What kind of standalone times would I need to complete my first IM sub 11:30? My target for the race would be 1:15 swim, T1 :05, 6:00 bike, T2 :05 and a 4:05 run. Obviously I would need to be able to bike and run faster times when not combined in the race, but how much faster?
you may need to add a few minutes into your T2 time - just a couple.
As an IM newbie, why is that?
Your transition time will be dependent on whether you change clothing or not - taking a few extra minutes to hydrate - put on sunscreen and get ready for the mary - is something you’ll find yourself doing - it will make for a more comfortable run
.
Also depends which IM? Times can vary greatly by course.
What is your endurance background?
How much time do you have to train each week?
+++
I went low-11 in my first IM with a mountaineering/ultrarunning background. I had 18-20 hours per week to train and managed a low-5 hour time at Wildflower four mths before my IM (Canada).
For your first IM, my advice is to enjoy the process and relieve yourself of the pressure of time goals. Once you’ve done five (or so) IMs, you’ll have a better idea of the factors the impact a goal time.
g
I don’t have much of an endurance background other than 2 seasons of sprint/oly distance tris. As far as time to train, I own my own business which makes things flexible. I would venture a guess that I have 16-20 hours a week. My wife is supportive of me, and I have no kids or other obligations. Obviously this can all change but I plan to do IMCDA in 2007. My stated goal is to break 12 hours, which I think is easily manageable given the time I have to prepare. My secret goal is to break 11. It also is a goal of mine to continue progressing and qualify in years to come.
The “open run time” question needs to be considered as, What open run time is necessary in order to run 4:05? HOWEVER – hitting that time is not sufficient to run 4:05.
It’s the old logical condition, “necessary but insufficient.”
To be potentially able to run 9’ pace, plus 5-8 minutes for walking aid stations, I believe that an AG racer needs to be a ~1:40 half marathoner. 1:37 maybe.
Again, running 1:40 can still mean you run 5 hours in the IM. Not being able to run 1:40 means it will be tough to run 4:05 no matter how well you execute the swim and bike.
YMMV
From experience, there is a lot more to meeting a time goal than picking some numbers and meeting your training hours. My IM/2 time this summer was 5:03. 12 hours for IMOO - no problem. NOT. Nutrition & weather conditions will trump standalone times any day.
I understand there are a lot of variables that go into making a time, but I can never control the weather, and this far out I can’t control my nutrition/hydration on race day. All I can do is prepare my body and my mind. To do that I have to set specific goals to reach by 1 month before IMCDA, and break those goals into manageable micro sections to keep training focused.
My 2 cents is that if you’re gunning for that finish time…that you should chisel 10 minutes off the bike and add it onto the run.
Per ratio…a 4:00 marathon is much “better” than a 6:00 bike.
Here I will have a go at this. Try this:
I would say that you need to build up so that you can do the following as sperate work out first:
1:15 -20 or so steady swim, with minimal stops.
6:30 ride at a decent pace or century bike ride(100miles) in 5:30 or so
2:30 run non stop with minimal stops/walking.
Work up to the above first over 6 months or so. Then start throwing together Big Days of training when you have the time such as 1 hours swim and a 5 hour ride, 5 hour ride and 30 minute run and so on)
Fleck
That helps as far as training goes, but I need some numbers to post on my mirror in front of my sink so that every morning I see my goals posted. Goals to me have to be performance oriented or I’m not very good at chasing them. 1:15 swim to me isn’t a performance oriented goal unless it includes 4000 meters, or 4500 meters, or some number that I can’t yet attain.
That helps as far as training goes, but I need some numbers to post on my mirror in front of my sink so that every morning I see my goals posted. Goals to me have to be performance oriented or I’m not very good at chasing them. 1:15 swim to me isn’t a performance oriented goal unless it includes 4000 meters, or 4500 meters, or some number that I can’t yet attain.
You want benchmarks? I’ll give you benchmarks… 
Swim a 4000-yard workout as 40x 100 on the 1:55. Don’t fool around. Schedule it, and do it. Sooner rather than later. Hit this workout at least three times in your final 6 weeks.
Run an open half marathon in 1:40. Sign up for a few and hit it. If you don’t know how to get there, buy Daniels’ book *The Daniels Running Formula *and follow the training and pace charts. Hit this once within ~3 months of the race, and 4:05 is possible, but not assured. If you can’t run *at least *1:43, 4:05 is a dream.
Biking is tough to benchmark without a powermeter. But, I would shoot for a 5.5-hour uninterrupted ride at 150 watts average power, done by riding barely above “Easy.” By “uninterrupted” I mean stop to fill water bottles only, and keep rolling. *Alone. *No buddies or group ride partners. Alone. No stops. No kidding. Hit this goal at least 4 times. If you can’t do a transition run of ~3-4 miles, stop and think, “Dang. I feel great! I could run all day!” then you aren’t ready to ride the IM that hard.
Those would be my benchmarks. Mine are similar. Same run goal; a little faster on the swim and bike.
Thanks, Rick.
I was going to say roughly the same thing.
Good stuff.
Fleck
Run an open half marathon in 1:40. Sign up for a few and hit it. If you don’t know how to get there, buy Daniels’ book *The Daniels Running Formula *and follow the training and pace charts. Hit this once within ~3 months of the race, and 4:05 is possible, but not assured. If you can’t run *at least *1:43, 4:05 is a dream.
Yeah… emphasis on “possible”. I dropped a 1:31 half last summer and ran 4:45 in IMOO. That day sucked.
I’m glad I didn’t know this 3 days ago. I’ve never run a 1:40 half ever. My PR is 1:43 from a few years ago, before I started doing triathlons. 3 weeks ago, I ran 1:53 in a 1/2 IM, two weeks ago I ran 1:48 in a stand alone half marathon, and on Saturday I ran 4:01, finish time 11:45 in my first ever iron distance. Go figure.
“Biking is tough to benchmark without a powermeter. But, I would shoot for a 5.5-hour uninterrupted ride at 150 watts average power, done by riding barely above “Easy.” By “uninterrupted” I mean stop to fill water bottles only, and keep rolling. Alone. No buddies or group ride partners. Alone. No stops. No kidding. Hit this goal at least 4 times. If you can’t do a transition run of ~3-4 miles, stop and think, “Dang. I feel great! I could run all day!” then you aren’t ready to ride the IM that hard.”
Does this mean you want to be able to hold the same pace/effort for the IM? IOW your standalone bike effort is no different than your IM effort?
~Matt
I dont know if that can help you, but my first IM had a marathon time of 3:5x, and my second 4:02 so my run legs are around your objectives. Before my last IM, I did a Half marathon in 1:27. I also ran a couple of marathons and they are usually in the 3:15 range.
For both IM, I wanted to go under a 3:30 Marathon, the first one, Esprit Triathlon in Montreal, I had a total time of 10:28. I started the run a little too fast, slowed down (way too much I think) and did a solid last 10k. My primary goal was too finish and after the bike I was thinking of going under 10h. I started to cramp so I slowed down which was a great decision. My second one was Lanzarote, all the details are in the race report posted on this forum. In brief, After the bike, I had big stomach cramp that made me walk and go to the toilet for the first 20 min. After that I had a good rhytm but walk every aid station.
The reason I’m telling you all this is that I think it’s really hard to say what time you need to attain a certain objective. The bike makes your run. I met a really good runner that pushed on the bike in Lanzarote to stay under 6h. He walked his marathon.
Get your endurance up, get your speed up and finish your IM in the time you earned.
let me ask the converse question…if i can run 1 hour and 40 minutes in a half ironman, how fast would i expect to go in a standalone marathon?