Preface: there has to be some factors that just make it almost impossible. I’m not sure of this individual’s make up (weight, height, athletic ability), but it has to (I’d assume) to fall within a range to make this possible.

To add: I have zero ambitions to go to Kona, but...

Question: I’m 5’11” 220lbs (muscular) with a hockey playing background (high level). Currently have been “training” for about 3 years. Not “elite” level (or even really competitive level: 25mpw), but getting in shape (weights, running, biking, very little swimming). I can swim (in a pool) a mile in 30-35 minutes (no flip turn). Run 4 miles daily, and my average is 8:30/mi. I’ve put down faster (7:50min/mile over 10km). Biking is decent (did 2:40+ in NOLA 70.3 in SHITTY wind).

Is there a hope for someone built like me, or are we (big guys) basically fucked? (Or would I have to lose a shit load of muscle to drop weight to have a chance...cause that ain’t happening)?

From a coaches perspective, do you hate to see someone of my build walk through your door and say “ I want Kona!” ? How long of a “plan” would someone of my build need?

^ These are also exactly my figures.

 

For a hockey player...meaning not fat but muscle build
-clean diet
-high mileage running (progressive)
-no weights

your body will melt and change significantly over the years. would it be enough to be competitive and KQ? well, that, we simply dont know and i cant give any guaranty on this. That why we focus on loving the process.....and hopefully the outcome will be good!

But that s rarely something i would ask a potential new athlete, i dont care about body build...i m a big driver of ATTITUDE. if you have the right attitude, commitment, dedication.... it s gonna be fun! And those personality characteristic is what KTRI as......very strongly ingrained in him,

---

Jonathan Caron / Professional Coach / ironman champions / age group world champions
Jonnyo Coaching
Instargram

Thanks for sharing your story! It really gives us the guys with some good gene but not a natural superstar some hope! Me too started my triathlon “career” in 2010 by learning swim and joining a run clinic. 2013 I did my first IM (mont tremblant) in 11:13. And I have done 1 full IM a year since. And my best time and ranking was IM Muskoka 10:34 (10th in AG).

But then life (3 kids) and work (9-5) got into the way and I couldn’t commit as much training hours as I did in 2015. After 5 full IM, I was almost ready to call it done. But the. Watching this year’s epic KONA got me thinking about KQ again.

Here’s a specific question for you. How do you interview the 5 coaches and decided to go with JonnyO? And how did you choose your 1:1 swim coach? I’ve always been self-coaching myself in terms of triathlon and have hired a private swim coach to help my strokes occasionally. But never had a long term tri/swim coach like you did. And I truly believe that’s what holding me digging into my potential.

Here’s a little bit about my best performances so far: 1:09 swim at IM Whistler last year, 5:26 bike at IM Muskoka 2015, 3:46 run at Whistler last year. My best open marathon was 2:49 in 2015, but I could never run well in an IM.

After reading this inspiring post, I believe I still have a shot in my future. I’m open for any suggestion from anyone. Thanks!

Thanks for taking the time to respond (it’s one reason I love this place), and it is a great response: “love the process”.

I’m not interested in Kona, but now some my size have an answer!

Very interesting read! And very honest.
FIrst off huge congratulation on the achievement!

Second: I know anything could take its toll on marriage, e.g. being lazy on the couch all day, not being romantic/doing stuff with your wife/husband etc. but i really feel like you need an incredible support from your closest to do this, not only support but also understanding. Because why should someone be with a person that uses the weekend on training instead of doing fun things with you SO? (not saying you should do that all the time, but it also compromises e.g. taking 3 weeks off travelling around the world). Thus nice with a realistic story! Hope you enjoy it and have a nice Kona race!

Congrats on your achievement. I have similar goals in mind and we share a similar story as well, although my IM attempts this year have been well.. underwhelming (self coached). Your story gives me renewed assurance that in this crazy competitive AG 40-44 it can be done! Thanks for sharing.

Awesome story dude, congrats.

Also I'm stealing this: SAU’s (spousal approval units)

I love it when I get someone like you with a massive athletic background (high level hockey) and what looks like a very very decent engine if your runs at 8:30 at 220 lbs at 5'11'. Over a multi year plan, this is the exact person who ends up going to Kona after the muscle gradually comes off with all the endurance training. If I get another person who is 5'11" and 165 lbs and he's running 8:30, this is going to be a bigger (and maybe impossible challenge). The 220 lbs guy, is like being given a diamond mine where you know there are diamonds, you just need to mine it. My 2 cents is that you are at one of the best starting points to eventually get to Kona. Also need to swim a decent amount over the next bunch of years. You can't swim 90 min for an IM and qualify for Kona without being the fastest bike-runner in your age group. But you're exactly the type of athlete who can get into the right range.....then it is executing the perfect race and cross fingers on who else shows up or not.

Tie3.....if you can swim 1:09, ride 5:26 in Whistler and run an open marathon in 2:49, you have the tools to get it done. Can I ask if you are relatively faster on Olympic and Half IM (those two straddle the duration of your 2:49 marathon) vs IM? Height-Weight-%fat? Also what age group?

