Context:
I am a 30 year old male, I’ve been training for triathlon since October 2020. My current 70.3 fitness levels are: I swim 33 minutes (with wetsuit), bike 2:26 (PB) - 2:30 (road bike with clip-on aero bars), run 1:17 (no supershoes). My total time PB is 4:26 last year.
I train about 20-25 hours per week. I’m not sponsored or supported by anyone and finances are my weak point. I saved enough to get my 1st TT bike this winter and I’m currently training on it with hopes to use it in races this year.
As said in the title, I’m really dedicated and have a goal to climb to the top of Age-Group ranks, hopefully winning a race, qualifying for the professional licence.
Are my goals at least somewhat realistic or am I completely delusional?
Any thoughts, opinions, advice welcome.
think about what numbers a solid pro has to do
swim 22 to the very least sub 27 min
bike well bellow sub 2 hours till at least 2.10 on a flatfish course
run 1.07 to 1.14
or overall you should be the very least sub 4 to think aobut a pro license
and if you want to earn money form it bellow 3.42ish rember tiathlons are never measured correctly and wind etc etc
and unless you are a top biker you need to be able to swim sub 24 and going from 33 to 24 is a good few years given you have swam already for some time and chances are you are not getting to that level.
and remember taylor knibb went more like sub 2 17 on a road bike …
the other thing … if you already train that high volume than its not like you can gain a massive amount lets say an atheltes that gets to 4.26 with 8 hours weekly training that would be a lot better.
if you started running in 2020 than your run is pretty good if you were a college runner than its not that great since you have to put a lot of time into your swim and bike to get that up . if that makes sense.
the good thing is you wont be accused on ST that you interfere with the female pro race as they all pass you in the swim and you never see them on the bike atm.
My advice, find yourself a good coach and communicate your goals and he/she will help guide you. Don’t be like Lionel and do it on your own and constantly make the same mistakes over and over. And over.
Context:
I am a 30 year old male, I’ve been training for triathlon since October 2020. My current 70.3 fitness levels are: I swim 33 minutes (with wetsuit), bike 2:26 (PB) - 2:30 (road bike with clip-on aero bars), run 1:17 (no supershoes). My total time PB is 4:26 last year.
I train about 20-25 hours per week. I’m not sponsored or supported by anyone and finances are my weak point. I saved enough to get my 1st TT bike this winter and I’m currently training on it with hopes to use it in races this year.
As said in the title, I’m really dedicated and have a goal to climb to the top of Age-Group ranks, hopefully winning a race, qualifying for the professional licence.
Are my goals at least somewhat realistic or am I completely delusional?
Any thoughts, opinions, advice welcome.
Get on a serious swim program. that 33 wetsuit swim with the 1:17 run engine do not correlate. Just with basic technique and that engine you should be down in the 27 range with wetsuit. If you are the pool 25000m per week without any extra biking you will get that bike into the 2:18 range just from better aerobic conditioning while acquiring swim technique. Then get on a TT bike and you’re down to the 2:12 range. (Rough math here). With a 1:17 half marathon split, I assume your body composition is already pretty good so I doubt you can lean up that much (but I don’t know). Add supershoes and you can run a bit faster.
But still a bit off from where you need to be to race pro in all three as this does not get you to waaay sub 4. I have no idea of your volume. Are you a 400 hrs per year athlete or a 1000 hrs per year athlete right now?
Apropos of nothing, but USAT needs to make getting a pro card MUCH more stringent. I know a number of good AG’ers who have taken pro cards who have zero business racing pro.
As others have said, with work you can get there. There’s no silver bullet, just working hard at improving every aspect (and I’m not talking just S,B,R)….
-sleep, recovery
-diet
-stretching, strength training
-work/training balance such that your work naturally accommodates long hours of training each week vs forcing in a big training block
-consistency, consistency, consistency
Others can correct me if I’m wrong, but it seems like the lines get blurred between elite age group athletes and low level pros. I recall Cam Widoff as a 20-24 age grouper winning the overall race at Muncie in the early 90’s. And five people in my age group at the time (25-29) going sub 4:15 (age-groupers). This was 1991. Technology is better these days. But my point is, there are a lot of studly age groupers that can hold their own against low level pros, they just choose to remain amateurs.
Gonna answer the question as it was asked, ie the end goal being to get a ‘pro license’, not compete as a competitive pro.
What country is your federation? Many give out licenses like sweets. I’m a citizen of another EU country where there are no criteria as such - you just ask. But why do that if you haven’t got the swim.
Even if it’s GB, you have a good starting point with a solid run - and your volume is plenty for pro-level fitness. As long as you’re not a junk mileage collector sacrificing sleep. Could be 1.5 years with a bike power focus, £1.5k on aero kit and then why not.
Good advice given through out the thread above. Since you said, “finances are my weak pointâ€, I have concerns.
Can you find a good swim coach and swim with a Master’s group regularly? That will give you an idea on your potential. Go ride with a strong cycling group. Do you have a strong running background? Were you a stand out runner in high school or college? There is a lot of information that would help give us/you an idea of potential.
Following your dreams is great! Many of us have to put meals on the table. It is tough to know your potential without going for it. Most pros that are making a living at it have shown signs of that potential early in life.
Based on what you wrote, your swim is poor, bike is very good, not fantastic and your run is solid. (Relative to pro males).
I know a few guys that were decent ITU guys that decided they couldn’t support themselves, or a family, on their potential of staying a pro.
You have tough choice. Go all in or just enjoy being a strong age grouper???
