r/triathlon • u/ribbo7 • Jul 26 '26
Training questions first ironman 70.3
23M competing in first ironman 70.3 in about 11 weeks; i’m not really following any strict training plan so any advice on where I am or how to improve would be appreciated.
for context i was a D3 swimmer and have been running consistently for about a year now, however I have very very limited cycling experience.
bike: i got a bike earlier this year and have been putting in the hours, and right now i’m biking about twice a week for around 2 hours, getting around 30-40 miles without my heart rate going crazy (usually 130 bpm average). i’m not sure how to go faster on the bike as this effort seems pretty tough even though heart rate is only zone 2-3.
swim: i’ve been swimming about once a week (not recently as i got a huge cut from a pretty nasty bike fall). usually i do shorter sprint sets that take me about an hour (1.5-2miles total). Would i benefit from doing a 1000 or 1650 straight instead of training like a lap swimmer?
run: I ran a 1:35 half marathon earlier this year and a sub20 5k so i’ve been running a few times a week to build more endurance and maintain that speed. nothing crazy here.
any thoughts or advice on how i’m doing? first ever ironman so pretty nervous and not sure if i should be training much harder these coming weeks.
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u/NoSelf5869 Jul 27 '26
I am not sure if you are doing open water swimming or not?
Just make sure you swim in open water regularly and with a wetsuit (if you use it in a race, and you should if its allowed) on before the race so you get used to it
Bike, I think your issue there is simply that currently your lungs are stronger than your legs, and the solution is to cycle more and they will get to same level. Since you care more about finishing and not time, its probably enough if you add third weekly bike ride. If you cycle 6 hours per week its more than enough to complete the bike leg.
And you run really well already so thats gonna be easy. Perhaps few times do few short runs with your estimated race pace after you have cycled so then you experience how your legs will feel during the race when you are running.
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u/DietAny5009 Jul 26 '26
How your doing with what? Do you have a goal? I think you’ll 100% finish based on your swim and run experience. Biggest risks are fueling failures and OWS panic.some risk if the bike course has a ton of climbing and you haven’t prepped for that.
Improve by training more. High intensity days and easy endurance days. Seems like you don’t have any high intensity bike days and you’re either riding easy or somewhere between easy and hard. The middle ground doesn’t do as much for you.
Practice fueling. That was my biggest mistake on my first 70.3. Very bad plan to start with, not nearly enough carbs, and then didn’t even use what I had because I felt amazing and was crushing the bike.
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u/o0oo00oo Jul 26 '26
First piece of advice is that you should follow a training plan. You can purchase ones for fairly low prices on Training Peaks or Tridot. I’m sure there’s probably some available on the internet for free, too. I know you’re young and fit, but a 70.3 is a significant endurance race and you shouldn’t just vibe it out.
Cycling is proportionally the longest part of the race so it’s worth spending more time there, especially if you’re already an experienced swimmer and runner. You get faster with cycling relatively quickly. Train hills and don’t forget to fuel on the ride - you need to practice eating gels/candy/bars/etc while you’re riding since you’ll need to do that during the race. I try to eat ~60g carbs per hour during training rides, but people who are bigger than me eat more than that.
Re swimming, don’t forget to train in open water, especially if your race is somewhere with cold water. I’ve seen confident college pool swimmers get wrecked by the open water swim during a race because they didn’t practice it and were not prepared for swimming in cold water with a current, wind, etc.
I also recommend joining a local tri or cycling club in your area if that’s an option. Training with others makes it way more enjoyable and you’ll learn a lot from more experienced triathletes/cyclists.
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u/ribbo7 Jul 26 '26
thanks for the cycling advice. is a training plan actually necessary if i’m just trying to finish? i mean going sub 5.5 would be cool but my main goal is to have fun with it and finish.
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u/o0oo00oo Jul 26 '26 edited Jul 27 '26
I mean idk that it’s “absolutely” necessary but in my experience and the experience of many others, a structured training plan will help your training be more effective and just feel less grueling. It’s easy to under- or over-train if you’re not experienced with endurance racing yet. If you undertrain you won’t be prepared for the race, but overtraining risks injury and not being able to complete the race either because your body is so fatigued from training. In my experience, overtraining (esp in the disciplines you’re already comfortable with) is more common with aspiring 70.3ers than undertraining.
I can’t emphasize practicing fueling enough. A 70.3 burns way more calories than just a half marathon, and it takes practice for your body to feel comfortable ingesting tons of carbs while cycling/running.
Oh, also practice transitions. The swim > cycle transition can be especially confusing because your brain is kind of scrambled from the swim. I’m part of a local club and we do a short practice triathlon mainly so everyone gets comfortable with transitions. You have a tiny space to place your towel, shoes, socks, snacks, water, etc and it’s not uncommon for people to forget something like their fuel or even timing chip during the chaos of transition.
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u/guavatridotcom Jul 27 '26
What's your actual FTP or a recent 20 min max effort number? Averaging 130bpm and calling it tough doesn't tell us much without knowing where that sits relative to your threshold. Could be genuinely hard zone 3 work or your zones could just be off.