It's been an Endurance Nation term for a while. I use it all the time too.



Ktri, mad props for doing what many of wish we could do. Thanks for sharing. I think the common theme remains the
commitment and dedication needed for consistent training. Injuries and setbacks happen to us all, but you need to persevere.
The weight loss started with that mindset to get the hours in and keep at it. Consistently getting up early day after day can break you mentally
but getting the workouts done when you can is necessary for the improvement.

Interesting to note the fact that there were plateaus and breakthroughs. Curious as to what the perception was as to 'why' they breakthroughs
happened...

You cannot downplay the need of having a support system that allows for the process, otherwise you will break a marriage/relationship.

Life always involves choices between risks and benefits. You made solid choices. Well done.

Hard work pays off.

Congrats!!

Thanks, Dev! My fastest 70.3 was 4:41 on a pancake flat course last year (38 min swim, 2:28 bike and 1:29 run). I'm 5'6", 140 lbs this year (5-10 lbs lighter when I ran the 2:49 marathon). Fitbit Aria says my body fat is around 9% (not sure how trust-worthy that is). And I'm in AG M40-44.

(The 5:26 bike split was from Muskoka 2015, I bonked in bike at Whistler last year coming from Toronto area unprepared for the real mountains.)

Great story and nice writing! I would think about half the people who KQ have similar stories.
I shared your post with a few friends who need the inspiration.
You've also mastered the Slowtwich Kona brag. Welcome to the club, you earned it.

Hi JonnyO, great coaching and dedication from your athlete=great results.

I will be training for mi first Ironman (IM Hamburg in July 2018) and was wondering how many hours/meters are the recommended avg. for swim training.

I have done 5 70.3's so far (best swim 37 mins) and avg. swim training is 7000m spread in 3 sessions.

---

Love the Pain!

Quito-Ecuador

so in Aug of 2011 I bought my first used road bike off of craigslist. It even came with shoes that fit, so I was set.

Imagine how much time you could have saved trying to qualify if you had bought a $5,000 bike, top of the line sunglasses and an aero helmet...

Great story. Huge congrats! You never gave up. My story touches your CDA.

2014 first IM, IMCDA 10:33, was 13th M40-44
2015 second IM, IMCDA 10:27- I know what you mean by HOT, was there, funny I never felt hot, just put my head down and did what I have to do to get through, was 13th M45-49
2016 third IM, IMAZ, 9:57, at mile 16 on the run, tore left adductor longus, rectus abdominis and hip labrum, still ran 3:42

Year off and PT. First 3mi run two days ago. Kona is the reason I want to come back. Kona keeps me going, not sure if it will ever happen but I will try until I no longer have anything left to give.

I will say this for me, I NEVER would have been able to accomplish what I have without a coach. NEVER EVER, EVER. There are just too many training nuances and pitfalls and wasted time for me to have been able to do it myself. I don't think it's about putting in the time. I think it's about putting in the time at the correct intensity for the appropriate duration for the workout, again and again. All this in a rhythm and progression. That was way too many moving pieces for me to figure out and do everyday.

The tri coach search went like this. I made a list of questions, some like these: Have you fired an athlete, why? Cost? Contract? Openings? TP, Excel, Race Day? Weekly scheduling? Limits on contact? Train with HR? Is a PM required? I used the search function here on ST. I asked around locally for referrals. I probably compiled a list of 7-8 names. I contacted them all via email to set up phone call appointments. I had one email me back saying he had no openings, great, one down. After narrowing the list from the interviews I used the search function and read probably 50 pages of posts from Jonny. I determined that we shared training philosophies. A friend of mine, Matt Barcus, had met Jonny at a training camp and told me that he was very impressed by him. Jonny had an opening and we decided to team up.

The swim coach thing was a little more trying. I had done 3 one hour swim evaluations that didn't really produce any results. I hired one swim coach a while back. She taught me how to swim a swim workout, but really didn't teach me how to swim. I have swam with an all inclusive tri team weekly in the winter, but receive no technical input there. Knowing that swimming was my weak link, prior to IMLou 2016 I started to amass a list of names from local referrals of swim coaches. I was going to find one that helped me. I'm black or white, no gray area for me. I asked a really nice Olympic trials swimmer for help, he in turn referred me to a swim coach. That's how I found him. He helped a lot. I also reached a point of diminished returns with him. I had kind of blown off the video review offer that Jonny had made to me. I figured how could he see anything that my coach on the deck was missing. Ya, I should have sent Jonny a video way prior to when I did. Live and learn. Be methodical.

Thank you so much, Kevin! This is really helpful! You send me onto the right track.

I'm not sure of the font color, sarcasm or not?

