I said, any advice is welcome, what have your experiences been training and on race day, what do you wish you had known, am I a fool for thinking I could train in 9 months?

Thank you in advance!

Right now I currently am a runner. I am slowly hoping to start cross training and eventually do some long distance triathlons.

Today I did my first bike (granted it was on a bike machine) but I did 8 miles in 30:35.

I did this bike as a cross training run to make up for an easy run due to some shin recovery needed. This bike actually felt like more effort than my run, I assume likely to this being the first time I have biked.

Two questions:

1. Is this a good pace for a beginner?
2. Is this a satisfactory amount of biking/effort to make up for an easy run day via cross training?

As the title suggests, I'm debating if I should drop out of the upcoming IW 70.3 on December 8th.

I trained all season for my "A" race which was the last weekend of September. I had not originally planned on doing IW, but due to some lucky circumstances I got a free entry into it and thought that if I stay fit between races I'll do it. There were about 9 weeks between them.

Fast forward to today - the race is in 3.5 weeks. I took almost all of October off of any triathlon-related sports (and my diet kinda fell off a cliff too), and have just been doing maybe 6-8 hours of training per week since the start of November (all mostly Z2). My interest level has just gone way down since my last race, and coupled with terrible weather for training at the moment (I live in the PNW) and a flu I'm just getting over, I'm really not sure if I'm in any shape to do this next one.

I've also heard stories that this race isn't the best due to the frigid cold water temps (~56 degrees).

Anyone have any advice on how to approach this? I would be happy to go out and just have fun and not go for any PB's, but at this point I'm worried I've lost so much fitness the last 6 weeks that I'm going to hurt myself.

Title is fairly self explanatory—I’m based in Boston and I’m looking to immerse myself into the triathlon community to make more friends. Would love suggestions/recommendations. Thanks in advance!

Title is fairly self explanatory—I’m based in Boston and I’m looking to immerse myself into the triathlon community to make more friends. Would love suggestions/recommendations. Thanks in advance!

Torn between these 2. Any insight would be much appreciated.

A 2018 Orbea Ordu Team Triathlon

https://cyclelimited.com/collections/tt-triathalon-bikes/products/2018-orbea-ordu-team-triathlon-bike-large

Or a 2015 Cervello P3

https://offerup.co/hJCnuAEbtOb

#ttbike

Hi all,

I've decided to do my first triathlon next summer, it'll be a sprint tri and I'm very determined to take training very seriously and really give it my best shot (hoping to eventually gear up for Olympic distance)

Trouble is I'd also like to do a marathon next year as well. I'm eyeing one in April or one in September.

April seems to make more sense but do folks have any opinions one way or the other? Should I just can the idea of doing a marathon and my first tri entirely? I'm sure folks have an experience they could relate

Just got this crazy idea of doing my first 70.3 next year. My dad has his old Mako eXtreme wetsuit from 2015 ish. I searched it online and seems that it was pretty good back then. Any idea if it is still good compared to the newer models? I’m considering if I should by a new one or use this one. Size is actually pretty good for me and it fits well.

Hello everyone, I’ve done a couple of sprint and Olympic distances before but all with just a regular road bike and no aero bars. I’m moving up to a 70.3 and would like to get some aero bars. Eventually I do plan on getting a TT bike but for now I was just wondering what you guys have found to be the most comfortable and best clip on aero bars to use? Thanks!

I'm brand new to this Triathlon thing as I have never completed one but have a few on the to-do list for 2025. I've seen a lot about the 80/20 plans and purchased the book. It seems the common synopsis is they are solid plans but you could add distance here or there to the different disciplines to progress in that specific discipline. I think for my first 70.3, I'm going to trust the process and do the plans as prescribed. My main question is; if my 70.3 is 25 weeks out, how should I go about completing a plan when it's only 18-19 weeks long? Can I just duplicate weeks within certain periods?

Another question on a different note; Thinking about getting a Wahoo Kickr Core as winter is approaching. How does everyone feel about the Kickr Core and Zwift when it pertains to the bike workouts within the 80/20 plan? Can the workouts seamlessly be integrated or is there a workaround you have to take like manually building the workouts on TP or Zwift itself?

Thanks for the help!

I am returning to 70.3 IM triathlons after a 15 year absence. Recreational but motivated athlete looking at a 5-6 hour finish. Probably doing 2 races at least for 2025.

I had a professional bike fit done and was recommended Cervelo p series due to longer torso to leg ratio.

My LBS has a 2023 Rival AxS, stock wheels, mechanical disk breaks, electronic shifting on sale for 5200 CAD (3750 USD). New retail is 7600 CAD (5400 USD)

My regular bike is a trek domane 105 - nice, nothing fancy.

Is this a decent deal, good deal or a BUY IT NOW deal?

Can probably fit my Domane with some wheels and tri bars or wait for a second hand to come up - race is only in May.

Has anyone done a fun 70.3 that they didn't find through the official Ironman website? Specifically looking for an easy / flat run

We're going to try out something new for a bit: a daily chat thread for people to share how training is going, ask minor questions, and get to know one another.

Put on your recovery boots, grab your post-workout banana/espresso/breakfast burrito and join us!

Quick update: We're trying out "Contest Mode" for the daily comments, which basically means they will be ordered randomly and not sorted by votes. This is so people coming in later in the day don't get buried at the bottom. Please let us know what you think! We can always revert if it's not working.

So, as we enter another "off season" I was wondering about the best way to utilise my training time during winter. Ideally, i'd love an app (similar to Runna) that takes into consideration my training and adapts on the fly. Does anybody have any training apps that maybe carry a monthly subscription that they're using for training throughout winter? Ideally I will primarily be focussing on cycling and running with the odd pool swim thrown in but I'm not too fussed about the app suggesting pool sessions as I come from a fairly competent swimming background and would ideally like to focus on the other two.

Any suggestions would be massively appreciated!

Hey guys, first-time poster here and a beginner triathlete. I am looking to purchase my first bike and train for my first race. I am in between sizes. 58 and 61. I am 6'3 and my leg inseam is 87cm(short legs? long torso). My height suggests a 61cm bike but my inseam suggests a 58cm bike. What should I do? I have tried both sizes. 61 feels a bit big for me but it also might be my lack of experience. Salesmen to 2 different shops suggested a 61. Any advice?

Hi, I have a carbon bike with integrated cockpit by Syncross. I would like to put clip on TT bars on my bike and replace integrated cockpit with bar+stem combo and have two questions?

Can you safely put alloy stem and bar on carbon bike? Can you reccomend best stem bar combo for this prupose.

Hi all,

I’ve recently completed my first triathlon. It was only a super sprint, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I used my Giant Talon which was fine but I’d like to start training for sprint distance or standard distance.

Like I mentioned, I’m only extremely new so I don’t want to spend a fortune on a bike, but does anyone have any tips on key things to look for in a bike? What’s things are great on a budget? What is a good budget to aim for to get best value for money for beginners? ( I’m happy to save for a bit, I’m in no rush).

I’m in Australia, more specifically NSW if that helps with brands, places to look etc.

What do guys think about pool tether? Does it work?