0,77 is a very elite level of riding. you need to have a proven track record of fast running to aim at that kind of power. For exemple, Ukinny, another slowtwitch that will be racing at IMLO as ran some low 3:0x run off the bike. I wont be allowing him much more than .75 and even there, that s almost too high if the day turns out to be hot

try .70-72 But you have lots of options of gain ahead of you. 10-15h is definitely workable with to get faster and keep the family happy

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

I think this is often a good way, especially if you started triathlon right away with long distance. It was true for me, I was frustrated because I did not understand why my bike was so slow. I finally started to build in training for shorter distances on the bike, and got faster on the shorter distances.
The fast people on the LD are always fast on the short distances too!

For me it was a bit different than for the OP though, because he seems to have the problems with running whereas I had it with biking.

Of course, if you come from the shorter distances and are competitive there, the "only" thing you have to di is build on that the long distance training.

I'm surprised no one has said it, IMMD is the race to easily go sub 10. Now if your goal is to qualify for Kona that's a different animal. I suck on the bike and had a crappy run at IMMD and went under 10. It's a flat/fast course even with the wind on the bike and is easier than IMAZ as I've done both. Of course you need to get lucky with weather.

As most have said though, your run needs improvement and when it comes to improving that's usually one of the easier ones to grab chunks of time. The problem with IM runs is there are so many variables that take time to understand and learn what works for you.

Perhaps this winter do a big run block and focus on getting to a point where 7:45 pace seems like a CAKE walk all the time. I find that my "cruise" easy pace is my IM pace.

Good luck...

More intervals man , you need to train the run smarter not more volume. work more on your threshold/Z4/5 interval work. get some Physiological testing and see what your limiters are, set those HR zones specific for you.

Good luck

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Brian Coughlan:Physiotherapist:innovationphysio.com:HackTriathlete

Kono, here's my advice based on my background.

I went 10:04 in my first IM, 10:01:59 in my second IM (2015 Kona) and finally broke 10 at IM South Africa in 2016. That race was far from perfect (lost my nutrition on the bike and seriously bonked on the second loop) but I was able to gather my s*$@ together and finish strong enough on the run to break the mark by a grand total of 23 seconds.

How?
First...I swim 52-56..this is a huge time cushion that most guys would love to have, I know. Swimming is my thing, and so I go hard. But despite going hard, I am very sure that I come out of the water fresher than most. Lesson here: What is your strength? Use that to its best advantage. (Why do I have to be a swimmer and not a runner? :) )

Bike
I am 75kg, 180cm tall, and my FTP ranges from 300-320 in the season. This lets me to comfortably pedal a 5:15 bike split AND focus on my nutrition. I switched to an all liquid strategy and that has paid HUGE dividends for me on how I feel both on the bike and into the run. To get my FTP up, I embraced my trainer. HARD intervals, grueling 1 or 2 hour sessions when time constrained, and long, HARD ride on the weekend followed by a short run. These have been the keys to increasing my power and my run off the bike. I think you need to find a way to increase your FTP, and the intervals are the way I went about accomplishing the same thing.

Run
Two things have helped me here.
SPEED...my 5km time went from 19:40 to 17 minutes. (Yes, not blazing fast, but i'm 42, and only run for five years.) Also on 10km efforts and all the way up to being able to hold my max pace for an hour on the track. This has made running at my IM pace feel a LOT more comfortable, giving me more confidence in my pacing in the early stages of the run.
LONG, progressive runs. 20-30km efforts. Really work on the last 10km..running fast while tired has really helped me. As has running hills...it doesn't seem to make me faster, but I feel like I have more power in my legs towards the end of an IM run when the going gets tough.

And smiling during the race, not thinking just about the clock...keeps you positive and keeps you moving forward fast!

Hi Darren
Well done - I actually think you should be a lot quicker
That swim is a real weapon; as long as you are aero 320 FTP should be nearer 5 hrs (esp as you will be around quick cyclists)
And 17min for 5km is quick....
I would think sub 9.30 is easily attainable for you?

Just on the surface for what is worth, need to work on 5hr power and raising FTP. 10-15hrs per week in my own case was not enough as I have less talent than most, so not make this myself N=1 as I hate doing that.
Very similar to you, I am 46, 5'9", 155-160lbs, but with FTP 310W, 5hr power from huge number of files 225-235W to run after.
2014 IMCDA 10:33, 2015 IMCDA 10:27, 2016 IMAZ 9:57.
IMAZ was 1:00/5:05/3:42, carried symptoms of athletic pubalgia entire prep cycle, tore hip labrum during the run at mile 16. Still pulled off that run in the end but way under potential.
I fear that unless you can make some specificity improvements to your current prep, likely answer will be in more. In which case, just speculating based on your post, more cycling and more specific to IM cycling. It is all about durability and strength to sustain watts over 5hrs, fuel it well than give yourself a chance for the run. If cycling is low hanging fruit in this case, you are likely to see improvements on the run off the bike as well.
Be smart, keep at it and don't back down.

