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How long after full IM did you feel ready for a 70.3
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I realize this is a highly individualized question, but how long AFTER racing a full IM would you feel ready to properly race a 70.3?


I'm trying to sort out my mess of a 2021 season with all these race deferrals. At present it looks like my season would be Chatty 70.3 May, Lake Placid 140.6 July 25, Maine 70.3 Aug 29 with maybe a couple OLY and/or running events sprinkled in there.

Is doing the Maine 70.3 a month after Lake Placid too aggressive? Lake Placid would be my third IM. Aiming for something in the 11 hour range. My 70.3 times last year were around 5:15 and I've gotten A LOT faster this year so think cracking sub-5 for the 70.3s is very doable.

In past IM's, I've found I get the post-IM blues pretty hard, especially in 2018 when I underperformed my and didn't have any other races on the calendar. But in the past I was playing it conservative as I do tend to be somewhat injury/sickness prone and have a relatively stressful life (high stress job, 2 year old son, etc).
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Re: How long after full IM did you feel ready for a 70.3 [wintershade] [ In reply to ]
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wintershade wrote:
I realize this is a highly individualized question, but how long AFTER racing a full IM would you feel ready to properly race a 70.3?


I'm trying to sort out my mess of a 2021 season with all these race deferrals. At present it looks like my season would be Chatty 70.3 May, Lake Placid 140.6 July 25, Maine 70.3 Aug 29 with maybe a couple OLY and/or running events sprinkled in there.

Is doing the Maine 70.3 a month after Lake Placid too aggressive? Lake Placid would be my third IM. Aiming for something in the 11 hour range. My 70.3 times last year were around 5:15 and I've gotten A LOT faster this year so think cracking sub-5 for the 70.3s is very doable.

In past IM's, I've found I get the post-IM blues pretty hard, especially in 2018 when I underperformed my and didn't have any other races on the calendar. But in the past I was playing it conservative as I do tend to be somewhat injury/sickness prone and have a relatively stressful life (high stress job, 2 year old son, etc).

Depends on your goals for Maine. As long as you don’t have high expectations it would be fine. I typically feel subpar an IM for 1-2weeks. If I took it easy for 2 weeks, 7-10 decent days week and then 1/2 week taper I would expect to lose fitness but have a decent race but not a PR. The main thing you’re missing is significant 70.3 training intensity.
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Re: How long after full IM did you feel ready for a 70.3 [wintershade] [ In reply to ]
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A month is plenty of time IMO. In fact, I think you can also "use up" some of that Ironman fitness to race well for a while after an IM. I PR'd my olympic distance a few years ago 3 weeks after an IM. I've raced a 70.3 two weeks after twice and that's doable, but definitely slightly less than optimal. Swim and bike are typically still good but the run isn't real quick.

A lot of the recovery process is the mental fatigue from training for the IM, not the event itself.

Take a couple down weeks post-IM. Use movement as therapy and recovery, not for training. Sleep well, do your mobility and soft tissue work. Do a light week of exercise, then a light taper and you'll be good to go!

Mark Saroni
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Re: How long after full IM did you feel ready for a 70.3 [Mark S] [ In reply to ]
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Mark S wrote:
A lot of the recovery process is the mental fatigue from training for the IM, not the event itself.

This would be my problem. I usually don't even want to think about triathlon for 2-3wks after a full. YMMV.

Dimond Bikes Superfan
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Re: How long after full IM did you feel ready for a 70.3 [wintershade] [ In reply to ]
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The only time I've ever done it was in 2013. The goal had been a KQ at Tremblant (missed by 7 sec), so I then decided to drive 13 hours from the Boston area to Ontario to do Muskoka 70.3 to try qualifying for the 2014 70.3 WC. I took an easy week or so after the IM, then had a few good workouts over ten days before 5 or so taper days into the race. Other than sleeping through my alarm and barely making to the swim start, I feel I had a decent race and got my qualifying spot. My watts and run pace were definitely not what they'd have been if I was just focusing on 70.3, but the IM fitness definitely helped make the day pretty easy to get through.

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Re: How long after full IM did you feel ready for a 70.3 [wintershade] [ In reply to ]
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I've found in the past its been about 4 weeks to be 'fully back on it' after an IM.
I'm very MOP at best and my quads take a beating on the run as I'm no skinny runt.
After 2 weeks... I reckon I'm back at about 70% if I go for a long bike ride (I've done a hilly 90-100 mile ride 2 weeks after an IM and I think I started about 70% power, but finished on about 40%).
After 3 weeks I'm nearly, but not quite fully recovered.
I reckon at 4 weeks I'm good to go again fully.
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