Context:
I am a 30 year old male, I’ve been training for triathlon since October 2020. My current 70.3 fitness levels are: I swim 33 minutes (with wetsuit), bike 2:26 (PB) - 2:30 (road bike with clip-on aero bars), run 1:17 (no supershoes). My total time PB is 4:26 last year.
I train about 20-25 hours per week. I’m not sponsored or supported by anyone and finances are my weak point. I saved enough to get my 1st TT bike this winter and I’m currently training on it with hopes to use it in races this year.
As said in the title, I’m really dedicated and have a goal to climb to the top of Age-Group ranks, hopefully winning a race, qualifying for the professional licence.
Are my goals at least somewhat realistic or am I completely delusional?
Any thoughts, opinions, advice welcome.
You probably have the engine to make it based on the run/bike. Just keep working on the swim as that is really important at the pro level. If you want to get an idea of progression, I started triathlon in 2006 and you can see a synopsis of my improvement by look at my race results which I have here including a rising USAT rank each year.
I wonder what’s life like for below average pro triathletes. If you are ok with it in worst case scenario and you will absolutely not regret your decision, time and effort, then go for it. It’s your life and you have a full control. I’ve seen so many people lost perfect timing to study, develop career and make their lives better. Just don’t be that person.
Go for it. My advice would be to get a coach. 20-25 hours/week is pro level training – just make sure that it’s optimized. I would scale back whatever running you’re doing. With a 1:17 your run is good enough to be mid-pack pro. 3-4 times/week would be fine so that you can focus on the swim/bike. I would swim at least 4 times/week and get in the habit of making all of those sessions around 4k. Bike 4-5 times/week. Minimum rides around 90min. Solid weekend long run. Just be consistent with it (it sounds like you are) & see where things go.
As I’m sure you know you can qualify for your pro card a # of ways. Two realistic options are score rating (where are you at now? a 4:26 could put you close or still with some work to do) or top-3 at a pro race with the prize money minimum met. Remember you need races with at least 300 people in them. Try to cherry pick races. Unfortunately some of the local races are harder to score high at because you have a devoted/well-trained mid-pack. IM races tend to hand out higher scores.
Saw some numbers thrown out but you would be ok enough as a mid pack pro once you get your swim under 30:00. At least you’ll come out with some people & will pass people on the run. The free time is in the bike. 2:26 is a great start but it’s right that you’ll need to start riding under 2:20, probably closer to 2:15 at a lot of places to be competitive enough. You can lose a minute on the run if you’re gonna go 5+ min faster on the bike. I would put a lot of time/energy into the bike.
Context:
I am a 30 year old male, I’ve been training for triathlon since October 2020. My current 70.3 fitness levels are: I swim 33 minutes (with wetsuit), bike 2:26 (PB) - 2:30 (road bike with clip-on aero bars), run 1:17 (no supershoes). My total time PB is 4:26 last year.
As said in the title, I’m really dedicated and have a goal to climb to the top of Age-Group ranks, hopefully winning a race, qualifying for the professional licence.
Are my goals at least somewhat realistic or am I completely delusional?
Any thoughts, opinions, advice welcome.I shall guess you are not in the USA, so that makes it a lot harder to earn a licence (see comments above). Look at your country’s federation’s rules for the standard you need to reach to get a pro licence. Then look to see who the ‘new Pros’ are and that will give you an idea of how they are getting on. I looked at Slovenia and Tim Gosnjak who is same age as you and went pro last year.
I suggest your primary target should be winning your (30-34) AG. Achieve that (Marbella 2025?). Do that and you’ll be pretty close. The amateur athlete who just beat 4 hours in Lahti (70.3WC)was about 69th amateur (about 8 were M30-34).
Given that you are not an uber biker (yet) or uber runner, that swim, however little you enjoy it or its logistic challenges, must be an area of focus, at the expense of the other two, with a coach.
Go for it. a 1:17 off the bike indicates you have a lot of aerobic potential. Swim and bike need a ton of work, but the goo thing is this where you can see a ton of time savings.
Don’t just hire a coach, hire a good coach that has experience working with athletes that have achieved your goals. Interview a few and ask some hard questions.
Keep an eye on the mental aspect of pro racing. A weak swim in the AG ranks keeps you around tons of people, getting dropped in the first 15 m of the MPRO swim and getting passed by top WPRO during the swim and the bike will not feel good.
If you have to ask the ST crowd this, you are already in trouble
Half the “Pros” I have raced in Half Ironman over many years, did worse than the numbers you do now. If you feel this is your call, go for it. Just think about your “40-year-old-me” who may have been missing out a whole lot other carreer opportunities, to pursue a semi-good pro life!
As others have said, with work you can get there. There’s no silver bullet, just working hard at improving every aspect (and I’m not talking just S,B,R)….
-sleep, recovery
-diet
-stretching, strength training
-work/training balance such that your work naturally accommodates long hours of training each week vs forcing in a big training block
-consistency, consistency, consistency
Others can correct me if I’m wrong, but it seems like the lines get blurred between elite age group athletes and low level pros. I recall Cam Widoff as a 20-24 age grouper winning the overall race at Muncie in the early 90’s. And five people in my age group at the time (25-29) going sub 4:15 (age-groupers). This was 1991. Technology is better these days. But my point is, there are a lot of studly age groupers that can hold their own against low level pros, they just choose to remain amateurs.
Largely what I have seen over the years is there are age groupers who end up biking and running close to pro times, but for example, some of these guys swim 10-15 min slower than the pros in Kona, so they will never be able to compete as pros in top races.
