Did a 70.3 this time last year. Took some time off after. Started marathon specific training in January of this year. Raced a few weeks ago (3:15). Run fitness is good right now, although has decreased in the last few weeks a bit. Since the marathon I’ve been getting back on the bike, in the pool, and in the gym. I’ve hit 10 hours of training in the last two weeks and am feeling good, although the bike/swim fitness is definitely low. Im eyeing a full IM for my next race, trying to figure out when I want to do it. I was thinking IM Arizona in November since my work schedule next year is going to be tricky.
Do you guys think 4 months is enough to get the bike and swim fitness up to par?
What are your goals? The answer sort of depends on that. I think you can have a solid performance on 4 months coming off a marathon block.
A few years ago I did an IM coming off a marathon block. I think I had 5 months in between and honestly feel like it was a bit too much time.
Since you have a good running base don’t be afraid to cut back the running a lot to add more bike mileage. In IM racing, your bike fitness is a huge predictor of marathon success. Plenty of folks have great IM marathon results only running 3x a week and peaking at mileages in the 30s or low 40s. It took me a while to get this through my thick head coming of pure marathon training Would not be afraid to drop mileage down over the next 2 months to 20 miles a week so you can do a bike-focused block.
Definitely doable. IM AZ is also a good race – swim in cool water with 0 chop, a relatively flat bike course for an IM, and a pancake flat run. Usually low humidity & a high in the 70s in the afternoon (50s at the start, 60s on the bike).
Your 1:40 70.3 run seems to perfectly align with your 3:15 open marathon (guessing something in the low-1:30s for an open half). So that’s encouraging that you can run to your potential at the half distance. I would do 2 months of base building for the swim/bike. Let the run mileage come down a little. Something around 50k/week is ok, even a little less depending on what you’re used to. Then dive into a 2 month specific block for the 140.6. You’ll be able to get ready for a good race.
Did a 70.3 this time last year. Took some time off after. Started marathon specific training in January of this year. Raced a few weeks ago (3:15). Run fitness is good right now, although has decreased in the last few weeks a bit. Since the marathon I’ve been getting back on the bike, in the pool, and in the gym. I’ve hit 10 hours of training in the last two weeks and am feeling good, although the bike/swim fitness is definitely low. Im eyeing a full IM for my next race, trying to figure out when I want to do it. I was thinking IM Arizona in November since my work schedule next year is going to be tricky.
Do you guys think 4 months is enough to get the bike and swim fitness up to par?
4 months is entirely manageable for a great performance, but you’ll need to go straight into your weekly long swims / cycles (obviously building distance gradually). I think the limitation of this time period is the quantity of long cycles if your cycling base is low, which it probably will be following marathon training.
What surprised me in my recent IM is how little overall marathon speed seems to be related to IM marathon speed:
2019 - probably could have managed a 3.30 open marathon - ran 3.50 for IM marathon, after a 5.15 bike
2022 - did Paris in 3.04 for first open marathon - ran 3.49 for IM marathon, after a 4:57 bike
Open marathon time improvement estimated at -26 mins, IM actual improvement -1 min. Now, of course there are lots of variables (course, temperature, equipment, etc), but it makes me think the IM run is a lot more than running pace / fitness, it is strongly linked to overall robustness and adaption to brick training. My point being - don’t take your eyes off the running on the assumption you are run fit and can probably hold onto that fitness…
Would not be afraid to drop mileage down over the next 2 months to 20 miles a week so you can do a bike-focused block.