You probably bike too hard. Ease up on the bike portion.
Good luck.

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Looking like a color blind super hero!
Damn triathlon.

How did Louisville turn out for you? Where are you mentally now?

Bespoke, to resurrect an old post that I didn't see before, you are so right. All my training partners and coaches who have looked at my data (but aren't my coaches) agree with your estimate. I just haven't been able to put it together on race day.

I probably need a coach. And yes...I'm curious too how the OP made out in his efforts!

I tend to agree with Bespoke. Probably you could go faster especially given your swim cushion. However, given the size of your engine (a bit over 4W per kilo) and your 17 min 5K speed, I am not sure that 52 min swim is as easy as it feels for you. Yes, your technique is clearly awesome but there is an kilojoule/TSS cost to swimming that fast. Sure the slower guys may spend more time in the water going slower, but they are not pulling as much water per stroke (propulsion per stroke) and yes, your streamline (hydrodynamic aeroness is crazy awesome), but that does not negate how much water you must be pulling....so you may be burning more matches on the swim leg relative to the 62 min guy who is soft stroking relative to you and in a draft with 50 people. That person may exit the swim 10 min behind you, but have spent less kilojoules during the swim, drafting all those people AND he's in the massive draftfest group for the first 90K and before you know it, that guy has caught up with you halfway through the bike using way less energy (lots of it due to the proximity tow in the swim and bike part 1). So starting bike part 2, you might suddenly have all these guys caught up with you who did way less work essentially before the real racing even starts.

In short, at an age group level you may be having the curse of the really good swimmer. In the pros, it is the opposite.....all the good pros swim fast and there are some that get gapped and have to ITT it (ex Sanders till this year). In the age group world, the really good swimmers are pulling water solo and biking solo in the wind doing an ITT while the 62 min crowd is doing the swim and bike in Tour De France mode.

All that to say, between you perhaps blowing through more matches on the swim and being solo on the bike, a lot of poor swimming guys end up catching up with you and beating you. My 2 cents worth from 180 degrees of longitude away but knowing what happens in some of these IM races.

Louisville turned out disappointing.

swim: 1:07
bike: 5:26 on 70% IF.
run: 4:56 :/

In short, things were going as planned until the end of the bike. Started developing some stomach issues that I never was able to overcome. Walk started at 13 miles into the run from what i remember of the day.
I was disappointed, but mentally feel more motivated moving forward.
Since then, I've got a coach and am confident in him to get me to my goal.

Paul, you are SOOOOOOO right on the feeling of being out alone on the bike after a turn back and watching a pack chasing me down. Sucks. But I'd rather race clean, so I just ride to my power numbers and if they catch me, they catch me. Sometimes I get lucky and will grab onto a few female pros who are riding my pace and we can race legal and help each other. Then I get to watch them destroy 10km into the run :D

I've thought a lot about my swim pace too and tried out a few different speeds in training. The weird thing about how I swim is that if I go all out on 3800m, I swim 47:50 wetsuit LCM open turns, HR 165BPM. At 52 minutes, my HR hits 155 at about 900m and stays there till 3800. And I often do 10000m in the pool...and my pace stays at 1:23/100LCM (garmin strokes at 22 per 50m) until about 8500m when I tail off to 1:27(same strokes per length, 22, edges up to 23, just slower stroke rate..which I can hold till about 12500m (Then i said enough is enough and stopped swimming!)

The last 2 IMs I did I made a very strong effort to not push the pace swimming after the first 300m when I want to get free of the pack. I suck a drafting in the water as much as the bike, and usually it just slows me down as the guy in front likely doesn't swim at the same metronomic pace I tend to keep. Still came out with the same swim time. hahahah.

I'm incorporating strength training...I think it's my core that lets me down when I start the run fatigued. And finding lots of love in the Taipei hills for strength work. My friends also want me to include more speed work....but I've hurt myself a couple of times this way so I'm a little cautious on it.

And...Zwift has been a revelation....my 2 hour trainer sessions the past 2 months have been 50watts higher than my BEST trainer sessions without it. It probably tells me I just need someone to race on the run and I'd go a lot better. But I'm at the part of the curve where the guys faster than me are a lot faster and the guys slower are slower.

I'm not so sure, i doubt many would be running faster than 17 for 5k.

I know a guy who went 9;08 at IM WA and I'm fairly certain he's never run faster than 17 for 5k

You're the same height, weight as me, my FTP is about 10W more.

My last few IM I swam 1:03 - 1:07

My open marathon PB is 3:13.

So our stats are really similar!!!

The difference is I'm training for an IM in July, and my hope is sub 11.

Looking at your data, I think an IF of 0.75 on the bike is much too hard and is damaging your run.

I don't mean to sound negative, but looking at you results so far, I think with that swim speed and FTP, sub 10 might be out of reach. (speaking also for myself)

If I'm very wrong, then that's good, as I also have a new goal to aim for :)

But imho, results like 10:19 are fantastic results.