That road bike introduced me to cycling. It was an activity I hadn't been exposed to before. Funny thing is that I live in an area of excellent cycling. I still have and ride in those shoes. That bike has been sold. It was a smidge too big for me. Once I realized how much I had fallen in love with cycling and how I wanted to become competitive in multisport, I bought my first tri bike, again off craigslist. It was a used Transition that was pretty well tricked out, it even had a PM. It cost more $$ than I ever imagined me spending on a bicycle. A few years later after not riding my road bike, I decided it was time to upgrade that. I bought another real nice used road bike off craigslist. All was great and moving in the right direction until my crash this year. My Transition suffered no structural damage to the frame. What it did suffer from was a loss in confidence from me. Being that I was all in on the KQ thing, I once again returned to craigslist for a new used tri bike. I found an awesome P5. Being all in, I shrugged off the cost($5000+).

I believe that to KQ in M40-44 you need to have good, modern equipment. You need to have a setup that is fit well and aero. I do have aero skewers. Are they required, no. Do they help, maybe. Are they worth it? That's for the individual to decide. I will say that I made the decision to shelve my disc and use a wheel builder cover for both IM's this year as my P5 came with a ENVE 6.7 wheelset. I ran my Knight 95 up front. After my crash, I bought a new aero helmet and trisuit. I used a UFO chain I got on clearance from the TriSports fire sale. Most importantly of all, I made damn sure that I didn't come up out of the aero bars unless I was going slow enough for it not to matter. I do think equipment matters.

You said:
Here’s a little bit about my best performances so far: 1:09 swim at IM Whistler last year, 5:26 bike at IM Muskoka 2015, 3:46 run at Whistler last year. My best open marathon was 2:49 in 2015, but I could never run well in an IM.

I believe best performances in individual splits may mean a little something, but one can have a huge impact on another. Would you tell us what the full split story of the IM's in 15 and 16 were? A 2:49 is nothing to sneeze at. What AG?

2015 Ironman Muskoka, 10:34 (1:10, 5:26, 3:50), 10th in M40-44;
2016 Ironman Canada, 10:48 (1:09, 5:46, 3:46), 11th in M40-44

If you are 10 lbs lighter than your 2:49 marathon, then 3:30 marathon SHOULD be achievable. It would be interesting to understand what your big swims look like and same with your bike weeks and FTP and what NP you rode at. Not sure if you are over swimming and it is biting you during the tail end of the bike or if you are over biking and it's biting you, or if your energy expenditure/nutritional strategy is not panning out. By the way, I have seen a lot of peers our size (5'6" and 140ish lbs) really underachieve the IM marathon relative to sub 2:50 open marathons. Or maybe that's my excuse, but I've seen lots of us underachieve on the IM run. I am probably the poster boy for my IM runs never getting anywhere close to what should happen based on open marathon, half IM and olympic runs.

In any case based on the splits and background I don't think you are in the camp of someone with a ton of low hanging fruit where you can shave a ton of time with better training and optimizing body fat composition (you don't have 30 lbs to lose). So your path to Kona is becoming relentless on every marginal saving you can get to and minimizing death in IM by small cuts. Your transition times need to be the fastest in your age group, you need to get on the best feet you can get on with a really fast opening 200m of the swim, take every aero gain possible, draft every bigger athlete on the run if you can avoid pushing your own wind on the run and of course gain every aero advantage and Crr advantage that ST gurus can give you. Basically your task is to gain 20x 30-60 seconds all over the race wherever someone else is giving it away....basically the wealthy barber approach to getting faster in racing....nothing magical, just shave time everywhere possible....and picking really hilly courses is to your advantage....just don't bonk coming back from Pemberton next time!

If you can put together slightly faster than your Whistler run with your Muskoka bike and then do the above mentioned savings all over the place during the race, then it feels like you are in the range. Basically every day of your life between now and next year, for everything you do inside and outside sport ask yourself, "How can I do this with less effort, or with the same effort go faster"....it could be something as simple as shopping for groceries, or filling in some admin form at work, or taking every shower faster or putting your shoes on for everything (dress shoes, bike shoes, running shoes, sandals) as fast as possible. Until just doing everything humanly possible faster all day every day becomes mechanical. Then you don't even have to think about this on race day. You just do it.

Overall, I don't think you have a ton of low hanging fruit to take off massive chunks of time. Unless you can take that 1:09 swim down to 59. Maybe that is possible, but it MAY be a massive lift.

Love it Ktri. Great story and commitment. Best of luck with the year ahead. Looking forward to seeing how it goes.

P

Thanks for the death sentence, Dev! :-(

I knew what I lack is structured systematic triathlon specific training leading to all my IM races. The 2:49 open marathon I ran, I trained all winter long very hard with a good plan. But because of life circumstances, I've never followed a plan to prepare any of my IM. My usual weekly training is like 3 - 4 times swim (under an hour each time), some commute rides (25 km one way), some commute runs (10 km one way). And then a long ride (80 - 140 km) or a long run (30 km or so) every other weekend.

If I can squeeze out enough time to put aside for training, and if I can find a good coach to prescribe a specific IM plan, I do believe I can improve a lot on my bike and run a good IM marathon relative to my open marathon.