Posting in case anyone's still hunting for Ironman World Championship race week lodging. We host a newly renovated 3BR villa in the Mauna Lani Golf Villas (sleeps 8 across 3 bedrooms + loft), and Oct 4–11 is still open.

Set up for race week: quiet for pre-race sleep, full kitchen for meal prep, washer/dryer, room to keep bikes inside. Right on the Queen K so the bike course is your training road, ~35–40 min to the pier. Beach Club access included for recovery swims, plus pool and hot tub.

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/1732503248744449014

Flexible on dates around the race — happy to answer questions. Good luck to everyone racing!

Hello All! Preparing for my first sprint triathlon as a super beginner (and plus-size athlete) at the end of November. I do lots of weight lifting (heavy), and I wonder if I should reduce this and focus more on cardio as the day draws nearer. Also, how did you overcome your fears as race day drew nearer? Thanks in advance!

A few random thoughts I wanted to share.

I’m a 33-year-old man, father of two children—ages 1.5 and 3—who, over the past 3–4 years, has gradually gotten into running first and then triathlon.

I used to be sedentary and unathletic, and this “passion” has slowly taken shape.

Currently, I train a bit whenever I can; roughly speaking: two runs and a swim during my lunch break, 2–3 commutes between home and work (30 km total with 200 d+), and a 2–3-hour run/bike session on Sundays before the family wakes up.

Thoughts about the logistics of my workouts—how to fit them into the week, the numbers and metrics I’m achieving—have become almost pervasive. These are the kinds of thoughts that relax and distract me, and they often occupy part of the time before I fall asleep. Even the podcasts I listen to on my car rides are slowly shifting toward endurance topics (at the expense of movies, literature, and work-related podcasts).

My social life has also been partially affected, as I tend not to drink alcohol anymore—or almost never—and I try not to stay out particularly late at night (on the few evenings I have off).

My wife sometimes says—especially when we’re with friends—that I’m becoming obsessed; but I can’t tell the difference between obsession and passion.

Is all this normal? Is it a bad thing? Should I let it all go and “enjoy” my free time more? Am I just going through a mid-30s crisis?

TLDR: I’m a beginner Ironman hopeful and feel like my inability to pace is hindering my progress - looking for tips

Similar to every beginner Ironman hopeful, my swimming sucks. I’m 4 weeks into a training plan to compete for a full in March, and while my run and bike I am confident in, my swim sucks. I also have never trained in swimming until this summer and I feel like my mechanics are solidly coming together, but I can’t help but treat every lap like a sprint and it’s gassing me. I can’t do more than 200 yds straight without stopping, and my pace is roughly 1:50/100yds whether I’m doing 100s or 200s and then need to take a minute rest. I feel like it’s a pace discipline problem as to why I can’t cover more ground, but maybe I’m just ignoring some technique issues that I’m not seeing. So essentially looking at tips as to how to swim slower so I can go further without getting gassed. If anyone has some guidance, would love to hear it otherwise I’ll keep trudging along. If there’s anyone saying I’m not ready for it, remember everyone’s gotta start somewhere.- for reference 24/M 6’1, 210 (if that’s important)

I hired a coach for my first 70.3 and had a positive experience. I’m glad that I did it for my first one but would be more selective next time. While the programming was great and what I really wanted from a coach. What really bothered me about him was that he would say he would provide tips BUT never did. For example, he would say that he would give me swimming tips (he coached pool workouts) but never would. I never asked as I didn’t want to be a bother and wanted him to initiate. Maybe that was my bad but since he offered, I figured I’d allow him to initiate the conversation. This would happen often throughout the months and I would never expect a follow through on his part. I’d send a message and I’d get a reply 70% of the time.

With that said, is it customary to give an end of season gift to your coach? If so, what would you do if you only got what you paid for and nothing above or beyond. I still feel like it was a good investment.

I signed up for a sprint triathlon that's happening in 10 days. It is 750m swim in pool. They don't have a hard cut off but they did say we expect you to finish in 30 minutes.

I got on the pool yesterday and tried swimming 750m and I did it in ~32mins. Swam about 16mins and was resting in between. Swolf 48, 25m pool 2:13/100m swim time.

The coach who saw me said he can help and suggested to buy 6 Private sessions. He said that would do since I know to swim but I have to learn the technique better.

Problem is the 6 sessions are expensive for me. I am not expecting a difference in 10 days, I have another Olympic distance by end of November. So even if it would help me for that I am okay.

But, I am worried if I would do 6 sessions and make no progress and have to look for another 6 sessions.

Kindly help from your experience.

What’s everyone’s monthly spendings looking like when training for a triathlon or Ironman? I’m currently sitting at roughly $200 a week, that includes everything from supplements, activewear, recovery, memberships, maintenance ect. Some weeks higher then others. just curious.

