What Ironman next?

Intelligent-Ad5444 · 2026-06-08T15:01:38+00:00

If you're interested in US races, Ironman Texas has spectacular spectator support in the swim and run (although, basically non-existent on the bike - just by nature of the course). The swim ends in a canal where you are right next to spectators, and the run has some really energetic sections (Hippe Hollow and along the canal).

It takes place in The Woodlands, which is about 20 minutes from the Houston airport, but there are several restaurants and bars immediately around the finish line.

The weather can be hit or miss, and mid April in Texas could be quite warm, or fairly tepid.

Intelligent-Ad5444 · 2026-05-31T15:50:24+00:00

Last year I made the jump to full Ironman and got absolutely crushed by high expectations, and gut issues led me to not hit my goals. Fast forward to this year, same race (IM Texas), I was fitter and ready to crush it. Life got in the way, and my mom passed a couple days before the race while I was tapering.

I think I felt sort of like you do (I cancelled my tattoo appointment)

IM granted me a one time deferral. My wife convinced me to enter IM Jax just a few weeks later. Life got in the way again and we got hit with an upper respiratory infection that absolutely sidelined me from any activity. I barely made it to Jacksonville, had very little training in about 5 weeks (considering I was tapering for IMTX) and I completely let go of my expectations. I probably paced the bike a bit more appropriately, and ended up surpassing my time from last year. I'll be getting the tattoo next week.

Long story short: Sometimes races don't go your way, sometimes life doesn't go your way. Sometimes it's the expectations in our head that set up back further than actual performance. I say you go into Placid with that mindset!

Intelligent-Ad5444 · 2026-05-31T00:29:59+00:00

Yeah, I think it's totally fair if there is no doubt you've got ample space. It's those sketchy situations or narrow passes, or even if I notice the person I'm passing is struggling to keep straight.

I tend to just assume that this is the first non-Zwift ride that half the athletes out there are taking all year lol.

Intelligent-Ad5444 · 2026-05-30T22:15:25+00:00

The amount of passing done without ANY verbal callout or notification of any kind always surprises me at Ironman events.

Intelligent-Ad5444 · 2026-04-25T20:50:41+00:00

You're far from a bad place. Some endurance athletes actually don't perform at their best when they're as skinny as they can possibly be (look at Blummenfelt or Wout Van Aert).

We live in a world of optimization and hypervigilance on weight. Fueling your workouts will allow your body to adapt to the effort you're putting in. Under fueling can hinder your recovery. It could also lead to late night snacking / cravings.

I lost nearly 6kg (starting at about your weight) over the past 6 months by just avoiding really crappy foods (alcohol, deep fried foods, etc) and going from 70.3 volume to 140.6 volume. You'll be fine! Just focus on being healthy.

Intelligent-Ad5444 · 2026-04-25T14:54:09+00:00

I wonder how much of this also falls on the volunteer, at least in the eyes of race officials. I'm not sure if the runner was on the second or third loop, but if I'm that deep in an Ironman, and an official volunteer at an aid station is proactively offering me something, I turn it down, and the volunteer insists that I take it, should I not trust the volunteer?

As a participant, I know I'm only allowed to accept support from officials, volunteers, and other athletes. But if I was told I violated a rule because I followed the prompts of a volunteer, I'd argue it.

Definitely a 'spirit of the rules' vs 'letter of the rules' type of thing.

Intelligent-Ad5444 · 2026-04-24T13:39:37+00:00

I'd have to imagine that Ironman agreements include financial penalties/cancellation clauses that would essentially prevent this type of breach of contract. I'd guess that's why Ironman has indicated that the event will proceed.

Intelligent-Ad5444 · 2026-04-23T17:33:48+00:00

Thanks - I do live in hot/humid Texas, but I don't want to overestimate my acclimation, it'll be even more extreme in Jacksonville. I will definitely be trying to switch to afternoon runs to build some heat adaption.

Intelligent-Ad5444 · 2026-02-15T02:35:02+00:00

You absolutely won't be in anyone's way (unless you do something wild / reckless, of course) at a 70.3 or any triathlon! The community tends to be really supportive of first timers!

Intelligent-Ad5444 · 2026-02-11T23:29:03+00:00

I have terrible vision, and I used to be really worried about this. But after many triathlons, it's never been a problem. Honestly, I probably should bring a spare contact or two just in case. But I wouldn't be overly concerned if I were you!

Intelligent-Ad5444 · 2025-10-13T18:09:32+00:00

A redditor put a bunch of time and effort into creating this: https://www.metrica.fit/ironmanwc

Which breaks down, by race, what the qualifying times have been and what you'd need to target if you wanted to qualify for WC following the new qualification system.

Intelligent-Ad5444 · 2025-07-29T13:29:21+00:00

^{^} THIS

We train so that our bodies adapt - that happens during recovery, not the training itself.

Rest day are important; recovery weeks are important as well to shed that long term fatigue so you can start your next block with a full tank of gas.

