I'm going to offer a different take on this.

At some point we all have to give up racing.

Maybe it's time to think about something else besides IM and sports that don't involve running.

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Brian Stover USAT LII
Accelerate3 Coaching
Insta

At last years IM Western Australia they offered an Aquabike option for the 70.3 distance. It was popular with people who were not able to run anymore or had injuries.

Maybe this is one of the reasons I've never done an IM, and am not planning to for the foreseeable future.

The thought of having to walk for 7 hours after a 5+-hour bike is dreadful. Not even a real ego boost for finishing. Not worth the half-baked bragging rights among people unfamiliar with triathlon. Me, at least I could kid myself about being semi-prepared and maybe doing a 4-hour marathon. The OP? Not so much.

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"FTP is a bit 2015, don't you think?" - Gustav Iden

you have plenty of time to heal the injury and get back to running

I assume you are going to test this hypothesis by doing at least one other tri this summer?

I did pretty much this 15 years ago. Wasn't my first IM, but was a big overseas one at far side of the world timed with a slightly delayed 5 week honeymoon. So all up kinda once in a life stuff. I knackered my back carrying too many transition racks at the end of the last race of the season, which I ended up getting to the start line having swum in a pool a bit, having done a fair few trainer rides, but not having ridden my race bike outside for 9 months until the wednesday before the race, and having run four x 10km on treadmill.

Bike was hell as my back was agony for second half, and I was literally timing 30s blocks down on tri bars, sat up on hoods and 30s upright holding onto arm pads. Run was interesting, and I maybe did use wrong strategy, a run walk from start would possibly have been better knowing then what I know now. But all I knew of my running was I could run 10km at that time in 55mins relatively comfortably. So, I went off and ran first 10km at m 10km treadmill pace, fine. Second 10km got a bit grim. And from there it was mainly strong walking (actually faster than some runners up the hills) for a 14.5 hour finish. Slowest race by a mile, but actually the one I've enjoyed the most. Zero pressure at all, lots of chance to chat/thank/joke with the race volunteers, spectators.

And now that medal hangs off the handlebar a bike on the rack with the rest of the medals, there's no sticker saying '+2.5 hours' or asterisk painted on it saying 'didn't run all 42, walked a bit'.


The other side of the coin is I was in best shape of my life heading into my A race in 2020. Training had gone really well, and we (coach and I) were confident of achieving a 'reach goal' we'd set after the race the year before. 10 days before in Pilates, with no previous history, doing nothing I do something to my upper back. Long story short, I throw kitchen sink at it, think it'll be a DNS but manage to get to swim start expecting to DNF the bike, but overnight miracle and I get through that and am still near race plan. Start running and within yards it goes to shit. Painkillers have fecked my stomach and nutrition plan, and the back locks. But I've still 11 hours to go before cut off, and I've paid for the food at the support stations, so I'm no fool and think I'll literally stagger myself round. Big lurch. Needed to do some odd shuffle away from the medical director walking after me at one aid station having seen me sway in, but I get around the corner before next hurl. Get to finish after a run +2 hours over the plan. And 2 years later I'm only just back to being able to run up to 3km at at time every other day. I managed to completely toast my body full FUBAR by doing that instead of deferring. I was really really dumb not slightly brave.

I have run over 500km in the last 10 weeks doing a ton of 10-15 min runs (often twice per day after swim, before run, before/after XC ski). I barely have one "real run per week" (of 8-12 km in one shot). Having said that, it is hard to know what amount gets in the way of the healing process or not, and a lot of hiking and walking would be good.

But part of the problem may be all the riding in the aero position shortening hip flexors and tight glutes etc. So biking may be pain free, but causing pain off the bike.

I'd go with a ton of swim, cut back on biking for a while, jog short and slow, lots of hiking, some elliptical and then reassess in a few months. Bike fitness if overrated. If you have cardio from say 10 hrs of swimming per week and doing 3 hrs riding, and bunch of jogs and hikes, that may be enough to get rolling for the final 4 months, but with no run build....just a bike build.

I am in the minority here, but I will just say this is a bad idea.
You don't have a diagnosis for your hip pain and the chances are that you will do a lot more harm trying to do an IM with that strategy.
You say doing hardly any running in the next 6 months to given your hips time to rest and heal, but rest and heal from what??
I am a doctor, and doctors tend to be the worst patients out there. I have managed to do 4 good stress fractures to myself, 2 of which were particularly nasty. You really need to get a diagnosis first and not even think about IM at the moment until you have a diagnosis and therefore something to guide treatment, rehab and whether you can return to running.
As Alex has mentioned, you need that impact related activity to help with bone density, so all this time away from impact related work will also be decreasing your bone density, hence why you need a gradual and balanced return to running, overseen by a good PT etc.
Many people have walked the marathon in an IM as their strategy, each to their own, but honestly you need to get assessed and scanned and figure out what is going on before making firm plans for the IM. By all means keep up the swim and riding and some water running as well if you can, but the differential diagnosis for this is broad and you need to have it seen to properly.

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Giving up running would be super hard. I fear that.

I could give up biking or swimming no problem, but running is a reset on all my stress meters.

Even if I lived in hiking heaven I don't think I could use hiking as a true running substitute.

The hardest things to give up in my life:
Dogs
Running
Sugar
Cheese

Assuming I still could hold a job I think I could give up the internet. Lack of cellphones would be hard, but okay as long as I didn't have to travel and need a map.

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Swim - Bike - Run the rest is just clothing changes.

Need to give yourself at least 6.5 hours for the run leg.

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Washed up footy player turned Triathlete.

I used to think the same way about running until I was forced to give it up for 4.5 years and could barely walk properly, forget about running. That's when I really got into swimming (swam 1200km per year for 4 years then two covid19 years of 700km plus with lockdowns).

Now I could care less if I can't run at some point in the future, as long as I could swim. If I could not swim and had to settle for running, I'll take it, but I'd rather if I have to pick between swim and running to give up, I would leave running before swimming !

I grew up as a track guy so I get the "not wanting to give up running part". As fate would have it I gradually became able to run again and put down a couple of years in a row of 2600km+ per year (basically 50km per week average....not huge, but enough to get the running fix and do any races half IM and shorter).

I was on a similar situation and decided to make it a self made aquabike...was able to PR on my Iron swim and bike and the registration fee did not go to waste. Better to play it safe and not perpetuate the injury. In this context DNF means Did-Not-Fuck it Off jaja
One thing I discovered is how much more volume and frequency your body can assimilate and recover from when the run is not there...