Is it unreasonable to do an 70.3 distance event September 30 and then another 70.3 distance event on October 20 ?
I have the option of doing a race a week sooner than Superfrog: Orangeman on September 23, which would buy me another week , but it would cost me an extra $110.
It seems like all the good half-iron races near South Orange County are at the same time of the year
Do you guys know of any other half-iron races near Southern California OTHER THAN: Expedition Man, Orangeman, SuperFrog, Pumpkinman, or Magic Mountain Man?
Depending on how strong you are and your expectations for each race, no it’s not unreasonable.
If you choose to race the first one and leave the second one to whatever it may be, you can focus entirely on the first one.
If you choose to race the second one and use the first one as a tune-up then you will probably go into the second one with the same fitness as the first one unless you do not lose a day of training with the first one.
I do not think that you can go into each race thinking that they are “A” races. You will have to pick a priority for each one or both will be subpar.
On the other hand, I’ve done halfs on consecutive weekends and had good results with both.
Thanks for your reply! I’m relatively new to triathlons . I’ve done a handful of sprint-distance and Olympic-distance events, but I’d like to move up to the half-iron and iron distance.
I come from a running background, so I’ve ran 13+ miles in a single training session alone. I’ve also built up my bike endurance to 56+ mile sessions. I have not completed a 1.2 mile swim, however, although I still have quite a few months.
I want to use these two races to learn, though I would still like to be relatively competitive. I am doing Ironman 70.3 Oceanside next year, and would very much like to qualify for Kona, which would require a 4:20-4:30 for my age group. I would like to use these two half-iron races to get the experience in order to race competitively at Oceanside.
I think I’d be able to do a 35:00 swim, 2:48 bike, and 1:30 run by this August, and I’d probably like to compete at both events at a relatively consistent level of intensity. However, do you think I would benefit more by taking it easy at the first one and going all-out at the second ?
three weeks apart, is the optimum if you want to do well at both. If you are well trained you can go for about 3-6 weeks on lower training loads before you lose form. So you can do an easy week into the first, then 3 weeks of easy in between the two so you will be fully recovered from the first. That is 4 weeks of easier training at most, so you will probably still be race fit for the second.
I don’t know you from Adam but if you are hellbent on doing both of them and using them as a learning experience this is how I would approach them:
For the first one find a realistic bike goal, add 5 to 8 minutes to it and see how you run. Train normally all the way up to 2 days before the race. Resume training the next day if possible.
For the second race, taper for it, adjust your bike effort from the first one so that you can have the very best run possible afterwards.
I’m not too worried about maintaining my fitness, I’m worried about not having enough time to recover to compete well at the second one, especially considering I’ve never done a 4-5 hour endurance event before .
So if I were to do them two weeks apart it may be too little time for me to recover? Because that is also an option.
I did it a few years ago and set a PR at both races. The first one was my A race for the year. I trained and tapered good for the race and set a PR by just under 10 mins. A few days after the race I felt like I could have done better and importantly felt like I was recovering well. I waited a few more days and then signed up for a local half just two weeks after the first one. My swim was slightly worse than usual for me. The bike ride was a bit slower than the race two weeks earlier. But, my run was much faster and I dropped another 2 mins off my PR. I gotta say though the first 5-10 miles on the bike really really hurt. After a few miles I was thinking about how much of a bad idea signing up for race was and thought about just turning around and going back to transition. I didn’t and after about 10 miles my legs started to come around and everything was good from there on.
Thank you, that is a good idea! I could use the first one like a long training session while also getting in the experience.
Is running 13.1 miles after a 56-mile bike ride much more difficult than a stand-alone 13.1 miles? I’ve already ran a 2:21 half-marathon so I’m shooting for a 2:30 at the better of these two races.
Thanks for your input! It sounds you would have performed better if the races were three weeks apart, would you agree?
I find myself recovering from the run relatively quickly, while recovering from the bike much slower , so it sounds like my situation may be similar to yours.
Do you guys think it would be a good workout to bike 56 miles and the immediately run 13 miles as a workout but SLOWER than I would at a race? Maybe something like 30-50 watts less on the bike and 30-45 seconds less per mile on the run.
I would rather do them 3 weeks apart. Like I said, most athletes are in good shape about 3 or 4 weeks after a longer race. 2 weeks between them is short but could just be enough. With two weeks there is also an important mental viewpoint. You will probably not feel very strong for 7 - 10 days after a half, so if you get ready to race again it will be in the last few days before the race! 3-4 weeks between the races will be much better if you have no experience with recovering from these kind of efforts.
Hard to say. That was my only time doing it. Maybe I should do it again to test it out. Mine were only 2 weeks apart though. Most people will say take one of them easy and only race one. I went all out as best I could at both and it seemed to turn out well for me. I do tend to recover pretty quickly though.
“Is running 13.1 miles after a 56-mile bike ride much more difficult than a stand-alone 13.1 miles?”
Like you, I’m new to the world of tris. Been in about year and a half. Moved from sprints to olympics and finished last year with a half. To answer your question, YES! The sprints and olympic runs were a piece of cake after the bike, but my experience was much different for the half distance. The suggestion I got was to start doing mini-bricks and get use to running on tired legs. Anyways, I’m too new to give out any real advice; I’ll leave that to the experts. Good luck!
My best Half Marathon is a 1:36
My best Half Ironman run is a 1:43
I had a whole string of 2:00 Half Ironman runs until I figured out proper pacing on the bike.
Before I thought you mentioned a 1:30 half run?
jaretj
Yeah, that’s my goal for the run leg of my first half-iron. I’ve ran faster than that in a stand-alone 13 mile run, but I’m assuming the bike takes off at least 5-8 minutes off your first half-iron distance. My PR in the half-marathon was also done during a time when I was only running. I don’t know if I’ll be able to hit that speed while balancing cycling and swimming workouts.
I’m doing Texas 70.3 and NOLA 70.3 this year and they’re three weeks apart. I’ll let you know how it goes after April 22nd.
Oh cool! It’s nice to know someone else is doing something similar! Good luck, and be sure to let me know
“Is running 13.1 miles after a 56-mile bike ride much more difficult than a stand-alone 13.1 miles?”
Like you, I’m new to the world of tris. Been in about year and a half. Moved from sprints to olympics and finished last year with a half. To answer your question, YES! The sprints and olympic runs were a piece of cake after the bike, but my experience was much different for the half distance. The suggestion I got was to start doing mini-bricks and get use to running on tired legs. Anyways, I’m too new to give out any real advice; I’ll leave that to the experts. Good luck!
Thanks for the advice! It sounds like you have much more experience than I do. So you would recommend shorter bricks rather than longer bricks? I thought it might be beneficial to do bricks up to the half-ironman distance , albeit slower than my race pace. That could get in my long run and long bike in the same day as well.
I’ve said this a million times in threads like these on ST. In my second year of triathlon, I did IM Florida and then the IM 70.3 World Championship the following weekend. I’ve done Superfrog and the Calif. 70.3 back-to-back weekends a couple of times, etc…you get the idea. YOUR ability to recover is your guide. If you are feeling good 2 days after a long, hard effort, then it will be no problem, but the real decider for you is, do you WANT to do both races? Will it be FUN? Then do it, even if you are tired. You might not get to the podium, but you’ll do two races you want to do.
Now if you were a pro triathlete and you were going for a win, I’d say think twice, but I’m guessing you’re out there to have fun. Go for it!
