I have several times...for several reasons. I haven’t walked more than a few steps at water stops in a 70.3 in a while, but with the exception of a couple Ironmans, there’s been some walking in the marathon. Here’s what I think caused it:

- Lack of bike fitness is by far my biggest indicator
- Heat intolerance (train all winter, race IMTX)
- Train on flat terrain (Florida) and race IM Canada, not that Whistler’s run is hilly, but the bike is, so maybe that’s back to lack of bike fitness
- Dehydration (back to heat intolerance)
- Getting mentally broken once I know the days isn’t going well
- And once when I was having a really solid race, thought maybe something great was in the cards, and completely blew myself up at mile 20

Guilty as charged.

I try not to in a 70.3, but it's usually the heat that gets to me, and also probably related to bike fitness.

In my one (first of more) IM, I was just happy to be off the bike in one piece, with plenty of time to complete the race, so was happy to use the run/walk strategy.

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I walk jogged the last 10mi of my Ironman because my legs were cramping to the point of immobilizing me. This is despite being a collegiate runner with more than enough miles going into the race. A very humbling experience I don't want to repeat.

Never until my mid 40s (which is err now) and now seems like there's lots of walking, for various reasons.

I have a problem with gas, bloating, and cramping during runs (in general), and the first few miles of the run this has on occasion slowed me to a walk. It occurs with a wide variety of nutrition and during workouts before which I haven't eaten for many hours, but some nutrition is definitely better tolerated than others.

How about you post a question that makes sense?

Oh indeed i have!
First half: walked around 50 %
Second half: Walked around 25%
Third half: Walked 0 % (not running fast but running all the way, even in some of the depots)

First and only full IM:
Walked through all the aid stations and some more guess 20% maybe, and ran (jogged) the rest.

FOr the first 2: Lack of run training. For the full IM lack of run training /distance.

I plan to run walk a 3:30-40 marathon in my next ironman.

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What's your CdA?

I walked maybe 30mins starting at 27km on my first IM. I was going well until I suddenly got excruciating pain in my arms and sides at about 27km into the run. I tried to keep running but the pain as my body moved with each stride was unbearable. I psyched myself up to continue and then stopped again many times over a couple of kilometers before realising I hadn't had any salt since the bike. I retrieved 2 salt capsules from my pocket and took them. 10mins later the pain was starting to fade. I continued to alternate walking and running for several more kilometers but the walks got shorter and the runs longer until I was running continuously again for the last few kilometers. I think I was picking up speed every kilometer for the last 10km although I was still suffering somewhat. I won't make that mistake again..... I hope.

Yes for all three reasons. At IM Muskoka I bonked in t2 and spend 45 min taking on coke and gatorade to recover. After that it was run walk all the way. At St Croix I got heat exhaustion and had to walk the last 9 miles with brief running intervals.

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They constantly try to escape from the darkness outside and within
Dreaming of systems so perfect that no one will need to be good T.S. Eliot

I've ran well in some and run-walked others. Primary issue is heat and cramping. Secondary issue the past couple of years has been a sensation of my right foot feeling like it is on fire - that is improving thanks to a lot of stretching.

My first 3 IMs I didn't. Got my IM run close to 3 hours. Thought for sure I was gonna break 3 hours on the 4th IM run (Copenhagen) but I just started feeling bad on the bike and the run was just a disaster and I was forced to walk the final 5 miles. Then the 5th IM (Roth) was even worse. I felt completely without energy at the very start of the bike (seriously, at the start). So by the time the run came around, I felt worse than dead. The second half of the "run" consisted of shuffling a mile, then walking a half mile.

I was very well prepared for all but the first of these IMs. Thought I was gonna crush Roth because everything had been going so well up to that point.

I've had some rough 70.3s but none in which I walked except for maybe a few steps

I always tell myself I trained too hard to walk in the run. However, in my only IM, I walked/ran when my hamstrings cramped around mile 16 - 18. Definitely a nutrition issue because I craved salt and once I got a couple handfuls of potato chips in me from the aid station, I was able to run in the last few miles.