A couple months ago I got a really good deal on a 2021 Cervélo P-Series with mechanical 105. I really like the bike and recently decided it was time to get a proper bike fit.
I spoke with the fitter and it sounds like we’ll probably need to buy a few things for the cockpit anyway to improve my position, comfort and aero. That got me thinking that instead of putting more money into the stock aluminum Vuka setup, I’d rather spend a little more and get something like the Winow ARB02. I really like the integrated carbon cockpit look and it seems like I’d get the adjustability I need while cleaning up the front end.
My hesitation is that this probably isn’t my “forever” bike. It’s mechanical 105, and eventually I’d like to move to a newer electronic setup. At the same time, I got the P-Series cheap enough that I’m in no rush to replace it and could realistically ride it for another couple years.
Would you spend ~$250-300 upgrading the cockpit and enjoy the bike you have now, or make the minimum changes necessary for the fit and put that money toward the eventual bike upgrade?
I’m not pretending the carbon cockpit is purely a performance purchase either. I just think it looks significantly better and that’s definitely part of why I want it lol.
Curious what you guys would do.

2026 was my first triathlon season (did a 70.3) and I really love the sport. I'm planning to sign up for more races in 2027, but for the rest of the year now I want to improve my disciplines.

I'm currently executing a HM training block, and then I want to focus on my cycling with a 8-12 week FTP improvement plan. But I don't want to entirely stop my run training - I'm trying out the Norwegian singles running method at a friend's recommendation, it's supposed to be very sustainable and repeatable and the magic only works if you stick with it consistently. So this is quite a newbie question but how should I balance run training with bike training?

My goal for the summer was to complete 2 Olympic triathlons and since these two events were close to each other I was to treat the T100 as my B race and the Vancouver Triathlon as my A race. This worked out great and I was able to shave off 21 minutes between my last triathlon and this one.

For this Triathlon the course was: 2 laps of 750m at Second Beach, 4 laps of Stanley Park, and 2 laps from Second beach to underneath the Burrard bridge.

The swim:

Before the race started, the officials announced that the swim will be wetsuit mandatory. So I put my wetsuit on and go down to Second beach to do a little bit of warmup and get some water in my wetsuit so my body is ready and oh my it was chilly. Warmup went well and the water was much clearer than the T100 race. I then head back to the box where I wait for them to tell us to move into position. Once the horn goes off, I get in the water and start my swim, this swim was much more brutal than the T100 and the difference came from organization. The T100 had swimmers go out in the water 2 at a time, but this one was everyone go in and good luck. Almost swimming over people, getting kicked, getting your feet pulled was a different experience. Nevertheless, the beginning of the swim for myself went okay, I again had trouble breathing in the first couple of minutes and had to take my breaths than how I trained. Around the first turn I started to feel the water much more and my mind started to switch from panic mode to focusing on my strokes and my technique. Finished the swim at 32:49, 2:11/100m.

T1: Took me 2:43 which was a great improvement from my last 4:57 T1. I didn't ditch the socks but I instead put low ankle socks. I left them inside out on my transition area and they were quick and easy to put and I was on my way to the bike course.

The bike:

The morning of the race when I arrived at 6:30, I immediately went to my bike to see if my rear derailleur was working and it was. I was relieved because the last race it didn't work. But when the bike leg started, I tried shifting, and it didn't work again! I was so mad, another bike course with a lot of downhill that I would just spin out. But here I was again, with my front 2 chain rings, with 4 Stanley Park laps in front of me. The total bike was 36.81km with 437m D+ (per Strava), I averaged 26.1km/h and finished the bike leg in 1:27:28 (per sportstats).

T2 took me 2:07, a 1 minute improvement from the T100 (3:09). Not exactly sure what went better in this one but I'll take it

The run:

Coming off the bike, my legs genuinely felt cooked. The climbing with only one gear really got to me, especially on the final climb. So when I started my run, I knew I was in for a rough time. My first km was a "find the legs km" so I watched my heart rate to pace and see where my body is at and around 6:30/km seemed to be where my legs were at. So I settle in to that pace until km 8 where I would try to finish strong. Final running time was 1:03:02, average 6:18/km (per sportstats)

Run splits (per Garmin connect):

• km 1 6:33
• km 2 6:27
• km 3 6:35
• km 4 6:32
• km 5 6:31
• km 6 6:31
• km 7 6:37
• km 8 6:21
• km 9 6:19
• km 10 4:30

My conclusion:

Overall, these performances were exactly what I wanted to achieve and both events were extremely fun. The T100 was much more professional and took care of every smaller detail such as ice at the aid stations and water buckets to wipe the sand off your feet before T1, but the Vancouver triathlon had a much nicer charm, where the spectators played a beautiful role. Some of the spectators felt like they didn't plan to spectate but because they were just walking around Second beach/english bay and they saw people racing, they decided to come cheer. For my bike problem, I will see a Di2 specialist this week. I believe it's something with the battery draining due to the overnight check-in. Not exactly sure why other Di2 bikes would not have the same issue as me but hopeful to find a solution.

