Completed my first Olympic Distance triathlon yesterday. Did a few sprints a little over 10 years ago. (Santa Cruz tri. time was 2:10). This is the distance I will most likely stick with, but I would like to do at least one or two 70.3 event’s just to experience an Ironman branded event. For those who normally race Olympic distance but do the occasional 1/2 Ironman, how much do you have to change/increase your training? I typically swim 6-9,000yd’s, bike 70-100 miles, and run 20-25 miles a week. My plan is to keep pretty much everything the same except for adding in one long run a week and a long bike every 1-2 weeks. Looking for advice and opinions. Thanks, Brian.
In my experience it’s not so much a change in volume as a change in intensity. OD races can be very tough because they are just long enough to demand a lot more fitness than sprint training, while being just short enough to require some real speed to do well. For 70.3 races, you’re probably going to dial down the intensity a bit compared to OD race prep and add some selected longer workouts, as you suggested at the end of your post. Just my 2 cents.
Completed my first Olympic Distance triathlon yesterday. Did a few sprints a little over 10 years ago. (Santa Cruz tri. time was 2:10). This is the distance I will most likely stick with, but I would like to do at least one or two 70.3 event’s just to experience an Ironman branded event. For those who normally race Olympic distance but do the occasional 1/2 Ironman, how much do you have to change/increase your training? I typically swim 8-10,000yd’s, bike 70-100 miles, and run 20-25 miles a week. My plan is to keep pretty much everything the same except for adding in one long run a week and a long bike every 1-2 weeks. Looking for advice and opinions. Thanks, Brian.
errr,
that’s already way more than i train to do a half iron…
my pr is 4:41. if i swam as much as you and ran as much as you i would be going 4:20’s…
just bike 50-75 more a week and you’ll be fine.
john
Do you just want to survive a 70.3? Top 10%? Age group podium? Just to complete one you could accomplish on your current training mileage. It also depends on the course too. SG 70.3 would definitely scuff you up a little, but another venue not so much.
FYI, I was doing about your current mileage that you listed, and I was just able to complete a flat 70.3 local race in 4:55. That might give you an idea. Good luck!
If I was training for Olympic distance races I would be training nearly the same amount I train for the HIM distance
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Do you just want to survive a 70.3? Top 10%? Age group podium? Just to complete one you could accomplish on your current training mileage. It also depends on the course too. SG 70.3 would definitely scuff you up a little, but another venue not so much.
FYI, I was doing about your current mileage that you listed, and I was just able to complete a flat 70.3 local race in 4:55. That might give you an idea. Good luck!
AG podium would be nice. (25-29). I would either race 70.3 Oceanside, Santa Cruz, or Tahoe.
What’s funny is that your Oly time is about on par with mine as well. 2:09 is my fastest. Others with more experience than I will chime in, but honestly I would say given your age group it’s possible. Maybe a little more training mileage in all three events, and you would need to really become a “fairly” fast runner. My swim and bike are good, but I can’t hang with the athletes that can throw down sub-7:00 min. miles for the run.
If you want to “RACE” a 70.3, you need closer to IM training volume. So 150-200 miles biking, 35-45mpw running, and swim depends on what time you have left and your ability. 6-9k is enough, 8-12k is better.
All the “cool kids” pretty much train 20+ hours per week and race 70.3 & IM interchangeably. That’s who your main competition will be. You advantage is that you can focus on 70.3 and make 2-3 events per season “A” race. Full distance athletes mainly race them as “B” races sine IM requires so much build-up and recovery. The shorter the recovery, the more “A” or at least “B”+ races you can effectively have. But you need a bigger and bigger base to really sustain a high fitness level.
This is where I’ll be next season as I step down my training volume a little to spend more family time and because I’m just a little burnt out after just 2 years. Kudos to the studs that do this year after year for a decade or more. Too many sacrifices and too little sleep for me to sustain. I think a good sweet spot for me will be 4-5 hours per week running, 7-10 hours biking and 2-3 hour swimming. 13-18 hours. Compared to 16-22 hours now. The biggest change will be 2 workouts a day instead of typically 3. More time efficient, but not as optimal for building fitness and recovering.
