I love how on this site you guys love to crunch the numbers. I try talking stats with ppl IRL and otherwise and they just don't care.

I have some numbers you can chew on...

I'm 39, 6' 1", 88.5kg max HR 200, HM 1:19

Kinetic Rock and Roll Trainer. Never used power outside.

Coming up on 2 years of consistent training on top of lifetime of above average fitness.

-Dec 1, 2018: 5.5 months ago got hooked up on Zwift. Three days in completed first ever FTP test at 308. (20 min)

-Dec 18, 2018: made hard KOM attempt and bumped FTP to 312 (20 min within workout)

-Jan 5, 2019: Bumped FTP up to 330 in Tour Du Zwift race as per Zwift Power info (whole race avg)

-Jan 21, 2019: Bumped FTP up to 340 in TDZ race as per ZP info (whole race avg)

-Mar 18, 2019: Made hard effort on ADZ and new PR of 50:09
(bummed because ZP does not give info outside of race but I know I went hard)

-May 7, 2019: Made hard effort on Epic KOM, 22:43, new FTP bumped to 348 (20 min at 367 within workout)
Puts me right at cusp of 4w/kg (3.95 so close!)


22 weeks of training since having Zwift :

-930 miles on Zwift plus 320 outside. (1250 miles/22 weeks = 56 miles a week on bike) gained 40 watts

In conjunction with running and bike training with all three combined weekly average of 5.25 hours. (2-14 hour weeks)

I smoke weed and drink beer everyday, this may or may not help.

[

what are your half ironman times/speed on the bike/run? on what course? I hear power numbers bandied about on this site and dont put much thought into them unless its backed up with how fast they actually are. Thats not having a go or anything, just curious.

I've never done any IM. Did one of these 'extreme triathlons' last summer but those numbers all over the place.

2.7 cold water swim 1:20
Bike 115 miles with 4500 vert, 6:20 (bought used road bike 2 weeks prior)....

Is that 4500ft?
If so, that's a pretty average bike leg. Less elevation than I remember from Austria and that's not considered a particularly tough bike leg. Considering your training power figures 6:20 seems relatively slow, but then FTP estimates based on shorter training sessions doesn't tell you everything about your ability to produce power and maintain a good position over long periods. It doesn't tell you anything about your ability to ride after the swim, or how much you were holding back for the run. Nor, does it indicate what the weather or your aerodynamics and tyre choice were like for that race.

Cool good to know, I really had no idea about pacing, did it without HR monitor or power meter. Did it on a road bike I bought 2 weeks prior having never been a road bike before that. (1000's of hours on a DH bike though lol)

I do know that I punched too hard on climbs and took too many breaks (6). I would pass a group of people, then they would pass me while I was stopped and was eating and then I would pass them again, several times over. Real up and down effort. Then 3 miles into run portion while still on flat terrain, the wheels fell completely off. Sad bonk time for many hours thereafter.

I'm hoping this year to take an hour off the bike time with better tactics and fitness and then I guess hang on for dear life on the run again...? But that is generally seen as bad tactic. Maybe take 30 min off bike and save it for the run...?

Holy smokes, so many variables!

I was thinking sometime in the next week to do a hard TT effort on a half IM stretch of highway. Gotta get some base numbers to work off of.

Edit: I just looked back at my training log and in the 10 weeks prior to race I logged 350 miles. Lots of 25 mile days. Longest in that period was 48. Longest ever before that was about 1998 when I did 52.

Dang I need to get some volume up.

And I disagree.

I HAVE coached people from 44min swims to 32mins in 7 weeks.

I HAVE improved my running. Just from running properly and doing a progressively longer long run once a week.

There WILL be an 80:20 rule for cycling. That will see me do sub 90mins. But because you all find it EASY. you dont realize, its a simeple technique or layer of muscle. I will find it.

Not asked of me, but 255w average gave me a 2:20 HIM split (flat course good surface) where I ran a 1:42, albeit that course included 6km of trail and 2 sets of stairs. 225w average for IMNZ which is hilly and crappy chipseal gave me a 5:20 split. Had gastric issues in final 10km but up to that on for a 3:45 run split. 85kg on race days, down from 109kg just over a year earlier. 1.92cm tall. No attempt at all to be aero so sky high resistance.

IMNZ chipseal is harsh. And it's usually windy. 5:20 is a good time. But I would not call it a hilly course.

No value in a 6 hour 70.3 for me. Might as well not do it.

Makes me remember a ride with a friend of mine I have known for 30 years. We met bmx racing at the track when we were kids. We have ridden bikes forever. We were at the top of a climb on a road ride and we saw a tremendous view. We stopped, soaked it in for about 5 min as we talked a bit. He said- I wish more people rode bikes and realized getting in shape is a side effect, but not really why you do it. I agreed.