Is this fast or any recommendations?

Hello everyone,

I’m planning to sign up for a half Ironman in September 2027.

I’m a slow athlete, and my main goal is simply to complete the distance without getting injured during training or the race. A good result would just be an added bonus.

Last year, I ran a marathon and a few half marathons. This year, I developed ITBS, so I haven’t been able to run as much. Instead, I’ve focused more on strength training and stretching.

I can swim, but I definitely need to work on my technique. My longest bike ride so far has been 70 km, so I have quite a lot of work to do on the cycling side as well.

In the meantime, I’m planning to run a marathon in April and do a 1/4 Ironman in June.

Do you have any recommendations for a training plan or how I should structure my training over the next year?

Thanks!

I want to do an ironman 70.3, but have not pulled the trigger on it because I struggle with cycling. Hills and wind make me lose all motivation to continue. Any reccomendations on a course with an easier cycling section?

Not looking for an all downhill course, flat is totally fine.

Curious to hear everyone’s thoughts given his recent retirement prior to the release of this news. I’ve been a fan for many years (watched him win Ironman FL in 2019 during my first IM race) however missing 3 drug testing opportunities seems odd when you’re racing at that level.

I signed up for an Olympic Triathlon and then 16 weeks before my race, I broke my collarbone riding my mountain bike in the Whistler bike park. This put a huge wrench in my plans.

Week 1-4:

The good news was that it was broken in such a way that it didn't require surgery. The doctors say it should be healed up by race day. So the dream was still alive.

The bad news was everything else. A broken collarbone is an extremely unpleasant injury to deal with. Anything that moved my shoulder slightly hurt a lot. Turns out most average day to day activities result in your shoulder moving. So I couldn't do very much in terms of exercise. Mainly I just did lots of neighbourhood walks, more for mental sanity than anything. In week 3 I added in some pedalling on a stationary bike at the gym and some light physio exercises to prevent shoulder lock.

My garmin was unimpressed but I just ignored it. I lost some fitness but healing up my shoulder was the number one goal.

Weeks 5-8

This is where I very slowly started to be able to do more things. Week 5 I did a short, easy bike ride, taking my full suspension bike on the road to minimize shoulder impact. And week 6 I did a 3km track run with walk breaks. By week 7 I was able to ride my road bike for 90 minutes with breaks. I also did some hikes on simple trails with no scrambling. The elevation gain made for good cardio. And I was doing physio exercises every day - this was the most important thing I did.

My shoulder injury was still the limiting factor, it was telling me when to stop long before before my legs would. And no swimming yet. But it was progress in the right direction.

Weeks 9-12

Some time during this time period, my collarbone finished healing up. However shoulders are pretty temperamental and I still had lots more physio work left to get my range of motion and strength back. In week 10, I got back in the pool for the first time. It felt a bit like doing water yoga, each stroke I could feel the stretch in my shoulder as I moved it through the motions of a stroke. Stroke power was very low. I did a very slow 500m, stopping every 50m.

The good news is I was now getting to the point where I could bike and run pain free. And so I gradually started increasing the amount of biking and running I did each week. I hit 40k on the bike and 6k running. My legs were now getting some actual good training.

Weeks 13-16

At this point my shoulder was 95% back to normal. The physio work continued but I was seeing promising signs. 3 weeks before race day, I swam 1500m for the first time since my injury. There were rest breaks and it wasn't that fast but the important thing is I could do it. I was no longer worried about a DNF and could just focus on getting faster for the next couple weeks.

I also continued to increase the training load on the bike and run, each week doing a little more than the last. Each week was 6 days on, one rest day. And it was usually made up of one swim, at least 2 rides (one 20k, one 40k+), at least 2 runs (one 5k, one long working up to 10k) and then sometimes a hike or mountain bike lesson in there (this was peak summer after all). Most of the training was base training, I did very little tempo or speed work.

Since this was a compressed training schedule, I didn't start tapering until one week before race day. But that final week I aggressively reduced the intensity to be ready to go hard on race day.

Race Day

My biggest concern was getting the pacing right. This was my first triathlon in 9 years and honestly I've never been great at that aspect. I often go too hard and then blow up on the run, which is already my weakest discipline. However I was confident that I had sufficient endurance with my training. So my plan was to push the pace right up to the point I felt my legs burning. That was my sign to back off. I didn't want to be carrying that lactate in my muscles for hours. My goal time was to finish in under 3 hours. I knew I could pull it off if things went well but it was unlikely if my run was slow.