So, I’m going to disagree with the majority and say if you’re going to shoot for an AG podium at a WTC 70.3, you’re going to need to to train differently than for olympics. I primarily train for and race oly distance, with the odd half thrown in for fun. I’m a 2:10 oly distance, just did a 4:47 half at Redman (probably would have been closer to 4:45 with better pacing and not crashing my bike) and train similar amounts to what you’ve described. Based on my recent crash and burn half experience, I would recommend running more weekly volume, not just an occasional long run. At least 30 mpw. And some long-ish bricks. Probably the biggest thing I learned from my recent race, is that although I’m very fit from doing higher intensity oly distance training, my body just isn’t used to operating at intensity for almost 5 hours. If you were just cruising through the course for a finish and not a podium, you’d probably be fine with just conservative pacing. But if you’re really racing it, put yourself in a good position to be solid on the run.
The years I stepped up from Oly to half I simply did this:
The last 60-90 days before the race:
- Don’t worry about the swim. It’s barely different & actually less important (30 minutes is 10 % of a 5 hour half vs. A 22 min swim as part of a 210 oly). So similar swim training.
- Big bike weeks. 4 or more @ 175 miles. 4 or more 3.5+ hour rides with some z3 intensity & hills.
- Big bricks. R-B-R. Quite a few. 2.5 to -3.5 hours.
- Long runs close to 12 miles but mostly easy. 3x a month.
It’s not a lot more volume when it’s all done. But it’s enough. Good luck!
(This got me close to 430 for one hilly & warm race & lots of 440-450 halfs )
Bike more, run smarter (don’t get injured), & do enough swimming to have enough time to run & bike. I think too many people think to do well they have to run more, at the expense of bike training. You’ve got to put some serious time in on the bike to make it to the run & still have legs to run. An OLY bike is a piece of cake. About 40-45 miles into the 70.3 bike you start to feel the difference. I am not saying running is not important but the bike should feel reasonably easy & if it doesn’t, no amount of running will get your legs back.
You need to double your bike volume. 70-100 miles a week is simply not enough even if all quality. 200 miles a week still mostly quality is more like it. Your bike strength plays a huge part as to how you perform in the back half of the run in a HIM. Realistically you’re going to need a minimum 2:20-2:25 bike split to have any chance of a podium and thats assuming you are a gun runner. The quickest guys will be rolling around 2:15-2:20. Can you pull back a 10 minute deficit on the run? Maybe if you’re quick but no hope if you don’t have the leg strength from the bike and they blow apart at mile 10 like a lot of people.
Thanks for all the advice!
Not sure is someone mentioned but to podium at Oceanside which is very competitive, you’re probably looking 4:30 or less
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Your swim is fine.
Add a 10-12mile run each week (swap it for another run so running mileage will only go up ~5mi/wk).
Do a 3hr. ride every week or two. Use this to practice eating and drinking at the rate you would in the race. One of the biggest changes in moving up to a HIM is the need for a nutrition/hydration schedule (whereas one bottle on the bike and maybe a gel is fine for an Oly).
Have you considered getting a coach? When you invest this much time and effort, I think it would be a no brainer to get coach who is professional, knowledgeable about the sport and able to craft a workout specifically for you and your goals, rather, than relying upon a bunch of people on an Internet forum. Not saying that the people here don’t know what they are doing, but a coach can go a long way to addressing your concerns.
Have you considered getting a coach? When you invest this much time and effort, I think it would be a no brainer to get coach who is professional, knowledgeable about the sport and able to craft a workout specifically for you and your goals, rather, than relying upon a bunch of people on an Internet forum. Not saying that the people here don’t know what they are doing, but a coach can go a long way to addressing your concerns.
Yes I have considered it. Wanted to see what I could do on my own,training solo, but if I stick with the for a while I will probably get a coach.