It’s a lifetime love my man. I wouldn’t think of not doing a half Ironman and calling it a waste of time if I did it in 6 hrs. Hell, now I do half Ironman races just to get a race in before Ironman and I do the entire half at IM pace and just enjoy it. Time doesn’t even matter to me, I just want to know how I feel at the finish line as a guide for the upcoming full IM.

I need a goal unattainable.

5 is easily attainable.

Just not by you with the amount of effort you are prepared to put into training. #harshbutfair

I have some clients who say that nothing under a million is worth it for them... I could say enjoy the 400k, but that's not their goal and its wrong of me to put me lens on them without permission.

I just see no value in a 6. I wouldn't train anywhere enough. I need a goal unattainable.

I'm guessing these clients already have plenty money and it's about prioritisation of resources. It's also business. Plus I don't care what they think. If they're irrational/dishonest/childish/immoral or otherwise about how they assign value, that doesn't have any bearing on how I see things.
Regardless, this analogy is not appropriate to the value you place on time in a race, unless you are racing for money and the payback on a 6hr+ time isn't great enough for you. The only reason to race is because you want to. You decide on the goal. There is no objective value in a 6hr 70.3 race time, or any faster time, unless you're a pro. The fact you've selected a time way above your ability and are being extremely dismissive of performances you cannot achieve yourself come across as very naive and childish IMO. In addition your language in the thread has been quite macho and hyperbolic which I find makes it very hard to take you seriously. It comes across as either insincere or foolish. I reckon this is why you are getting the responses you are, and I think they're justified..

If you beat 6hrs will you then say any improvement that doesn't beat 5hrs is similarly worthless? This is an unrealistic approach to racing (and life).

I'm guessing these clients already have plenty money and it's about prioritisation of resources. It's also business. Plus I don't care what they think. If they're irrational/dishonest/childish/immoral or otherwise about how they assign value, that doesn't have any bearing on how I see things.
Regardless, this analogy is not appropriate to the value you place on time in a race, unless you are racing for money and the payback on a 6hr+ time isn't great enough for you. The only reason to race is because you want to. You decide on the goal. There is no objective value in a 6hr 70.3 race time, or any faster time, unless you're a pro. The fact you've selected a time way above your ability and are being extremely dismissive of performances you cannot achieve yourself come across as very naive and childish IMO. In addition your language in the thread has been quite macho and hyperbolic which I find makes it very hard to take you seriously. It comes across as either insincere or foolish. I reckon this is why you are getting the responses you are, and I think they're justified..

If you beat 6hrs will you then say any improvement that doesn't beat 5hrs is similarly worthless? This is an unrealistic approach to racing (and life).

....It is interesting that you swing between agreeing with me and back to your way or the high way....

....If there was absolute answers, we wouldn't need to gather other people's view and test them.

....I say again. It is irrelevant what you value to me and I to you. I understand what you are saying but you won't just accept that for me... A 6 won't make me happy and I'm not going to do something that doesn't make me happy.

....Value is not money.

It is interesting that you swing between agreeing with me and back to your way or the high way. If there was absolute answers, we wouldn't need to gather other people's view and test them.

I say again. It is irrelevant what you value to me and I to you. I understand what you are saying but you won't just accept that for me... A 6 won't make me happy and I'm not going to do something that doesn't make me happy.

Value is not money.

7 hours last week
8 hours this week.

It won't be the effort I've put in.

Makes me remember a ride with a friend of mine I have known for 30 years. We met bmx racing at the track when we were kids. We have ridden bikes forever. We were at the top of a climb on a road ride and we saw a tremendous view. We stopped, soaked it in for about 5 min as we talked a bit. He said- I wish more people rode bikes and realized getting in shape is a side effect, but not really why you do it. I agreed.

It’s a lifetime love my man. I wouldn’t think of not doing a half Ironman and calling it a waste of time if I did it in 6 hrs. Hell, now I do half Ironman races just to get a race in before Ironman and I do the entire half at IM pace and just enjoy it. Time doesn’t even matter to me, I just want to know how I feel at the finish line as a guide for the upcoming full IM.

Oh man, I couldn't agree with you more. I try and do this almost every long ride. Find a beautiful view, stop for a few minutes, have a chat/coffee/snack for 15 minutes. It's not going to take anything out of my training if the ride is 4+ hrs long, and man biking has brought me to some beautiful places!
The same on runs over 15kms, although there the stops are usually a much shorter.

The triathlon journey for me has been a 3 year process till I got to my first HIM this year. And while I'm looking forward to the races, it's the training and friends that I made along the way that I enjoy most.
I'm here 50% just to be outside (this includes running in the Canadian winter), 30% stress relief from my day job as a trader, and 20% for results in a race. Getting fit just happened along the way. If I don't hit my target times, I'll at least be 80% happy :)

Completely understand that others have different priorities, and that is their prerogative. It allows me to enjoy the 360 days of the year that I'm training, as much as the 5 days a year that I'm racing.