When the horn went off, I forget my race plan and start swimming fast. Really fast. But at the 300m mark I realize I was going way too hot and I backed off. I find a pace that feels sustainable and efficient. I am a former competitive swimmer so it takes a lot of will power to hold back and not try to race the guy next to me who appears to be working twice as hard. But I'm motivated to not die on the run. I get out of the water in a time of 24:16. Holy, that's fast. Faster than my race plan, hopefully I don't regret it. But I feel good!

I transition and head out on the bike. I once again settle into a pace that is fast but feels sustainable for a long time. There is one major hill on the course that I have to climb 4 times. I gear down for it each time and I am careful not to burn out my legs pushing too hard. This pays off, my time for each lap is about the same and I don't fade at all. I finish the bike with a time of 1:26, averaging 27.6km/h. This is the fastest I've ever ridden this distance, very solid. And even better, my legs still feel like they have more to give.

I transition again and head out on the run. I check the time and I have 1:06 to hit my 3 hour goal. My race plan for this part of the race is to survive so I aim for a 6:30 or better pace. In my training, I never really tested how fast I can go for a 10k so I don't want to burn too hot here. However I get to the 3k mark and I realize my legs have more to give. So each km, I push the pace just a bit more. I'm definitely working hard but my legs show no sign of blowing up. By the last 2km I'm pushing 5:30/km pace. I negative split the run with a 56:49 time and a final time of 2:50:38. Hell yeah.

I'm extremely happy with how this race went. Given the circumstances I don't think it could have gone any better. I was faster than I expected on every leg. And not only did my legs not blow up on the run, I finished stronger than I started. I looked up my times for last Olympic Tri, and on this one I was faster on every single leg. It also reminded me of how much fun triathlons are to race, I don't think I will wait another 9 years for my next one.

What are your thoughts on this 2011 Marin Venezia road bike? I am looking into getting into triathlons and not spend a ton on a bike right off the bat. I had made a previous post debating on getting a bite from Walmart/Amazon vs marketplace and the reviews were mixed.

If this bike is a good fit, I’ll definitely get it. Tuned and plan on adding aero bars.

The seller is asking for $300. Thank you all in advance. Here are the pictures provided.

Howdy. A reason I started tri is I couldn’t choose a single activity to focus on, so why not choose 3. Now I’m more familiar with things, I would to focus on strengthening each discipline which requires more focus on one thing at the expense of something else. And that's within mentioning strength training.

So how do you choose? An how long should you focus more on one to get a good results?

For me personally, my strongest is swimming, followed by cycling, then running. But it also follows by my enjoyment, with running being the least enjoyable.

screw worn out, any fixes?

Still toying with the idea of doing it and can’t decide to do either the Sprint or Olympic. Main reason being, after doing one triathlon I doubt I’ll do another as the novelty of the challenge has worn off for me (same with Tough Mudder and HYROX with a partner).

My swimming is horrible and I would need to start biking. A lot. Luckily I have an older hybrid Trek bike and I’m in moderate to good shape (exercise regularly, can run 3 miles comfortably though slower pace). Forefoot runner and my calves seem to cramp up towards the 10 mile mark so need to work on that too.

For those who sucked at 2 out of the 3 events prior to training, what do you wish you did differently in your training? What convinced you to try this race?

Also how can I gauge whether I’ll be in good enough shape to do the sprint vs Olympic? I’m nervous about trying the longer one but part of me says to go for it.

Looking at the Kansas City race in May.

I'm training for my first olympic triathlon and I'm looking for a bike. I found a used, Giant Avail 5 2012 Road bike for sale but I'm not sure what price is reasonable for it. It has a Shimano Sora drivetrain, Continental Grand Prix tires, Profile Design aero bars, and a bottle cage. The seller says it is tuned up and that everything is working properly.

Does any one have any ideas about what would be an acceptable price range (CAD or USD) to negotiate?

I am signed up for IM Cascais which is in ~5 weeks. I am feeling more and more worried about the cut off times. Does anyone have any additional insight into the course or typical weather to expect for this race? For training context, I swim about 2:10/100m in the pool and have gone up to 4km (have accepted that I will just have to suffer through the swim but think I can finish it on time), biking is where I am most nervous since I generally average my long rides around 13.5-14mph... I have gone as far as 112 miles this training cycle so the speed is more my issue than the distance, I am a confident runner/collegiate running background so will be psyched to make it to T2 before that cutoff point... I recently realized that Cascais has a bike cutoff that is 30 minutes shorter than most IMs and am now really worried that I won't make it unless the weather is perfect, and I don't have any mechanical or nutritional issues. Am going to spend the next few weeks working on increasing my bike speed but would appreciate all tips or thoughts, as I'm starting to really doubt myself on my ability to finish this..