Long time lurker and first time poster here.
I raced Kona in 2017. It didn't really go to plan and I left with a strong desire to race there again. However, I stepped away from triathlon this year and trained for two marathons instead. I ran 2:26:21 in the second one, which was a sizable improvement on my previous best time. While I'd ran stand alone marathons before, I seldom had them as an A-goal and never completed two consecutive marathon training cycles in a single year. I've no doubt this was factor in how well I ran in the second marathon. It was my intention to get back to racing Ironman in 2019, and I've already signed up for Ironman Austria, where I hope I can qualify for Kona next October. Now though, I'm wondering would I be better off sticking with marathons for the foreseeable future. The dream would be to go sub 2:20 one day. This might very well be beyond me, but as I'm turning 38 at the end of the month, I think I'm running out of years in which to attempt it. If it makes any difference, I think a sub 2:20 marathon would be better than anything I could potentially do in Ironman. Then at the same time, if I'm back in Kona, I'd like it to be during my peak years.
I assume the best way to capitalise on my marathon performance would be to go straight back to marathon running, and further postpone my return to Ironman.
I think after one more trip to Kona, I'd have had my fill of triathlon and I would be happy to solely concentrate on marathon running. As things stand, I plan to give running a few years focus in my early forties anyway. But would taking a year out of running at this point harm my chances of reaching my potential?
I raced Kona in 2017. It didn't really go to plan and I left with a strong desire to race there again. However, I stepped away from triathlon this year and trained for two marathons instead. I ran 2:26:21 in the second one, which was a sizable improvement on my previous best time. While I'd ran stand alone marathons before, I seldom had them as an A-goal and never completed two consecutive marathon training cycles in a single year. I've no doubt this was factor in how well I ran in the second marathon. It was my intention to get back to racing Ironman in 2019, and I've already signed up for Ironman Austria, where I hope I can qualify for Kona next October. Now though, I'm wondering would I be better off sticking with marathons for the foreseeable future. The dream would be to go sub 2:20 one day. This might very well be beyond me, but as I'm turning 38 at the end of the month, I think I'm running out of years in which to attempt it. If it makes any difference, I think a sub 2:20 marathon would be better than anything I could potentially do in Ironman. Then at the same time, if I'm back in Kona, I'd like it to be during my peak years.
I assume the best way to capitalise on my marathon performance would be to go straight back to marathon running, and further postpone my return to Ironman.
I think after one more trip to Kona, I'd have had my fill of triathlon and I would be happy to solely concentrate on marathon running. As things stand, I plan to give running a few years focus in my early forties anyway. But would taking a year out of running at this point harm my chances of reaching my potential?