sounds like you already know what to do . . . your greatest potential gain is in the run. Work your ass off to drop a few minutes in the swim or maybe gain up to half an hour on the run . . .

you know, point of diminishing returns, cost/benefit, blah, blah, blah, there, take it and run with it (literally)

This is simply an informal observation and I'm sure others may be able to correct me, but a cursory glance of IM results tells me that there is no reason to get out of the water in under 55 minutes. Unless one is a natural born swimmer, those that come out of the water sub-50 rarely cross the finish line first. You still have 112 miles on the bike and 26.2 miles of running to do. Five minutes in the water could cost you 20 minutes or more later on.

Brett

I have done 5 Ironmans and every swim has been in the :58-1:02 range. The difference being some years when I was really swimming well the 58 felt like a nice relaxed warmup and I was able to avoid contact, swim wide and just swim around people whenever I needed to. I probabaly could have gotten in the mix and duked it out and gone :55 but it didnt seem worth it. The years I was skipping alot of days at the pool the 1:02 felt like an all out effort and I was getting kicked scratched, punched the whole way.I think there is a large group of people who want that sub hour number on their results. They are willing to thrash and fight the whole way for it. I think to be around an hour and not use much energy is far better than to go 55 and battle people for every inch of water.

That depends on where your swimming is now. If you are cabable of going out right his minute and swimming sub-1, then put your swimming on maintenance and work on your run. If you aren't, get it up to that leve then maintain it.


PS you could drop 5 minutes off your bike if you switch away from campagnono to some real gears like shimano 10 speed.

Going from 01:05:00 to 50:00 is a BIG drop. To train that hard, how much will it cost you in the other two events (ie... recovery etc...). Then again, if you can dream it, you can do it.

Please start your swim on the right side of the starting line. I want to draft you. My swim goal for IMPL is also sub 1 hour. I went 1:10:00 last year, and that was a really conservative effort for me given it was my 1st Ironman and I wanted to finish. If I had know that I would blister as bad as I did on the run (wet feet... happens every time), I would have gone a lot faster in the swim and on the bike. Maybe I'll see you up there. I ride the same bike (Softride Rocket) as you, with the exception that I have Shimano components (life is good in the Honda Shop)

Good Luck,

Joel

work on the run. going from 58 to 50 would take some big efforts. the only reason i could see doing it is that it is fun to be at the very front of the race for a bit. if you are trying to qualify for kona, then definitely focus on the run.

i am in a similar boat as you as far as swimming and running. swam 56 and change at im cda last year on basically two swims a week, but haven't gotten the running part down anywhere near as well. to cut that extra 6 minutes off i think would require twice as much swimming and probably all with masters classes. whereas i think i could cut off 30-45 minutes off my run with a little extra work there and better nutrition.

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f/k/a mclamb6

Going to agree with the others and say leave the swim where it is- maintain it while you work on the run.

And what are you're transition times like?

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"People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world."