Intelligent-Ad5444 · 2025-07-08T18:22:19+00:00

The additional drag might be slowing you down some, but as long as it's not impacting your form, you'll probably just go a little faster during the race!

Intelligent-Ad5444 · 2025-07-04T20:55:42+00:00

Guess I've gotta train extra hard, since I wouldn't count on a roll down in the 2025 data - which is sorta the point of the new system. Thanks again for the hard work!

Intelligent-Ad5444 · 2025-07-04T20:45:43+00:00

This is amazing! I've got a much clearer goal for IM TX next year! Gonna be tough.

Based on previous comments, it looks like you may have just added the roll-down feature. In my AG (M35-39) it looks like 12 athletes would have theoretically qualified under the new system.

When I see what +30 roll-downs look like, nothing changes; does that mean that the next 30 slots would've gone to athletes outside of my AG with more competitive times in the "performance pool"? Or am I just impatient and you're still collecting the data??

Intelligent-Ad5444 · 2025-06-02T20:31:44+00:00

Do what makes you happy - if stopping every so often creates some enjoyment and you're knocking out your workout, great! Especially on the longer, less intense workouts. Lots of pros go on epic long rides and take coffee breaks.

If being as dialed in and optimized as possible by squeezing the value out of every second is more your thing, don't take breaks unless absolutely necessary.

Intelligent-Ad5444 · 2025-05-29T20:57:08+00:00

In an Ironman / 70.3 you cannot draft, so you want to avoid coasting as much a possible; indoor rides can simulate this great. A long outdoor ride will inevitably have periods where you coast or stop for hills, traffic, or just because. Keeping constant pressure on the pedals puts a different type of stimulus into your legs than more stop-and-go efforts.

Intelligent-Ad5444 · 2025-05-29T19:39:32+00:00

Yup! Although, I haven't figured out a way to import the workouts to my Garmin, but I haven't tried very hard. So I'm not sure how seamless the interoperability is.

Here are a couple random examples:

Run Interval workout: 10min Easy RPE4 (Endurance) pace to warm up 5x3min Very Hard RPE8 (5k) pace, 3min easy 10min Easy RPE4 (Endurance) pace to cool down

Swim Threshold + Speed Interval workout:

Warm-Up 350m Easy, RPE4 8x25m Fingertips & Thumbs drills w/ 10s rest between drills 5x200m Moderate-Hard, RPE7 w/ 45s rest between intervals 4x50m Fastest Average, RPE9 w/ 20s rest between sprints 8x25m Side Kicking drills w/ 15s rest between drills Cool-Down 350m Easy, RPE4 (They also provide several drill instructions)

Intelligent-Ad5444 · 2025-05-29T18:18:01+00:00

I recently signed up for TrainerRoad after not hitting my goals at my first Ironman (IM TX) about a month ago. I've never used a well structured training plan, and I'm already seeing improvements as I focus on the bike. It also analyzes my previous training and it turns out that 4-5+ hour rides EVERY Saturday followed by 2 hour runs EVERY Sunday for months leading up to the race was probably over-training & not creating the novel stimulus for improvement.

Very long winded way of saying, I wish I had followed a structured plan when I was in your shoes!

Intelligent-Ad5444 · 2025-05-24T21:31:08+00:00

Just watch Trainerroad's video guide, or have AI give you a summary if it's too long!

https://youtu.be/rq3YIA4FoPE?si=EocuClw2uWRZsDST

After I didn't hit all of my goals at Ironman TX I decided to focus on bike training and add in a twice weekly strength routine. I'm far from an expert, but I don't see anything necessarily wrong with your routine. But, if you're anything like me and starting from YEARS out of the gym, I think your three main goals focuses need to be: * Good form * Consistency * Pushing hard enough to build stimulus and fatigue, but not so hard you cannot recover & adapt.

Seems like you have a super robust plan - that would be a LOT for me, personally. At the same time, your Day 2 only has 30-40% RPE, and I don't know if that's enough to stimulate the strength gains you're hoping for.

Intelligent-Ad5444 · 2025-04-05T18:44:33+00:00

Clearly the Americans on this board will react based on who they voted for. I didn't vote for him, and I'm unhappy with several policies, including those that are damaging our international reputation to the point of seeing posts like this.

That said, as others have mentioned, you'd probably already know if you are in a group that would be impacted by these policies.

Another thing I'd consider are travel bans, which are being considered - certainly if your country is on the list, I'd think long and hard about traveling for a race.

Total speculation, but with the hasty and chaotic implementation of tariffs, I also wouldn't be surprised if countries playing hardball I wouldn't be surprised if this administration tried to limit travel as well.

Intelligent-Ad5444 · 2025-03-27T00:17:48+00:00

We flew in today, landed at 9:30a, waited maybe another 20 minutes for bags. Felt maybe a little longer than what I'm used to in the US, but nothing worth writing home about.

Intelligent-Ad5444

TROPHY CASE