Too many people end up walking because they are mentally beaten.

4 IMs and 9 HIMs and I only walked at 2016 IMChoo. Sunny and 97F and the heat just broke me down on the 2nd loop, especially on those hills.

during IM Chattanooga I walked the aid stations starting about mile 10 or 11. It was my first IM and IM Chattanooga run was pretty challenging. I guess you could argue lack of preparation but my training went pretty well.

Once in a half, had serious GI issues and not sure why. Walked, ran and jogged between vomiting/etc... still won my AG. Came off the bike leading in contention... first and only race I've ever thought about quitting or been in the med tent.

May have drank too much, could have been warm temps, could have been using local tap water in my water bottles, maybe a mouth or two of sea water... I just know at my 3 or so I felt a gurgle and it was a sufferfest until the finish line.

Walked off and on second half of the run in last HIM. I had a leg injury leading up to race so I knew there'd be walking or I could DNS. Had zero expectations on results and no real goals.

One of the most fun races I have ever done. Chatted with other people and even ran with someone from here for a bit. Saw someone with ST shorts on so that was a conversation starter.

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"I think I've cracked the code. double letters are cheaters except for perfect squares (a, d, i, p and y). So Leddy isn't a cheater... "

Jan Frodeno won Kona 2015 running a 2:52 where he walked the aid stations. In my last IM, I walked the aid stations and a steep hill on each lap and put up a very good run by my standards. I think people are well served by planning to walk and starting that process early on in the run. If you wait until you NEED to walk, it is probably a bit late.

Why do people break down and walk for a long time? I think a lot of it is mental. For me, words cannot describe how bad I felt the second half of each of my two IM marathons. It is easy for that feeling to crack you mentally. In my last race, I was chasing an aggressive time goal and based on my pacing I knew I was gonna be close at the finish if I kept running my pace... At the halfway mark, had I been 5 minutes slower at the time with that goal out of reach, I would have probably finished 30 minutes slower than I did not having that carrot of the time goal keeping me on the gas.

I established a strategy of running slow/walking fast during the last 10 kms of my only full IM. During that last 10K i was walking 100m for every 300m of running.

Reason : felt like this technique was still pretty fast and would prevent me from having to walk. Doing this while I still had a choice probably made me go much faster than If i had tried running until totally exhausted.

I'm more interested in who has never walked in an IM (aside from pros)

Both of my Irons I did ran 10 then if I needed, I would walk for rest stations.

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2020 Team Zoot MTN

Never done a full IM, and major props to those who do. But to me personally, if I'm walking, it means I am no longer racing. It essentially means my pace is shot, I'm officially dogging it and I did not train properly (or enough). If I'm walking, there is no way my overall time is going to be satisfactory (to me). I'll finish the race, but I'll go home feeling defeated.

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"The first virtue in a soldier is endurance of fatigue; courage is only the second virtue."
- Napoleon Bonaparte

Just depends on your perspective. My first 70.3 I did the usual rookie mistake, overbiked, and blew up on the run after mile 2, eventually alternating walk/run every 0.2 miles. I definitely felt defeated then, even though I actually beat my goal time cutoff.

Subsequent 70.3's I've run the whole thing and felt great, but I was smarter and better trained.

For my (as of now) only full, I planned a run/walk strategy from the beginning, with the goal being for me to run longer and better for the whole race. Basically after every mile I walked for 1 minute, then ran again at my usual pace. Repeated this for the whole race, never had an issue, and had a much better run than many sloggers who ran a slower pace the whole way, or (worse yet) ran until they bonked and had a 10 mile hike. I definitely did not feel defeated, because I followed my plan, and it worked.

Then again, I knew I wasn't "racing" it. This is my hobby, not my job. Even being a competitive guy, I never felt this was a race against anyone but myself. How fast you finish a race is up to you and your training, but how you process that race is solely on you.