The human body will pretty much adapt to anything as long as it's a two way street. It will listen to what you want as long as you listen to what it wants. Follow that and the sky is the limit.

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http://www.sfuelsgolonger.com

This is the key. If you go in with reasonable expectations, they are absolutely both possible.

I did basically that a few years back with the LA Marathon + Wildflower. In retrospect (especially since Wildflower may or may not be back), I probably would have done one or the other (in this case Wildflower). The main thing was that recovery after the marathon was longer than I had planned for and I didn't get much biking in between. Definitely doable, but those six weeks will probably feel pretty short.

You will be fine i'm sure, but I wouldn't do it. Dont expect to be able to gain any meaningful swim/bike fitness between the two events, there just isnt enough time. If you'd be satisfied with whatever fitness you'd have going in, than sure, go for it. I wouldn't spend the money on an event i'm only kinda trained for, even if it's not an A race, but that part is a decision you'll have to make for yourself.

It's easier than doing it the other way around.

What are your expectations for the 70.3? What amount of bike/swim are planning to do during your marathon training? Realistically, you need two full weeks to recover from the marathon, so you aren't going to get any fitness during that period, so you maybe have 3 weeks to a little bit of meaningful training for the 70.3, but realistically its more about mechanics (swim form, getting the cycling feel back) than making any serious gains.

So totally doable, just sort out what your priority is and be realistic.

Is it marathon performance (which means at most 1-2 swim and 1 bike per week before the marathon) or 70.3 performance (in which case your will not be able to run the marathon to your full potential).

I"d say it's hardly ill-advised, and you're still far enough out away from each event to have good races at both races provided that you've been consistently training some with each S/B/R lately...and that you do more than "some swim and cycle training" into the lead up to the marathon.

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Steve Johnson
DARK HORSE TRIATHLON |

Its doable, but you're going to have to prioritize one sort of training (marathon vs 70.3) over the other and designate one as an A race, with the other as bonus.

I've done this exact 6 week turn around, prioritizing marathon training and trying then to switch. Marathon went well. For the 70.3, I did ok in the run, but my swim and bike fitness just wasnt there like I usually expected.

I did my first ever marathon and IM back in 2011 six weeks apart. In hindsight, it was probably dumb to do, as the body takes a long time to recover from a properly raced marathon. I'm always in a lot worse shape after an open marathon than after an IM. Hard to explain unless you've really pushed yourself in a marathon - your legs are smashed, even with pretty solid training. Can you do it? Yes. Should you? Depends - but I guess you aren't treating the 70.3 as an A race, so you'd probably be ok.

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I do this on purpose, and use the marathon as my last supported long run, before running an IM as my A race. I’ve done it for my last 70.3, and 140.6. I plan to do it again this Spring, running a marathon on April 6, and then IM Tulsa on May 23. The key is to not race the marathon, and treat it like a serious long run, if you are planing to race the 70.3 hard. If you plan to race the marathon hard, and then enjoy the 70.3, and accept whatever the outcome is... I don’t see any problem with that either.

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Athlinks / Strava

I think that doing a marathon followed by a 70.3 six weeks later is certainly possible. That said, a lot depends upon your goals, your overall level of training and fitness, and how quickly you recover (related to this is, perhaps, your age). You've said that the 70.3 is not an A race and that's probably god in terms of managing expectations. I do think however, that for the two weeks post marathon, you can do some lower intensity bike and swim training. Then, maybe two weeks after the marathon, you could resume light running.

I am 58 yrs and last year I did IM Chattanooga on 29 Sept (A race) and then 5 weeks later ran the NY Marathon (B race). NY is not the fastest marathon course and had I not done the IM in late Sept, I would have come in under 3 hrs. As it was, I got 3:02 and was still quite pleased.

I've done this twice, Boston one year and London the next. both were PR marathons followed by a 70.3 race about 6-8 weeks later. Running well in the marathons was my early season goal with a mid summer reset on triathlon and then an 'A' race late summer/early fall. So the triathlons were not the early season focus. One race was pretty decent, the other horrendous but that wasnt totally due to the earlier marathon.

As you're looking to do the opposite I think its more than reasonable to train properlly for the marathon, have a decent day and still be working torwards you goal 70.3 race. The major part will be realizing the marathon will not, an cannot be an all out, huge pr type situation. If you dig that deap 6 weeks out you'll take at least 1-1.5 weeks of hobbling, and then spend another week (easily) trying to get yourself back into form for any of the disciplines, By then you're looking at 2.5(ish) weeks of 'training' before its race week and you'll likely already be traveling. So you're killing what is your ideal tri race build up period.

Now, if you run the marathon smart, dont go for it, are smart about pacing, hydration and recovery it can function as some decent run mileage. Is the marathon a lot of hassle? Do you have to travel for it? Ie... are you able to (in a sense) train through it? or will you have to forego swimming/bike for a few days as you undertake the race festivties?

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Taylor Rogers

2024: IM Hamburg

My marathon is in my home city of Southampton so no travelling required. I have quite a modest time goal for the marathon based on my estimate from 10k and half marathon times but will see how training goes. I would be mindful of the upcoming 70.3 which would be in Warsaw.

Its your first marathon?

If so, now much less in the camp of 'manageable'. Apologies if i missed that at the top. You're going to learn a lot about yourself and your body in that race no matter how 'hard' you're going. Getting your body into a quality first attempt is something that takes a lot of care, otherwise you're simply wasting time you could spend prepping for 70.3 distance. You might be totally fine and smash both races (hope you do) but I'd be very careful in training for and then attempting your first marathon ever 6 weeks before an A 70.3 race...

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Taylor Rogers

2024: IM Hamburg

Thanks for the advice. Yes it would be my first marathon. I think what I will do is if I go ahead with the 70.3 I will drop the marathon to a half. If I stick with the marathon as planned I will look at triathlons at a later date.

I plan to do full IM, then a month later marathon...

Will see how that goes... running only focus post IM.

Go all out in both the marathon and HIM, I'd just take it really easy with ALL training for a couple weeks following the marathon.

I would be interested on tips for the opposite. 70.3 and then marathon.

With the replacement for Ironman 70.3 Traverse City falling in mid-September, I noticed I have my a-race for triathlon and a-race for marathon within 4ish weeks. Fortunately my travel will be limited as both are relatively local...but curious how I should tackle the marathon training and 70.3 training.