I'm signed up for Ironman CDA on June 28th and then Ironman Wisconsin Sept. 13th. I know I want to do a solid 70.3 effort somewhere during the season but am not quite sure where to target that race. Would you guys be gunning for a race before the two IM's or can I shoot for a good effort in between? As a side note, I'm a teacher so I like the idea of racing a 70.3 in late July / early August so that I can plan that race around my summer break. Either way, I want to have a good effort without sacrificing performance for the two IM's. What's your advice?
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Re: 70.3 timing for a two IM season [SwiftRunner]
[ In reply to ]
Some time around early or mid May would be best. After CDA, you're going to be trashed for 4 weeks. Then you'll need some more time to build back up and taper back down for Wisconsin, so doing a half in between is probably not such a great idea. Doable? Sure, but if you really wanted to, you could do a 70.3 every weekend.
Re: 70.3 timing for a two IM season [SwiftRunner]
[ In reply to ]
You have tons of time in between IM races and the middle would probably be best. You may recover a bit faster than you think after CDA and could use the half distance race to be a motivator to get to Wisconsin. Having two IM's so far apart, you might find it hard to ramp back up for the second.
I work full time in the classroom as well, had a four IM season, and raced the 70.3 distance to break up training during our summer break. A 70.3 can really be used as a fun way to get in a longer training day.
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New Training/Racing Log - http://www.earthdaykid.com/blog --- Old Training/Racing Log - http://colinlaughery.blogspot.com
I work full time in the classroom as well, had a four IM season, and raced the 70.3 distance to break up training during our summer break. A 70.3 can really be used as a fun way to get in a longer training day.
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New Training/Racing Log - http://www.earthdaykid.com/blog --- Old Training/Racing Log - http://colinlaughery.blogspot.com
In 2013, I did this:
TTT - 5/17ish
IMCDA - 6/23
Olympic - 7/13
Half - 7/20
Olympic - 8/10
Half - 8/18
IMWI - 9/8
I don't think that my IMWI performance was the best I could have done, but it was good enough, and the second half was my best ever, and the first half is my second best ever. The olympics were both sort of meh.
Edit: As colin said, there's a lot of time in there, the first few weeks after CDA will be tough, but as you get further into it you won't even really notice. The key is to give yourself a solid week after IMCDA to recover with very low stress, and then a second week where you are just being active. Then start to build back into the structure.
Depending on what your desired outcomes are for IMCDA vs. IMWI, you could probably just enter a training holding pattern for a flat line performance at IMWI.
If IMWI is the primary race, you could consider going into IMCDA, slightly under training and use it as a training even. You will sacrifice a little bit of performance, but it will be easier to "build" into IMWI. I did this for IMCDA + Kona in 2012, and it worked pretty well, though it was extremely painful to do a full IM with what amounted to fitness for a half.
TTT - 5/17ish
IMCDA - 6/23
Olympic - 7/13
Half - 7/20
Olympic - 8/10
Half - 8/18
IMWI - 9/8
I don't think that my IMWI performance was the best I could have done, but it was good enough, and the second half was my best ever, and the first half is my second best ever. The olympics were both sort of meh.
Edit: As colin said, there's a lot of time in there, the first few weeks after CDA will be tough, but as you get further into it you won't even really notice. The key is to give yourself a solid week after IMCDA to recover with very low stress, and then a second week where you are just being active. Then start to build back into the structure.
Depending on what your desired outcomes are for IMCDA vs. IMWI, you could probably just enter a training holding pattern for a flat line performance at IMWI.
If IMWI is the primary race, you could consider going into IMCDA, slightly under training and use it as a training even. You will sacrifice a little bit of performance, but it will be easier to "build" into IMWI. I did this for IMCDA + Kona in 2012, and it worked pretty well, though it was extremely painful to do a full IM with what amounted to fitness for a half.